Yesterday we went on a levee failure tour in the Lower Ninth Ward. This area was devestated as the flood wall protecting it from the Industrial Canal catastrophically failed. The area has been very slow to recover, as many of the property lots still lie empty, some with only concrete slabs indicating where houses used to be.
Photo showing the new t-wall flood protection system, standing at 14.5 ft tall, now protecting the Lower Ninth Ward.
We started out our day by visiting the New Orleans Historic Collection Musuem and learning about the history of how New Orleans really came to be and how it morphed into this colorful and vibrant city filled with such diverse people. It turns out that the largest demographic/ethnic population here in New Orleans are African Americans at around 87% and Vietnamese being the smallest group making up only 3% of the population. That being said we ended up having lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant were I had some delicious yellow curry.
We then got a tour of the levee system here in New Orleans which really put things into perspective as to what really happened during/ after Hurricane Katrina. It’s interesting yet sad to see how much of the lower nine ward has been pretty neglected as far as restoring back the community. Sad reality is that half the time we can’t tell if communities look the way they do because of poverty or simply the effects of Katrina, or both.
Perhabs the most unplanned for event today has having one of our vehicles get a flat tire. It was defentily funny seeing 2 Professors with a pHd and 14 college students all trying to figure out how to change the tire. It took a while but it was all figured out.
We then ended our day at Chickie Wah Wah were we had some amazing southern food and listened to some amazing local musicians.
Heute sind wir nach ein historisches Museum in die Französische Viertel und ein Levee Tour gegangen. Für Mittagessen haben wir Vietnamesische Essen bei Nine Roses gegessen und war sehr lecker. Ich hatte gelb Curry mit Schrimps 
Die Durchschnittperson in die USA wird 7k Meeresfrüchte essen aber hier in New Orleans 13-52k! Es ist unglaublich! Und für Abendessen sind wir nach Chickie Wah Wah gegangen und wir haben zu Paul Sanchez und Jamie Lynn Vessels gehört. Jamie ist so talentiert, dass ich einen CD von ihr gekauft hab.
We had a great tour of the levee system and the construction failures that led to the flooding. We also got a flat tire on our way to the last levee sight, which gave us all an opportunity to learn how to change a flat tire.
Dr. Sean Anderson taking pictures on the levee wall that runs along the canal that connects the Mississippi River with Lake Ponchartrain
TRICK QUESTION: it takes 12 students from CI, two from Oregon State, and two professors.
Today we had a historical day we visited the NOLA historical center and saw really cool maps, guns and paintings, one of the most interesting pieces was a Budweiser water can post Katrina to help give potable water to the city. Next we ate at 9 Roses and ate delicious Vietnamese food. Than we went down to the 9th ward to see various levee failures. After that we headed to Chicka Wah Wah for culture and food we met musicians Paul Sanchez and Jamie Vessels.
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