Today was the last day of what Teach for America (TFA) calls Induction. Essentially, its the week you spend in your placement region (in my case Greater New Orleans or GNO) before moving to the five week-long rapidfire training session known as Institute. So after this first glorious if sweaty first week in Nola, we're shipping off to Georgia Tech bright and early Sunday morning.
Remember those first days of college, when you hung out with anybody who looked like they needed a conversation buddy and you dug deep for anything you had in common with those people? I mean those super awkward first nights, when you bounce around from dorm room to dorm room, seriptitiously chugging beers and adding numbers to your phonebook which you will never use again. Well, fun fact: those nights are not limited to college. In fact, I've spent the last five nights reliving my first week at Gtown in a Tulane freshman dorm--excuse me, residence hall. Don't get me wrong, the people are all really impressive (I met experienced lawyers, people who have spent years on other continents, entrepreneurs and education majors all in one day), but I was transported back four years almost immediately as we all exchanged phone numbers and blindly ventured downtown as if we knew where we were going. Among my favorite conversations that I've seen this past week is the cookie-cutter housing conversation. Since almost all of us are new to Nawlins, and since most of us came down here with very few (or in my case, goose egg) friends, there's a scramble to find quality roommates and lock them down before somebody else scoops them up. How you can choose a roommate in the first 48 hours you've known somebody is beyond me, but apparently it is possible. Me, I'm resisting the urge to pop the question, and will continue to do so for at least another week or two, much to the chagrin of my nervous parents.
This week, God apparently needed a good laugh and cranked the local heat up to temperatures that haven't been reached in June since the Korean War. It's straight up equatorial. I've averaged three showers, four wardrobe changes, and somewhere between 10-15 lost water weight pounds each day. So the first impressions I'm making must really be stellar, perhaps the reason I haven't had too many roommate suitors of late.
Heat aside though, it's been fantastic so far. I arrived on Tuesday, and moved into my suite at Tulane. First off, hot damn, the campus is really pretty. I didn't know palm trees were a thing here, but there are millions of them. Not to dwell, but that's because New Orleans' climate is somewhere between tropical and hellacious, which is right in the comfort zone for the balmy palmies. This week is largely intended to assist with the placement of those new CMs (Corp members--sorry for the TFA vernacular, but I'm trying to get the hang of all these letters) who have not yet been hired into a particular school. The fact that I came here with a job has meant that I've largely been chilling (get it? because it's so hot?), investigating the city and getting my real person life in order. On Wednesday, for what were definitely some of the coolest hours of the week, I spent the morning on a school visit at New Orlean College Prep. I could write paragraphs about how impressive every element of the school was, but I'll sum it up with this.
I spent the better part of the afternoon painting a Katrina damaged house with a really cool organization called Phoenix NOLA. More to come on the disbelief that now, in 2011, we're still renovating Katrina houses, but go ahead and take a second to ruminate on that. Anyway, Phoenix had just about finished renovating the basement of this shotgun house so that its owner could move out of his FEMA trailer--the last thing they needed to do was paint, so we took up the brushes and got down to it. On Wednesday morning, there were 150 FEMA trailers in the parish that still acted as homes for New Orleans residents. On Thursday morning, there were 149, and to be even a tiny part of that process was really amazing.
Quickly: FEMA recently announced that they would be charging for the continued use of their trailers in New Orleans. On Tuesday, a city zoning ordinance took effect which fined any residents who still had trailers on their property. Because clearly, these are people are really thrilled to be living in their driveway in a doublewide. But since everything Katrina related was so well handled, this seems like an appropriate step in the process.
Thursday was less exciting: we had to go to a couple of info sessions for TFA (one of which was on social media--here's hoping I absorbed as much I thought I did).
Friday was the real winner. I started the day volunteering for the charter network that runs the school where I'll be working. Let's just say that, while I really enjoyed it, it's pretty clear that the organization is young. But the motivation among the teachers and students is actually (pardon the cliche) palpable. I met the director of my middle school for lunch and although the conversation and the company were both riveting, most of my attention was dedicated to the jumbalaya. Words cannot explain. I can literally still taste it. After an afternoon of real life things like opening a checking account, signing up for my insurance policies (yep, I now have a life insurance policy with a beneficiary), and botching another fingerprinting session due to my palm's constant moisture, a group of us ventured down to the Bourbon Street. For those of you who have been to the French Quarter, you know what I mean when I refer to hand grenades, huge ass beers, and strip clubs that seem to be trying to cater to every proclivity and deviance. Before I came here, someone described this city as hedonistic. I'm not sure the city at large is, but even militant hedonists might be put off by the antics and sights of the Quarter. NB: I'm not one of those people. It was amazing, from what I recall. The night out was book-ended by grabbing a roadie for the streetcar and one for the cab, mostly because the law says that's cool. I say it's pretty cool, too, frankly. When I went back there Saturday for dinner, I got a little nauseas just looking at the pre-mixed crowd favorite drinks, Hurricanes, which in my estimation consist of kool-aid mix and rum with a slice of lemon and a little ice.
