Stony Point

Upon returning to New Orleans and reflecting on my week at orientation at the Stony Point Conference Center in New York, I think I am able to sum it up in one word: full. We had a packed schedule each day and covered a variety of topics from culture competency to self care to culture shock to globalization - you name it we covered it! It was great getting to meet YAVs going to other sites, both nationally and internationally, and connecting to the larger community.

Stony Point is located in a beautiful part of New York that is within walking distance from the Hudson River. Tall trees cover the landscape and give the center a feeling of relaxation that contrasts nicely with the intense and difficult conversations we engaged in this week. We ate meals buffet style and upon hearing this I was expecting the less than mediocre camp food I had experienced for many summers of my youth. I couldn't have been more wrong about this. Stony Point grows all of its own vegetables and fruit that are featured in every meal. The food was absolutely delicious. If you are interested in learning more about Stony Point, click here.

 The lodge at Stony Point Conference Center in New York.

The best, and most intense, part of week was the epiphany I had about my faith. It was both liberating and humbling. Part of the reason I decided to be a YAV was to explore my faith and my relationship with God. I have put this part of my life on hold since confirmation and upon wrestling with my faith this week discovered that I still have many of the same questions I had when I was in high school. I struggle with the doubt and questions I have for God and when I was surrounded by people who seem so confident in their faith it made me feel inadequate. I found myself asking "why am I here?" 

I wrote in my journal every day - even twice a day - trying to figure out what my relationship with God looked like. I just couldn't see it. I viewed my doubt as a confining box that I had to escape before I could even begin to be close to God. Upon talking to the chaplain, Christine, that was present this week I discovered that I had been looking at my faith in the wrong way. Doubt wasn't confining my faith it was defining it. Struggling with God is a sign of my faith, not the absence of it. The fact that I am open and willing to learn and challenge God is a evidence of my belief even though it seems like the very opposite. I articulated this struggle in a metaphor that I would like to share with you:

"I feel like my snippets of understanding about God are like fireflies and I'm trying to catch them and put them all in a neat little jar, in hopes that when they're all together I can make sense of the parts and see the whole. When really, these fireflies aren't meant to all be in a jar, they should be flying in the sky, lighting up the darkness. I don't think I will ever have enough understanding - or fireflies in this case - to light up the whole sky, to see through every inch of darkness that is the mystery of God. And that is ok. The unknown is part of my journey of faith and I find so much peace in that."

I am excited that I have the opportunity to continue to explore and grow in my faith throughout the upcoming year and beyond. The YAV motto is "a year of service but a lifetime of change" and I can affirm that I have already experienced that change happening in myself. It is exciting and terrifying simultaneously but I couldn't be more excited. 

Lesson from the Journey: Never give up on your faith, whatever it may look like, because it will surprise you and shape you and help you discover who you are.

Frenchman Street and Lakeview Presbyterian Church

The past two days in New Orleans have been fantastic. Getting to know the city has been overwhelming and exciting in the best way. Last night all the girls in the house and our site coordinator went to bar off Frenchman street called d.b.a and watched John Boutte perform. A surreal experience! He is an amazing jazz musician and none of us could keep from dancing. Afterwards we hit up Cafe du Monde for some delicious beignets! For those of you who might not know what a beignet is - it's similar to a funnel cake. Fried dough covered in powdered sugar, you can't go wrong!

Me, my housemates and site coordinator enjoying beignets and good company!

How amazing do these delicious beignets from Cafe du Monde look?

Today we all woke up early and went to Youth Sunday at Lakeview Presbyterian Church. It was a great first Sunday to experience there because the youth had just returned from a trip to Montreat and had many stories to share of their time there. The church itself was beautiful and its congregation was extremely welcoming and eager to get to know us. I feel very fortunate to already have a feeling of community with both the girls in my house and the church. I look forward to both of these relationships growing over my time here.

The outside of Lakeview Presbyterian Church 

The inside of Lakeview Presbyterian Church

After church, our crew went Parkway Bakery to get poor boys (also known as po' boys) a New Orleans classic. The bakery is proud of its history and it's written on the back of their menu. There is so much culture here so I'd like to share with you a snippet of their origin:

"Parkway Bakery and Tavern has been a neighborhood landmark since it opened in 1911. German baker Charles Goering, Sr. ran Parkway Bakery until 1922 when Henry Timothy, Sr. purchased it, with the intent of continuing to run it as the neighborhood bake shop. Over the next seven years, he became known for making delicious fresh breads, donuts, and his famous Seven Sisters sweet rolls. In 1929 he added the recently invented “Poor Boy” sandwich to feed the workers at the American Can Company. 

