we made it!!! I'm in my living room... Rach and Jude are driving to their homes. We had a successful nights sleep at the Holiday Inn last night in NC, and a nice long 7 hour drive home today. I think we're all thankful for the space, and I'm so proud of us for enjoying eachother and dealing with eachother and taking care of eachother. Road trips with three can take a lot of work to WORK, but I must say we're leaving having gained so much in our hearts.

I've learned a whole lot from my friends Judy and Rachael, just by listening to them and asking them questions and seeing how they dealt with different situations/conversations with others. In Biloxi/New Orleans, we all cared so much and took interest in what others had to say. I've also learned so so much from the strangers I/we encountered in the south. Just about every place we went we met someone special.

I'll tell a quick story of our time on the way out of New Orleans on Thursday. We found a place to park on a street in the French Quarter. As soon as Rach opens the drivers side door, an italian man opens the door to his restaurant and invites us in. We were hungry, and so that decision seemed easy enough. It was a small italian restaurant, with newly put in reddish/purple carpet, and a few tables each with room for four. Rach and I tried an espresso and Judy got a cappaccino, drinking an espresso reminded me of the first time I tried one in Italy. it tasted exactly the same... after a packet of sugar is stirred in, it pretty much is pure coffee and kick! After our meal, we talked to the owner, asked him some questions. He used to be an Orphan in Italy, and when he was 21 he left for the united states and started working for a cruise line. then he opened an italian restaurant in florida. Just 4 months ago he moved to the place in New Orleans we were sitting in. He put the carpeting in himself, and explained what its like to run a business (teaching americans how to pronounce italian words... him cooking all the meals, consistency is important, he said). We asked if he'd keep our leftovers in the fridge til we got back, and he was glad to help us out in that way.

Next we hit the art galleries on Royal street. So much art and beauty. Deep passionate reds and vibrant burning oranges filled some of the paintings that stay in my head. We liked the art, but couldn't afford any of it, so we asked about any poster stores. Everyone told us about the only one on Royal street, 4 blocks down... so we went to find it. When we got there the doors were closed. We were bummed... looking in the window to the store packed with affordable prints of cool new orleans art. when we turned around a man was standing there holding up a key. "Would you like to get in? This is my store," our faces lit up as he went to unlock the door and turn on the lights. Right place at the right time--again! I bought some post cards of an artist I really liked, and then bought a poster for Judy's birthday present. Judy and Rach left the store to look for gifts for other people across the street while I paid for the poster... I started asking the man how he gets the prints to sell, and he said that this one was from a local artist here in new orleans who sells him the prints and then he sells them to us. He asked if i was here visiting or doing work... and I explained that I was doing work in St. Bernard. He looked up at me with a half smile and said he used to live in St. Bernard. His house was destroyed, but he was paying rent there, so he left. Now he lives near the airport. He started telling me stories about what St. Bernard used to be. "It used to be a safe town, and a long time ago, when I was in highschool, the boys and the girls went to different schools, people could afford to live there and everyone was friendly, there was lots of music and art." Just hearing about what St. Bernard used to be, made me smile... but it also made me start to ache a little. You'll see the pictures soon, but this place was a disaster. Every single house was flooded with atleast 12 feet of water, and buildings collapsed, floated into eachother, and are currently decaying with pieces of furniture inside, abandoned... or occupied by those trying to live there because they can't afford to move elsewhere. When I signed the receipt, he said "Thank you" and I said sure, thinking he meant thank you for buying something from his store... and then I looked up and saw that he meant, thank you for helping rebuild St. Bernard. And I hurried to respond, "oh, oh of course! i'm so glad i got to come here and see what's going on, and it's been such a positive experience feeding people and helping out, i feel fortunate to have been able to help."

I was walking toward the door when he sort of rushed ahead of me and picked out a postcard from the front, "Here, take this as a gift," and then he grabbed two more for Rachael and Judy. I thanked him... his gratitude was so enormous for my small bit of help that I just walked across the street with a lump in my throat. I gave the postcards to Rachael and judy and started crying. "He lived in St. Bernard, his house was destroyed, he wanted me to give you these." It just hit me walking around downtown where tourists still come, and the stores seem to be doing just fine... that EVERYone was affected. and me being there mattered. I'm so thankful for that experience.


I look forward to sharing the pictures with you... they're hard to stomach, some of them, but I think it will be best that people see what it really looks like now, and how much help is needed. If anyone reading this was considering helping down there, I can connect you to some great organizations, so please send me an email, it's worth it, coming from me.

Thanks for keeping up with us, we're all so safe and the only thing we're really missing is some sleep and time alone, which we'll all hopefully be doing in the next couple days. Take care!

Jodi

settle4more@gmail.com