Not so easy in the Big Easy...

So were finally here! In beautiful New Orleans, Louisiana- Nawlins as affectionately called by its natives! I arrived here this weekend with 17 of my bright-eyed peers ready for an experience of a lifetime. Just exactly what this experience would entail, none of us had a clue. Nonetheless all 18 of us were ready to make a change. Being our very first week, we all got to sample a taste of life in Nawlins - and for the most part it’s been pretty delicious- from the never-ending party called Bourbon Street, to the rich musical culture, to the gorgeous historic architecture, to those tasty shrimp po boys at the corner grocery, to the beautiful sunny days- our perception of the Big Easy started off as carefree as its name. However, as we began our internships and realized that those beautiful sunny days, were just plain sunny (read hot, humid and hazy) so too has our perspective changed- somewhat. Let me explain…

All of us were assigned internships based on the needs of the city as well as our own personal goals. I personally was assigned to work with a local non-profit housing redeveloping organization. The mission of the organization is to rebuild/renovate/ de-concentrate existing housing projects (most of which are ridiculously run-down) transforming them into beautiful mixed income neighborhoods where families could enjoy affordable housing AND a peace of mind. Sounds like an exciting job, right? Well soon I discovered, an enormous task such as this required lots of paperwork (read office job complete with cubicles and desktop computers). Last Friday I was assigned the daunting task of completing a 58 page application for tax credits to the Louisiana housing authority. Real fun, huh?

Not just me, some of my peers related similar sentiments about their jobs not being what they first expected. Two people found their job with a New Orleans’s musician co-op to be unchallenging, un-stimulating- just plain boring- and soon after requested to be relocated. Another person had the opposite experience- her job proved to be very challenging in its first week. After having cash stolen from her purse and having to handle troubled children at her internship at a local elementary school, she discovered that her job would be like no other teaching job she had ever had. And getting back to my own job, I learned last week, that the my organization’s mission to reconstruct one of the largest housing projects of New Orleans, was being faced with a fair amount of opposition- namely the residents of that particular project. Apparently, rebuilding one of the largest projects in the city isn’t so simple either. Between the demolition and reconstruction of the new neighborhood we are trying to build- over 900 families must first be displaced from the places they’ve always called home and then dispersed to various areas around the city and state. In fact, there is an open forum meeting later this week. My peer interns and I have been forewarned about the “intensity” of the upcoming meeting- last year they had police security and someone was actually tasered!

In all, this week was about adjusting to life in New Orleans and our internships. We all have realized in some shape or form that things will be just a little tougher than we had first imagined. However, our bright eyes have not been glazed over with disillusionment. Amazingly, the first week did not discourage any person. In fact, it may have inspired more determination to make a difference here. So as I begrudgingly leave my dorm every morning- laptop and lunch in tote- and step out into the sticky 80-degree-plus morning heat, I just remind myself that making a difference in the Big Easy is definitely possible. It just won’t be as easy as I first thought.