I have a real-life job

Those of you who know me must be shocked to see that but I started on Friday.  Even more shocking, I think I’m good at it!   Let’s recap.

Since I arrived in New Orleans on September 4, I’ve been in various states of orientation here.  First in our community, then in the Project Homecoming office where I’ll be working.  All eight of us flew to New Mexico on Sunday for a five-day long orientation with all of the Young Adult Volunteers from around the country.  There were volunteers serving in Alaska, Seattle, Tucson, Hollywood, Nashville, Miami and us.  The theme of the week was “Pack nothing for the journey and listen along the way.”  Part of the program is vocational discernment, which is church talk for “What on Earth am I going to do with my life?”  The two big questions asked were, “What are you doing here?” and “Where are you going?”  Loaded question.

All of this took place in the friendly confines of the desert; all around us were beautiful mesas, canyons and rock formations.  I went on at least a hike a day.  It was a great introduction to the southwest.  Additionally, meeting the other YAVs from around the country was interesting.  Everyone brought different perspectives, from fairly conservative to committed relativism.  But they’re all admirable people, people I’m really thrilled to have in our widespread YAV community.

Another focus of the trip in Ghost Ranch was made very clear to me on Friday, the day after we got back: One’s YAV year is not a year out of one’s life, it’s very much a part of one’s life.  I showed up to work on Friday thinking it’d be a breeze, do some work for two hours or so and then get sent home.  Nope!  We drove around and saw the houses we’ll be working on and then worked with some volunteers on one of my colleague John’s houses.

Maybe I should explain this possession of houses thing.  There are five construction assistants working with Project Homecoming, four from Americorps and me.  Each of us has been assigned a specific task and the oversight of two homes each.  My specific task is to work with volunteer groups that come stay at the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance village in Luling, Louisiana and I’m in charge of a house in New Orleans East and somewhere downtown.

So the volunteers we worked with were on one of John’s houses in New Orleans East.  They were doing some finishing work and John and I worked on some electrical stuff.  Then we went to a house in the Lower Ninth that’s in a way sponsored by locals who work on it in their free time and on Saturdays.

All told, I’m very glad for the trip to New Mexico and to finally be starting work.  All that orientation was starting to get to me.  Being in creation and in the company of God and really fascinating people was a great segue into the tough but rewarding year ahead.

Andy the Burly Construction Worker

Apologies for the long time since the last post. The days have been long and I’ve been so tired every day when we arrive home that I’ve not felt motivated to keep you all updated. For shame.

Our weekdays have been fairly uniform. We arrive at the Project Homecoming office in Gentilly by 8:00 AM. From there, we usually spend the morning learning about the day’s topic either in Project Homecoming’s warehouse in the Upper Ninth Ward or at the office there in Gentilly. We Young Adult Volunteers are accompanied by our colleagues in the Delta Service Corps. There are eight of them, all doing jobs much like ours, except they’re affiliated with Americorps. Then, in the afternoon, we go to a house that Project Homecoming is working on, which requires the work that we learned about that morning. We’ve had days dedicated to getting familiar with tools, drywalling, roofing, framing, flooring, installing doors and windows, and siding. And we’ve had a chance to meet some homeowners and try out our new skills on their houses. The construction managers are hilarious and will be so much fun to work with. They’ve been very patient with those of us who still are not consistently able to drive a nail in straight.

Before our construction training, we had a day long CPR seminar with a nurse from the American Red Cross. All of this is pointing to feeling so much more confident in dealing with volunteers and in my abilities to run a group. Three whole weeks of orientation was frustrating at first but I’ve learned 100% more about everything that’s been put in front of me and I’m very thankful for that.

Tomorrow, all the YAVs are getting together to form a covenant for how we’re planning on living next year. Basically, a list of commitments to the community for how we might live with and show love to one another. Then, on Sunday, we fly to New Mexico for the nationwide orientation at Ghost Ranch, a Presbyterian retreat center. All the YAVs from sites all over the country will be there and we’ll do our last week of orientation there before beginning our jobs in earnest next week.

My first group of volunteers arrives on October 6! Wish me luck!