Today, Parkway Bakery and Tavern is a New Orleans staple. With help from his wife, three sisters, two nephews, one niece and over 40 employees, Jay Nix continues the 100 year old tradition of a family owned and operated business serving comfort food and drink. With twenty five different poor boys, a full bar, and Barqs root beer in glass bottles, Parkway Bakery and Tavern is surely backing up its reputation as the oldest, tastiest poor boys anywhere."

A roast beef and friend shrimp po' boy with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo.

After our delicious meal we returned to Lakeview Presbyterian Church and helped out with back to school games and activities with the children of the church. We hula-hooped, did sack and three legged races and ended with delicious make your own sundaes. The kids were extremely enthusiastic and it was a fun way to get to know more members of the congregation. I also discovered that I am terrible at hula hooping but hey you can't be good at everything!

Tomorrow we leave for orientation in Stony Point, NY. I am sad to already leave New Orleans - I feel like I have just begun exploring! I look forward to meeting other YAVs and getting to know more about the program. My next post will take place after orientation and highlight all the fun things that I hope to learn there. 

Lesson from the Journey: Take caution when eating beignets because inhaling powdered sugar is extremely painful.

Road Trip to New Orleans

At 6:30am on August 14th, my mom and I sleepily left our house in Pennington, NJ to embark on the journey to New Orleans. Our lives for the past few weeks had been extremely hectic due to a recent move from Montgomery, NJ to our new home in Pennington and family visiting from Colorado. Due to the chaos that surrounds events like these, we had given our road trip very little thought. 

The route from Pennington, NJ to New Orleans, LA - 1,270 miles!

Our goal for the first day was to drive to Knoxville, TN which according to my GPS would take approximately 11 and half hours. We grabbed some breakfast at Starbucks, put in a mix CD I had made for the ride and hit the road. At first the car ride seemed normal, nothing like a road trip. We started on the Pennsylvania Turnpike - a familiar road to both me and my mom as we have family that lives in western PA so we know the road well. We started taking note of license plates in hopes of hitting all 50 (51 if you include Washington D.C.) before hitting Louisiana. After over 5 hours of driving it was time to stop for something to eat.

Me and my mom with our sundaes at Dairy Queen on day 1 of our road trip.

Once we hit the road again, I kept seeing signs for something called the Natural Bridge. The picture of this tourist stop on the billboard instantly grabbed my attention and I insisted to my mom that we stop. When would we ever be in Rockbridge County, VA again? We followed the signs and to our delight it was only a few minutes off the highway. We purchased our tickets which also included access to a butterfly exhibit. The walk to and from the Natural Bridge felt great after almost 8 hours in the car.

 The Natural Bridge in Virginia made out of limestone that stands 55 feet taller than Niagara Falls!

The Butterfly Exhibit where butterflies landed on both me and my mom - like my hair ornament?

After our stop in Virginia we barreled onto Knoxville and spent the night at a hotel after eating a delicious meal at Puleo's Grill, a local Tennessee chain restaurant. My mom order eggplant parm and now swears by it - it was an insanely delicious end to a long day. We woke up early again the next day with the goal of getting to Hattiesburg, MS with a stop in Chattanooga, TN.

We arrived in Chattanooga at 10am on Thursday, August 15th. We went on a cavern tour and got to see Ruby Falls - a waterfall underneath Lookout Mountain. The waterfall was discovered in 1928 by Leo Lambert and was named after his wife Ruby. The cave paths leading up to the waterfall were adorned with beautiful natural rock formations and breathtaking lighting. It was definitely worth the stop. After the cave tours we stopped at Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe for some Tennessee BBQ that knocked my socks off.

To the left is the Mirror Pool in Ruby Caverns. To the right is Ruby Falls.

We arrived in Hattiesburg, MS around 5:30pm CST. During our drive we had driven into a new time zone and gained an hour! We went out to dinner at a restaurant in town called 206 Front which was absolutely divine. My mom and I reflected on our journey and couldn't believe we were only 2 hours outside our destination of New Orleans.

The following morning we woke up early (again) and drove the final 2 hours to New Orleans. I met with Layne, the site coordinator in New Orleans and settled into my room. My mom had a little time before her flight later that day so we explored the French Quarter stopping for lunch at River's Edge where we had fried pickles and Jambalaya. I tried a praline for the first time (extremely sweet and absolutely delicious!) and even bought a painting from a vendor on the street.

Amazing Jambalaya at River's Edge in the French Quarter!

Today I get the day to continue to get settled in and explore the surrounding area. I am living in a house with 7 other girls and so far it has a been great. We had a meal of red rice and beans last night and got to know each other. Tomorrow we are going to Lakeview Presbyterian Church and I look forward to meeting the people of New Orleans and officially making it my home. On Monday, I travel back to New York for orientation so I am anticipating a busy next few weeks. I am excited for my journey to begin here and I hope that some will follow this blog and experience New Orleans with me. 

Lesson from the Journey: Unplanned road trips are the best kind of road trip.