A City with Hope to Bring
Written by: Eric Prister
New Orleans has always had a high level of appeal. It’s a city that knows how to celebrate. A standard Spring Break destination famous for Mardi Gras, the Superdome, jazz, and Bourbon Street, the lens through which Americans viewed this city shifted dramatically with Hurricane Katrina.
ACE came to New Orleans in 2007, with our ACE 14 cohort. Two years after the storm, the world still remembered the hurricane, but the spotlight had faded. As I headed down to my placement in this great city with ACE 15, I was thrilled. What more could you ask for? Great city. Great culture. Sunshine. I wasn’t sure the sort of state the city would be in. My only experience there had been as a volunteer during spring break cleaning up in the wake of the hurricane.
I had a lot to learn.
This is a town unlike any other. The diversity of food, music and culture isn’t paralleled in a place of this size. I once spent an hour with my students as they listed New Orleans desserts. Not foods, desserts! It was like the shrimp scene from Forrest Gump, only there were 18 Bubbas telling me about beignets and bananas foster. The year is filled with festivals that all offer distinct and delicious delights, ranging from po-boys to art to great music.
In spite of these celebrations, it is impossible to ignore the dark sides of this city. Two of my students lost family members to gun violence. One witnessed it firsthand. A number of Catholic schools experienced massive turnover in the wake of Katrina, struggling to maintain enrollment and school identity in a whirlwind of changes. My school couldn’t adjust to these changes, and closed at the end of my first year.
New Orleans is a witness to colossal juxtaposition. Never have I been in a place in which polar opposites exist so simultaneously. There is a rich, deep culture drawn from a kaleidoscopic heritage; at the same time, it is a violent town with a history of corruption. It is known as much for jazz music as it is for crime. The neighborhoods of the city embody these worlds colliding; decadence and destitution are often literally next door to one another.
During my time in Louisiana, I struggled with this bipolar reality. How could beauty and darkness be such intimate neighbors? In two years, I got to see a lot: a Super Bowl victory for the Saints, a school closing, a gulf oil spill that hammered an area still in recovery.
In the face of challenges and disasters, natural or manmade, this city is anchored on hope. Hope and resilience. Through the good and the bad during my time, these two were always present in the people we met and in the situations, no matter how dire they seemed.
Tough circumstances can bring out the best and the worst in people. This is true of the city of New Orleans, but I saw much more of the former than the latter. I have never met happier people, never felt more welcomed into a foreign community. Although it comes across as cliché, there is a unique spirit to New Orleans. It is a place that has kept on celebrating through devastation and heartache, and will continue to do so.
Of all the foods typical to this place, the best metaphor for my experience would have to be gumbo. A blend of many different ingredients, some of which I love, and some of which I am not very fond of, cooked slowly together in a meal that takes time to prepare, time to digest, and should always be eaten in good company.
Nearly a decade after the storm, while there is still rebuilding to be done, substantial progress has been made. In our seventh year here, ACE teachers have been able to become a small part of the Catholic schools narrative. It is one that reflects the spirit of the city: struggle, hope, and celebration. With our visit for the bus tour, we get to join in this celebration.
With the bus tour, I am heading back to NOLA for the first time since I taught here. I can’t wait to see this fair city again. Imperfect, yes, but filled with unconquerable hope and resilience. There is plenty to celebrate in New Orleans.