Highlights from Kreie Fish

This is going to be my last entry for awhile. Who knows? Maybe I’ll wind up in New Orleans again sometime soon. Time will tell. Right now the idea of coming during Thanksgiving or Christmas seems attractive. Maybe flying instead of driving and maybe bringing the entire Kreie clan down. We’ll see.

I go back and forth on the idea of continuing to travel down to New Orleans. Sometimes I convince myself that this will be the last trip for a few years, but then other times I feel like I have to come back once or twice every year. This morning was one of those times that made me feel like I need to come back. We had breakfast with Reverend Lance, Miss Joanne, and Lance’s mother at the Oak Street Café. Just talking with Lance makes me want to keep these trips alive for many years to come. There is so much that still needs to be done in NOLA, and now I feel like I’ve made some lasting relationships down here. Grandma Frances was upset that no one had called her to meet us. So, now I have a reason to go back soon. I need to see Grandma.

I had many highlights on this trip. My first and foremost best memory was this fantastic group that made the trip down from Minnesota. We coexisted in this small house, bumping into each other on every turn, yet the drama was kept to a minimum. We all felt like we were living a real life episode of “The Real World.” But in all seriousness, this Minnesota group was the best – an awesome group of people whose relationships I will carry with me hopefully throughout my life. These folks took this chance to just set their sails for New Orleans and hope for the best. We all took a bit of a leap of faith. This was a courageous, caring group of folks who have left their mark on this city that needed them so much. Thanks, guys, for a trip of a lifetime!!!

I enjoyed the work. My highlight was crawling around beneath the floor of one of the Galvez houses for two days hammering in floor boards. I got extremely dirty hanging out with the roaches, but my work was needed and my nail pounding skills were honed.

We met some super awesome people on this trip! Because we stayed in our own accomodations, we didn’t meet the number of people we met on previous trips, but the people we did meet on Galvez were the best –

Rocky, our med student super worker friend from LSU; Cynthia, the cute-as-a-bug energetic Washingtonian who became Dottie’s new best friend; Rob, Kris, Roya, Jason, Katherine and the rest of the Berklee Music School staff – we’re still jealous that they each got their own rooms at a posh, French Quarter hotel!; take a look at their blog, too: http://berkleeonthebayou.wordpress.com/

the gals from Memphis; Theresa, the New Orleans native who can pound a hammer with the best of ‘em and look good doing it;

Terry - one of our very patient house leaders;

Carol, from Denver who was brave enough to come to New Orleans to work completely on her own; Fran, our friendly neighborhood professor from Detroit; and our Americorp gal pals Alex and Sarah who really knew what they were doing, thank God.

You guys were the greatest! What a gift to get to know you all!!!

Of course our evenings out rocked the house on most nights. Thanks to Kim and Sam for chairing the entertainment committee. Tops for me were Jacque Imo’s and the Rock and Bowl. Here’s to another amazing NOLA adventure. Hope you are touched by this blog in some small way and that you will keep the volunteer spirit flowing. Do your part, do your thing, and be the change!!!!

www.chriskreie.com