So, some major takeaways from the week:
Remember those first days of college, when you hung out with anybody who looked like they needed a conversation buddy and you dug deep for anything you had in common with those people? I mean those super awkward first nights, when you bounce around from dorm room to dorm room, seriptitiously chugging beers and adding numbers to your phonebook which you will never use again. Well, fun fact: those nights are not limited to college. In fact, I've spent the last five nights reliving my first week at Gtown in a Tulane freshman dorm--excuse me, residence hall. Don't get me wrong, the people are all really impressive (I met experienced lawyers, people who have spent years on other continents, entrepreneurs and education majors all in one day), but I was transported back four years almost immediately as we all exchanged phone numbers and blindly ventured downtown as if we knew where we were going. Among my favorite conversations that I've seen this past week is the cookie-cutter housing conversation. Since almost all of us are new to Nawlins, and since most of us came down here with very few (or in my case, goose egg) friends, there's a scramble to find quality roommates and lock them down before somebody else scoops them up. How you can choose a roommate in the first 48 hours you've known somebody is beyond me, but apparently it is possible. Me, I'm resisting the urge to pop the question, and will continue to do so for at least another week or two, much to the chagrin of my nervous parents.
This week, God apparently needed a good laugh and cranked the local heat up to temperatures that haven't been reached in June since the Korean War. It's straight up equatorial. I've averaged three showers, four wardrobe changes, and somewhere between 10-15 lost water weight pounds each day. So the first impressions I'm making must really be stellar, perhaps the reason I haven't had too many roommate suitors of late.
Heat aside though, it's been fantastic so far. I arrived on Tuesday, and moved into my suite at Tulane. First off, hot damn, the campus is really pretty. I didn't know palm trees were a thing here, but there are millions of them. Not to dwell, but that's because New Orleans' climate is somewhere between tropical and hellacious, which is right in the comfort zone for the balmy palmies. This week is largely intended to assist with the placement of those new CMs (Corp members--sorry for the TFA vernacular, but I'm trying to get the hang of all these letters) who have not yet been hired into a particular school. The fact that I came here with a job has meant that I've largely been chilling (get it? because it's so hot?), investigating the city and getting my real person life in order. On Wednesday, for what were definitely some of the coolest hours of the week, I spent the morning on a school visit at New Orlean College Prep. I could write paragraphs about how impressive every element of the school was, but I'll sum it up with this.
I spent the better part of the afternoon painting a Katrina damaged house with a really cool organization called Phoenix NOLA. More to come on the disbelief that now, in 2011, we're still renovating Katrina houses, but go ahead and take a second to ruminate on that. Anyway, Phoenix had just about finished renovating the basement of this shotgun house so that its owner could move out of his FEMA trailer--the last thing they needed to do was paint, so we took up the brushes and got down to it. On Wednesday morning, there were 150 FEMA trailers in the parish that still acted as homes for New Orleans residents. On Thursday morning, there were 149, and to be even a tiny part of that process was really amazing.
Quickly: FEMA recently announced that they would be charging for the continued use of their trailers in New Orleans. On Tuesday, a city zoning ordinance took effect which fined any residents who still had trailers on their property. Because clearly, these are people are really thrilled to be living in their driveway in a doublewide. But since everything Katrina related was so well handled, this seems like an appropriate step in the process.
Thursday was less exciting: we had to go to a couple of info sessions for TFA (one of which was on social media--here's hoping I absorbed as much I thought I did).
Friday was the real winner. I started the day volunteering for the charter network that runs the school where I'll be working. Let's just say that, while I really enjoyed it, it's pretty clear that the organization is young. But the motivation among the teachers and students is actually (pardon the cliche) palpable. I met the director of my middle school for lunch and although the conversation and the company were both riveting, most of my attention was dedicated to the jumbalaya. Words cannot explain. I can literally still taste it. After an afternoon of real life things like opening a checking account, signing up for my insurance policies (yep, I now have a life insurance policy with a beneficiary), and botching another fingerprinting session due to my palm's constant moisture, a group of us ventured down to the Bourbon Street. For those of you who have been to the French Quarter, you know what I mean when I refer to hand grenades, huge ass beers, and strip clubs that seem to be trying to cater to every proclivity and deviance. Before I came here, someone described this city as hedonistic. I'm not sure the city at large is, but even militant hedonists might be put off by the antics and sights of the Quarter. NB: I'm not one of those people. It was amazing, from what I recall. The night out was book-ended by grabbing a roadie for the streetcar and one for the cab, mostly because the law says that's cool. I say it's pretty cool, too, frankly. When I went back there Saturday for dinner, I got a little nauseas just looking at the pre-mixed crowd favorite drinks, Hurricanes, which in my estimation consist of kool-aid mix and rum with a slice of lemon and a little ice.
So, some major takeaways from the week:
- My primary mode of transportation is streetcar. I don't intend to allow that to change because it's awesome and makes me think of those old school Rice-A-Roni commercials.
- A streetcar is not to be confused with a trolley. Don't ask me what the difference is.
- No one actually knows what a bayou is, although "going down to the bayou" is a frequent activity for the locals.
- Life is much cheaper here than in D.C. (2.25 draft microbrews).
- I need to think up how to decorate my classroom...because I'll have students in there one, count 'em one, week after I get back from Hotlanta.
- Weezy just isn't as popular down here as he was before jail. Personally, I think it's the sell-out factor.
- Something other than snow causes potholes and general road degradation, because they've got some winners, and they don't get too much snow as I understand it.
- This city is very difficult to navigate. Why? Because there are very few street signs. Why? Because Katrina washed them away, apparently. Which again, is mind-blowing.
- There are some really incredible teachers, and some even more incredible kids down here. I'm pretty juiced to get my hands dirty.
- I'm really going to love it here.
Amazing Brad, really enjoyed your discourse!! Looking forward to more! And those nervous parents? Just your dad. . .he and Uncle Ed are actually twins!
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