Tag Archive for: dept-none-3

Last day of NOLA was bittersweet.  I woke up early and attended an ecumenical church service with Sean and Dr. A.  It was held at Lake View Funeral home and the Zion Harmonizers were the musical guests.  It was a very different experience because the whole service seemed to evolve around the gospel music; the pastor said a few words and discussed scripture for a short while. The Zion Harmonizers were also a sight to see. The band consisted of 7 members and they were very passionate about their music. They have been around for 77 years and traveled all over the world to preform. This year they will play/sing in the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

One of the lead singers from the Zion Harmonizers

After the service we went back to the hotel and we all entered our data from our transects the past few days while it steadily rained outside.  We did not quite finish but we got a lot done.
At 11:30 a.m. we had a de-brief with Dr. A, John, Tom & Diana and discussed the highlights of our trip. We then headed out to the French Quarter and had around four hours to mill around. I was with Dulce, Aspen, Patrick & Sean. We ate lunch at The Gazebo Cafe and walked around to different shops. One of the most unique parts of our day was when we ran into the Easter parade. I caught a carrot and a handful of beads. I also had the best beignet I have ever tasted from Café Beignet. We bought them and took them over to the river to eat.

Aspen, Dulce, Patrick, Sean & Tearney

On a final note, this trip was an unforgettable experience.  I learned so much about the diversity that runs through the viens of the city.  New Orleans is unique in its people, cultures, foods and music. I was able to gain a better appreciation for local artists and cultural foods. All of the aspects mentioned are the Gumbo (to quote Dr. A) that makes NOLA so special.

French Quarter

 When reflecting on our main mission, I felt that I learned much more then expected about wetland restoration, the degradation brought upon them by Katrina and the ways we can help to educate others about the wetlands themselves. The service we did in regards to farming and planting was eye opening in the sense that it doesn’t take many people to make make a difference or to show others that growing your own food is valuable in the areas they are living in. I hope that one day I will be able to go back to NOLA and continue to assist people who are in need of a friendly helping hand.

Field work! Today we were out in the woodland forest doing more data collection. We saw some cool local animals and birds like armadillos and cardinals.

Most of our students opted to sleep in during their final day in New Orleans. The predicted heavy rains arrived just after midnight and have not let up since, making a literal and figurative wash of our final field day.

While their compadres snoozed a few of the bravest souls and I shuffled off to the Lake Lawn Cemetery in Metairie for a sunrise Eater Service. Having successfully navigated about half a dozen spinouts and crashes that littered the Mississippi River Bridge and the 10 Freeway, we arrived just before 7 in a heavy downpour.

He Rose Up From the Dead

Were You There?

People Get Ready

I Shall Not Be Moved

That Old Time Religion

Yesterday we went to a non-profit farm called Grow Dat.  They grow crops for the local community and involve high school students in order to educate them and occupy their time after school and on the weekends.  For this service we pulled weeds and placed a plastic covering over the newly crafted rows.  When we were done we went back to the hotel and entered data.  We left at 5 p.m. and ate some fried chicken.  From there we went to see the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra featuring Irvin Mayfield.  It was a great experience because I have never seen a jazz band so large.  The variety of sounds was breath-taking. 
Following the show we were ushered to the VIP section were we met with Irvin and the other musicians.  I talked to the only female performer.  Her name was Emily.  She had been playing the trumpet for 14 years and had been with the orchestra for 4 years.  There was also music so we all danced together and had a great time.  This night was definatly one of the highlights of the whole trip for me.

Today we went back to Woodlands Conservancy to continue our fieldwork. The purpose of us doing fieldwork at Woodlands is so we can count and measure the types of native and invasive species we see along the trail. We walk along every trail there, and every 50 meters, we walk 100 meters into the forest and measure what we see every two meters along the way.  

A Map of Woodlands

 
We started at 9am this morning and it is now 7:50pm. It was a long hard day of work but we are now being rewarded with homemade gumbo from Ms. Carol, one of the fine ladies we met at Capstone this past week.