Days at the Beach, and a Summary of Life Here

AmeriCorps training went pretty well. I was as pleased with it as I could be about something I was being forced to do. Plus, we got free food.

We also experienced Bourbon Street at night which has been a blast. The first night down there, I posed with a vampire for other tourists. He actually got paid for it. We also went to the Funky Pirate where I saw Big Al perform. After the show I went up to him and thanked him, and he told me I had star quality.

I also paid a woman two dollars to give me a tarot reading on the street. It was pretty neat and for only two dollars, cheap entertainment.

Work has been going well, and the children are a blast. I've had at least one ask if she could come live with me and another child gave me her Honey Grahams yesterday. This isn't to say that the kids aren't also challenging. There are usually quite a few cases during the day where I feel like pulling out my hair.

New Orleans is in desperate need of teachers, so I may stay down here and teach for the upcoming school year. I'd love to teach at a high school level, but I'm also enjoying my time with the little ones.

Lake Ponchartrain is near the school, so we go swimming a few times a week. Here you can see us navigating our way over the busted dock, Bekah leading the way. Um, I'd like to take a moment to give a shout-out to my parents and let them know that this really isn't as dangerous as it looks.
This debris washed up on the beach, and there's something about the intertwined Mardi Gras beads that really symbolizes New Orleans for me.

We went to the beach at sunset the other day, and I'm sad that I didn't bring my camera because it was absolutely glorious. This also works.

Smoking kills.

Another shot of the sky.

Some of the days down here have been difficult, but I keep cataloging all the reasons I love being here. I don't really like talking about home much because those are the times I miss it most. I miss the relationships I have with the people I left behind. How am I supposed to condense 22 years of life experience into a narrative that will allow the new people I meet an accurate idea of who I am? Of course, I'll tell the funny stories from back home, but I find myself a bit more guarded about the serious stuff.

We went up to Baton Rouge last weekend, and if I can find some batteries for my camera today, I'll get those posted as soon as possible.

For those of you following along on Facebook, I don't know why the pictures stopped showing up, but you can visit the actual website http://americorpskara.blogspot.com or my next project is to get my pictures from down here over there.