Among the Poly-Faithful

It’s been a unique week.  We had two days of orientation together, then two days of orientation with eight Delta Service Corps folks in town for a year.  They were interesting cats, from all over the world.  The first day was astoundingly frustrating but the second day was fascinating.  We took a Myers-Briggs evaluation (I’m ENFP) and saw where everyone else fell on the spectrum.  My immediate supervisor is my exact opposite (though we are both Extroverts) and we were able to see that, anticipate that, and start thinking about how we would work together.

Friday we went to dinner at a gumbo place in the Quarter and walked around.  Saturday morning, we went to Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait.  The whole blessed Hokie Nation was in town for their game against Louisiana State and some Mississippi State kids were floating around before their game against the Tulane Fighting Young Republicans.  At least that’s my impression of them so far.

One of the most interesting characters I’ve met so far is our next door neighbor Dorothy.  Dorothy came over one of the first days, introduced herself, told us she was a pagan, and that she did rituals in the backyard.  She was a perfect neighbor: unapologetic, direct, welcoming, open.  Dorothy has been hanging out and we love her very much.  It’s a shame, she’s moving out on October 1st.  Getting new neighbors is such a crap shoot and we are very blessed to have Dorothy next door.  Those of us who are staying in the Jena Street house all year are a little concerned about who is replacing her.  Some of the girls went out with her into the Marigny last night and she’s doing tarot readings for us all today.

Today’s been interesting.  We went to one of the nation’s few African-American Presbyterian churches, Berean Presbyterian in Central City, New Orleans.  My roommate Caitlin is at a community organizing position this year in Central City and her office is across the street from the church.  It was an interesting mix of black church and Presbyterian church.  The service ended at noon on the dot, exactly 60 minutes long (very Presbyterian).  Yet there was plenty of congregation participation and involvement, improvised songs, amens & hallelujahs, etc.  I’m going to pay a visit to First Presbyterian right down the road, but I suspect I’ve found a church home for the year.

We’re all going to have lunch together and then invite Dorothy over for our tarots.  Then, we might go for dinner at Krishna House, this place Dorothy was telling us about where you go, give a dollar or two and then the Krishnas give you tons of food.  Where am I?!

Intentional Community: A Crash Course

With very little warning or time to adjust, I’ve arrived in New Orleans, to the house on Jena Street where I will live for the next year.  My roommate Caitlin is from Baltimore so I drove there on Sunday afternoon to pack the car and crash there before heading off together Monday morning.  Her family was very kind, looked out for me, and made sure I was filled with crabs before I went to sleep.  Then, her father and I packed the car to ensure maximum efficiency and space usage.  Caitlin and I made it as far as Gadsden, Alabama where we crashed Monday night and then drove on to NOLA this morning with a brief stop in Meridian, Mississippi at a Cracker Barrel for some of that Sawmill Gravy that I just love so much.  Cassie, another Young Adult Volunteer, told me of massive vats of the stuff, sitting around all day being ladled out occasionally with enough time between ladlings for it to develop a nice thick film on the top.  My spirits were not dampened; Sawmill Gravy from Cracker Barrel is my new favorite food.

We arrived at Jena Street to find that every room of our shotgun, barring the kitchen, was filled with beds.  Turns out all eight YAVs on the coast are going to be crashing here for a few weeks to do some orientation.  Then, we all head to Ghost Ranch, New Mexico for a few days to do some orientation with the YAVs from all the National Sites (Seattle, Tucson, Hollywood, Miami, Cincinnati, and some others I can’t recall at present).  So we’ve got some tight quarters at the minute.  Eight people, one bathroom, beds in the dining room, etc, etc.  But we’re all getting along famously and the honeymoon has only just begun.

A big focus of the year is living in intentional Christian community.  So we’re learning about respecting space, being assertive, loving one another, dividing chores and responsibilities, and that kind of stuff.  Since only four of us are living in this house after September, they want us all to really be a family with each other so that people can feel comfortable coming to the house in NOLA and we in the NOLA house can go out and visit the folks in Houma or wherever they may be.  I need to get some sleep so I’ll give some more basic information pretty soon, but that’s all I can muster up at present.  This is going to be such a good year.