Delay

So I haven't had time or energy to post my blog about New Orleans. Maybe next weekend I'll get to it. I refuse to apologize as I'm so tired that I'm constantly fighting sickness. The same story applies to my photos from the trip.

In the meantime, however, I will summarize it by saying that it was an incredible experience that will probably affect me greatly for years. I fell in love with New Orleans and the children of McDonogh 42 Elementary School, where we spent most of the week. Three of the days I spent gutting a house on school grounds, which was one of the most exhausting experiences of my life. My hands literally hurt for days afterward (and I have strong hands). That's all for now about the trip. It was great, New Orleans is amazing, we got home safe. That's all you really need to know. Details will follow when I wake up.

Meanwhile, here are some lyrics by Brett Dennen to an amazing song that follows this same theme. If you're not familiar with Brett Dennen, you're missing out.

I Asked When:

Well, I dreamed I went out a'wanderin'

I heard promises become fables forgotten

I saw bridges stretching out across the water

And towers pushing taller

I knew my reality was clearly defined

By the fenced put up around my mind

I watched them thicken into walls over time

Taller than any border line

I saw civilizations deemed insignificant

I saw people's history tattooed on their skin

I saw families taken from their land

Dynasties shattered and stolen

And I asked when... is the revolution

In all the burdens of centuries accrued

That get passed along to every generation's youth

And all the allegories told in lieu of truth

I watched them grow wild and spread like the flu

I saw the rise of an untamed industry

I watched machines paint a paper economy

I saw my own self stand right in front of me

And I didn't do a thing

I saw poisons pushed in the street

And prescription pills mingling in the mezzanine

With a whole host of wealth, of doctors and pharmaceutical companies

Still poor people were dying from disease

And I asked when... is the revolution

And I broke down at the break of dawn

I saw new meaning in the clouds above the Pentagon

As real as the Holocaust, as strong as the Parthenon

Visions of Sudan, Iraq and Vietnam

I stood silent upon a flooded levy

And stared at the ruins of a merchant city

And the president who came to dine with the noble elite

Didn't do a thing

I saw three ships come sailing in

Through the passage of the Caribbean 

I saw children coming home in coffins

Millions marching on Washington

And I asked when......is the revolution