It is easy when placed in a situation like what we all found ourselves in upon arriving in New Orleans, to focus only on the negative and what needs to be done to correct it. The incomprehensible lack of attention to the struggle of the residents in New Orleans on a National level and the unfortunate lack of adequate response on a city level makes it easy to leave with a bad taste in your mouth. Not for the city of course, but for the experience. In short, it is easy to focus on anger and sadness. Mostly because of the enormity of the work we had to complete and the general emotional and physical exhausted-ness of most of us on the trip, we had been virtually unable to actually see the city from a perspective that was anything but sad. It is important to see these things, to realize how the neighborhoods look and understand the struggle of the residents who live within them. But, as I realized within the last 24 hours of our stay, it is equally important to discover and realize the amazing soul that is so vibrant within the city. This is important because it provides context, a view into what the city was and what it could be. It also provides a frame of reference to those who may now look at New Orleans as a broken city, rather then realizing the beauty that is still there.
On Friday night, after having what was hands down one of the best meals of the trip at a restaurant owned by one of Steven Jackson’s friends, we went out on the town to experience the night life. It was at this moment that I fell in love with the city. At first I felt slightly guilty about having fun while there was so much work to be done. But I soon realized that my exploration of the music and culture of the city was just as valuable a discovery as my realization of how I could help. It is much easier to commit oneself to doing something when you realize why it is valuable. Beyond the obvious fact that these are people who have been handed a great injustice, helping New Orleans is worth any effort possible because it is a place of such amazing and diverse cultural experiences.
On Saturday morning, Megan, Patricia, Shawn and I met with Dan Etheridge, active member and coordinator of the Porch Project. We showed him the Porch’s new blog and spent time reviewing the software and teaching him how to use the platform’s various features. He will be traveling to New York in May to meet with us again to review the progress of the blog and to discuss further possibilities of collaboration on the project.
After the meeting, we went to the French Quarter for lunch. It was fun but it was also a very strange juxtaposition to the neighborhoods we had spent so much time in during the rest of the week. I myself ignored the girls gone wild posters and crazy St. Patrick’s Day invaded bars. But thats just me.
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