Ms. Cab-driver

So, I met a cab-driver today who is becoming a teacher. She had some really amazing thoughts about New Orleans and the people here.

When she first arrived to NOLA from up north 6 years ago, she was on a call in which a woman was trying to coerce her grandfather out of the house into the car. "It costs too much money." He kept yelling from the doorway. The granddaughter prodded and pleaded, but couldn't get the guy off the porch. After 10 minutes, the cabbie told the customer that she had to move along, but she'd come back when the old guy was ready to go. The granddaughter, replied, "No ma'am, he's ready and he's going." She proceeded to drag him out to the car. He hesitated by the door and said,"This will only be my third time in one of these motorized vehicles." Shocked, the driver asked him how he managed that, to which he replied, "I've never needed to go anywhere more than a mile from my home." He was 80 years old.

This is why the cabbie wants to be a teacher. Because she wants the kids of NOLA to have an experience that is bigger than the blocks that surround their house. She wants them to know that drug dealers and rappers aren't the only people who can get ahead in the world, and that having a good life doesn't necessarily equate to loads of cash and material things. She doesn't want them to think that the only options are to live poor or to "hustle." She's seen too many of the hustlers....in her neighborhood, in her cab, in the streets when she has dropped people off or picked them up.

She knows New Orleans like the back of her hand. She quit driving about a year ago - she needed a change. She gets the 7 year itch, she said, and needs to try something new. So, she started to pursue teaching. It was a long, slow process and she almost gave up. She was ready to go back to the cab when a teaching job popped up. She misses driving - she feels separated from the town, from what is happening. She used to know everything that was going on and now she is removed from it. Without the cab, she has no personal transporation and though she knows all of the bus routes, it just doesn't feel the same.

Her life is different now - carless and on a new path, possibly a more reckless one - she'll be a teacher, like me. Or, maybe, hopefully, I'll be a teacher like she is.

Aaacckkkkk!!!!!!

What I did this weekend -
Packed. Wrapped up work at UF(at least momentarily. Packed and cleaned. Spent time with my sister, Jennifer, & my nieces, Kayla & Kendall, who popped in from North Carolina on a whim! Had a lot of playground time. Visited Poe Springs & had a picnic. Packed and cleaned some more. Rented a car (twice - it's a long story - I won't get into it). Met with our new tenant/ roommate to show him the ropes. Talked with James several times to discuss the countless things that needed tending. Packed and cleaned. Still packing and cleaning - will it ever end?

What James did this weekend -
Went to a fish fry at our new neighbors place. Went fishing in the gulf with some new friends (he said he was really tired afterwards, because he had to get up at 3:00am - I was probably only mildly sympathetic). Studied and did homework(still can't believe that James is back in school -neither can he.) Listened to me melt down at least once or twice about whatever freaked me out at that moment....

My plan is to leave tomorrow - early. My program starts Thursday. We are hoping to be able to move into our temporary new place tomorrow - pending some painting and other odd jobs that need completing by our landlords. I need somewhere to unload the rental!

The Big Easy

We visited New Orleans earlier this year (this was our third visit since Katrina). Much of the city has been restored, but a large portion remains in shambles. Entire housing projects, which provided homes for thousands of people, are being leveled. New, low-income housing is being built, but not as many units and they are not available for the same price and progress is slow.

Piles of debris can be found along any number of houses on any given street. All debris is considered hazardous and can only be removed by HAZMAT workers.

Statistics show that the city lost as much as 75% of its tree cover as a result of Katrina.

The entire school system is being revamped, due in part to the hurricane, but not entirely. The school system was failing prior to the storm. A public education overview can be found here: http://www.teachnola.org/ar/publiceducation.html

There is still so much work to be done.

Tow truck

580 miles and two tanks of very expensive gas later - James arrived in NOLA with the jeep in tow. The journey was long and slow, but largely uneventful.

After a long fruitful life in North Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas, the Old Jeep is ready for her retirement in the Big Easy.

Monday, Monday

On next Monday, James is heading to New Orleans with a truck packed full of clothes, food, schoolbooks, two computers and my Jeep Cherokee in tow behind. These are the things he determined necessary for his move. Clothes because he needs to look like a teacher; food (& lots of it) because his greatest fear in life is arriving in a place with no grocery stores; school books and computers because we are pretty sure that the conditions that we will be met with are less than adequate; my jeep, because she has 205,000 + miles, no air conditioning, and I really, really, really want her to keep on driving once we get there.

When I make my trip the following week, I'll be driving a rented mini-van and hauling my items of primary importance; also clothes, plants & seeds, more books, a lamp or two and whatever James calls to tell me he forgot.

We are each entering an alternative teacher training program. James will be in Teach Greater New Orleans and I will be a teachNOLA fellow. We'll go through a pretty intense training program this summer, do some summer school teaching, and hopefully, teach full-time in the fall. After one year, we'll be certified to be teachers.

If your question is - Why? I guess my answer would have to be - Why not?

We are childless, petless, and we have a nice man named Deng, pronounced "Dang!" renting the Florida house. So, no need to stay in one place for too long.

New Orleans schools were declining well before Katrina wiped out much of the city. The storm and the devastation actually forced the state and the public school system to recreate itself. From what we are learning, the process has been slow and painful, but it is happening.

We want to be a part of re-building a place that we love and value. We also want to be teachers.Plus, it's New Orleans. It is unlike any other city in this country - and we want the opportunity to be a part of what it has to offer - all of it.