I s'pose it's about time I told you all what actually goes on here in New Orleans, yeah? Feel free to skim and/or skip this, but for those of you who are interested, here it goes...
The house.
There are six of us YAVs this year, but nine people in our house, which is owned by the Episcopal church next door. (Just a little different from three people in a Toolshed last year...) Two floors, seven bedrooms (two are empty, and all but one are shared), three bathrooms, red doors and a wonderful balcony just perfect for hammocking. We only have one stove and oven, which gets complicated with nine of us, but there are two refrigerators and two microwaves in two separate kitchen areas, so we're makin' it! The house has had several past lives: church office, duplex, rental house...
The roommates.
As I mentioned up there at the beginning, there are nine of us. Lauren, Eric, Ashley, Jillian, Emma and I are the YAVs, and we're joined by Tyrone, Bueana, and Laura who work with various programs in the city. The New Orleans YAVs are organized, as a site, through the Presbytery of South Louisiana. Links to my roomies' blogs (that I know about) are attached to their names, if you're interested. We hail from seven different states, and do all sorts of things in the city: saving the wetlands, hanging out with kids, managing volunteers that come to help rebuild, visiting hospital patients, and even getting to know some of the many seafarers that come to port in New Orleans. You'll just have to stalk those blogs to learn more. :)
The job.
This is old information for some of you, but I spend my days here in New Orleans working in the pastoral care department of a big hospital system. The system has approximately a billion different campuses (hospitals, clinics, you name it), but mainly I spend my time at the main campus visiting new patients and introducting them to the department. Patients move in and out pretty quickly, so there are always plenty of people to be visited. There are also a handful of other chaplains at the main campus, including some staff chaplains and some resident chaplains. Also, two mornings a week, I work at the hospital campus that's right across the street from our house, helping organize a new pastoral care library. Those are the basics, but surely I'll have more to say as the year goes on.
The city.
I'm not even going to try and fit New Orleans into a paragraph. Another post is coming soon about the Big Easy, but to tide you over (because I know you're all on the edge of your seats): Just having been here a month I can feel New Orleans working its way into my heart. She is a city full of character. Full of life, death, heartbreak, recovery, inspiration and so much more. Not to mention the seafood, inevitable U-turns (excuse me...Louisiana Lefts), and flexible definitions of "on time."
And that's it for now, friends. Apparently we have functioning internet in our house now, so I may just get around to posting some of the half-written blogs that have been staring at me for weeks!
Love,
Allison
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