Ok, so I have to write a short essay for Father Tim about New Orleans, but I think I'd rather get everything down and then write him something shorter.

On January 7th, we had a short meeting and a Mass for everyone who was leaving. The Mass also counted for the Feast of the Epiphany. Then we got into two vans and one Jeep Cherokee and headed for New Orleans, stopping every three hours, changing drivers and taking a short break. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Alabama for breakfast on the 8th, signalling the fact that we'd hit the Deep South.

About midway through Mississippi, we began to see the the devestation of Hurricane Katrina, in the form of broken trees and abandoned cars. A good majority of the trees were broken in half, and it only got worse when we hit the Louisiana border. Once we came into Louisiana, besides the abandoned cars, there was also litter and debris. We heard later that the hurricane had pretty much travelled down the thruway, and that's why the devestation was so bad, but it was nothing compared with what we would see soon...

Then we came to the bridge when passes over the Mississippi River and leads into the city of New Orleans. It was almost sunset when we were on the bridge, and ths sun was shining down over the river. It was absolutly beautiful. For the first time (out of many times), everyone fell silent. (This was, however, the only time it would be the good kind of silence...) The bridge is very long, and we were staring at the beauty for a good 10 minutes.

Then came the moment when we first saw the site that would change our lives. As soon as we came off of the bridge, all we could see was utter devestation. No words can do justice to the city of New Orleans, particularly since I need to go eat breakfast now.

More later.