hi folks
I know I haven't been posting or reading livejournal at all. My excuse is that I have been really busy - I have taken on a tutoring job 3 days a week and the pay is really worth it, but it takes up a lot of my spare time. Also I am trying to finish a quilt by June.
So, an update on my travels and plans for more, since I seem to have confused a lot of people by where I already have gone, and where I am going to go and when.
On March 31 I went to NYC for the weekend. I had a blast and got to hang out with my friends Karen and Joe, which is always fun. I also got to go to one of my mom's cousin Carol's fab parties, which is always a treat. We went to the cloisters, saw La Traviata at the met, ate dim sum, drank all you can drink mimosas, and I got to see Karen's place in Queens. And as always belgian beer. A very good weekend.
I returned to Durham on Tuesday and then on Easter Sunday left for New Orleans after church. I went with a group from my church to do more work with Urban Impact. We worked on construction on a house Urban Impact has purchased in the Center City neighborhood to provide housing for its staff and hopefully provide some support for that community. We were working on trying to shore up the staircase and its surrounding walls, which were eaten up by termites pretty badly. That's an interesting thing about a lot of the buildings damaged by Katrina- when they were gutted it was revealed that they probably were not that far from collapsing from termite damage, totally seperate from the hurricane damage. We were also working on building an addition on the back of the house to provide bathrooms for each of the 4 apartments. The previous addition was apparently in such bad shape that they just took it off completely. I learned all sorts of things about power tools. I still am afraid of anything that has a blade but overcame my fear of the nail gun and palm nailer (which is the best power tool ever). The house was (and I don't say it lightly) in the pure hood. Last time I was in New Orleans Center City was still fairly empty but now the population has come back and unfortunately there are a lot of drugs and crime. It's a big problem for anyone to tackle, and I'm glad Urban Impact is at least trying. While in New Orleans I also got to see Brandon and Michael, and we ate some fab cajun (or creole? who knows) food and catch up. Always fun. Brandon also let us in for a late night tour of St. Louis Cathedral which we enjoyed a lot (some people in my group said it was the highlight of the trip).
As for further trips, I am leaving for China on June 10. I am really excited!! I am taking Intrepid's Middle Kingdom Magic tour which starts in Beijing and ends in Kunming. We are going to spend the night in the desert, see the terra cotta warriors, go to Dali, hike Tiger Leaping Gorge, and visit a Tibetan town among other things. After that I am flying to Tokyo via Bangkok (long story) and will be hanging out with Erin for 4 days. Needless to say June 10 can't roll around soon enough for me. I will be back July 9, just in time to start teacher work days on July 10 (I have signed on for another year at Rogers Herr Middle).
Woot!
So, an update on my travels and plans for more, since I seem to have confused a lot of people by where I already have gone, and where I am going to go and when.
On March 31 I went to NYC for the weekend. I had a blast and got to hang out with my friends Karen and Joe, which is always fun. I also got to go to one of my mom's cousin Carol's fab parties, which is always a treat. We went to the cloisters, saw La Traviata at the met, ate dim sum, drank all you can drink mimosas, and I got to see Karen's place in Queens. And as always belgian beer. A very good weekend.
I returned to Durham on Tuesday and then on Easter Sunday left for New Orleans after church. I went with a group from my church to do more work with Urban Impact. We worked on construction on a house Urban Impact has purchased in the Center City neighborhood to provide housing for its staff and hopefully provide some support for that community. We were working on trying to shore up the staircase and its surrounding walls, which were eaten up by termites pretty badly. That's an interesting thing about a lot of the buildings damaged by Katrina- when they were gutted it was revealed that they probably were not that far from collapsing from termite damage, totally seperate from the hurricane damage. We were also working on building an addition on the back of the house to provide bathrooms for each of the 4 apartments. The previous addition was apparently in such bad shape that they just took it off completely. I learned all sorts of things about power tools. I still am afraid of anything that has a blade but overcame my fear of the nail gun and palm nailer (which is the best power tool ever). The house was (and I don't say it lightly) in the pure hood. Last time I was in New Orleans Center City was still fairly empty but now the population has come back and unfortunately there are a lot of drugs and crime. It's a big problem for anyone to tackle, and I'm glad Urban Impact is at least trying. While in New Orleans I also got to see Brandon and Michael, and we ate some fab cajun (or creole? who knows) food and catch up. Always fun. Brandon also let us in for a late night tour of St. Louis Cathedral which we enjoyed a lot (some people in my group said it was the highlight of the trip).
As for further trips, I am leaving for China on June 10. I am really excited!! I am taking Intrepid's Middle Kingdom Magic tour which starts in Beijing and ends in Kunming. We are going to spend the night in the desert, see the terra cotta warriors, go to Dali, hike Tiger Leaping Gorge, and visit a Tibetan town among other things. After that I am flying to Tokyo via Bangkok (long story) and will be hanging out with Erin for 4 days. Needless to say June 10 can't roll around soon enough for me. I will be back July 9, just in time to start teacher work days on July 10 (I have signed on for another year at Rogers Herr Middle).
Woot!