Reflections

Beatrice

The gulf coast trip was fun and educational. I enjoyed interviewing “2Pac.” His story was very sad. He told us how he and his family were stuck on the porch for three days without

food and clean water. The water was touching them and he said if it would have gone up any higher they could have drowned. On the third day a helicopter picked him and his family up and took them to the convention center. They were there for a few days and while they were there many bad things happened. People were being raped and beaten. After they took people to the airport and families they were separated and sent to different states. He also told us about the crime and the gangs in New Orleans. He was involved in a gang and had recently been shot. Altogether he had been shot eight times. He said there was a lot of violence and drug activity in his neighborhood.

The beach was nice. I’ve never seen sand that white. It was fun when Mr. Treacy was going dumb in the van and Mr. Z was trying to do donuts. It was hilarious like something you would see on TV. Hahaha….

Something else I won’t forget was when I ate the frog leg. I did not want to eat it. I tried the calamari first and it was very chewy. It took me about a minute to eat one. Then after I worked up the courage to eat the frog leg it tasted better than the calamari! It does not taste like chicken it tastes like frog. It is soft like chicken though.

Last but not least, when I saw all the people affected by Hurricane Katrina I was very touched; when I saw how the houses were damaged and how people never went back to their homes to claim their belongings. You saw people's clothes and kid’s toys, beds, blankets, and furniture knocked down. It was very sad. I couldn’t imagine going through something like that. It made me think about the huge earthquake (in the Bay Area in 1989) that happened and even though I don’t remember anything because I was only a baby when it happened I’ve heard of all the damage it did. It made me hope that we would not ever have to go through something like that.

Edwin

The first day in New Orleans, we went right to interview people. In

my group we focused more on day laborer workers. I was nervous at the beginning because I didn't know what to say. But then I got confident in myself, it made it easier for me because I was talking in Spanish. I learned a lot by interviewing one particular worker; he told us a lot of the trouble that the Latino workers go through. For example, it really touched me when he said that some of the workers don't get paid for their jobs. It made me think a lot because they are hard workers and they drench in sweat just to get food on their table.

Another thing that was interesting to me was that one of the main problems that they go through is that their work materials get stolen. In some cases they get assaulted with guns, just for their money. Furthermore, going to the Ninth Ward and seeing all of the houses destroyed made me sad because most of the people that lived there were low-income and they don't have any money to come back and fix their houses. Most of their houses there were for sale because people don't want to live there any more. I went inside a house where everything was destroyed. I could tell that there were kids that lived in this house because there was a gaming

system X-box on the floor and a lot of toys. The walls of the house were rotten and green stuff was still on it. In addition, of some of the houses that were once there, now some of them their cement stairs are only left. Going to Mobile, Alabama and doing the hosting with the students of MGM high school, was a great experience for me. I felt weird being in a school where 90% of the students were white, but there were some really cool students and teachers that got me engaged in their class, and I felt very welcomed. I got to stay with a Middle Eastern family (Saudi Arabia). I learned a lot about this family. For example, the dad was a technical computer teacher at a local university and they were very kind towards me staying in their house. Moreover, I got the chance to learn some Arabic words, which I think its really cool. Overall, this trip helped me to explore a different culture as well as getting a little bit of experience of what the people went through after Katrina.

Juan

Going to the down south was a really great experience.  My family and I

never actually imagined that this was coming.  First of all, before I get into all the descriptions of the trip, I would like to take a moment and write about the teachers.  I appreciate all the teachers who were with us and thanks to them I made my family proud.  My parents were not expecting this from me. I would like to thank Ms. Hsu, Mr. Treacy, Mr. Carter, and Mr. Zarazua for choosing me to go to this fabulous trip. 

Our day one out there was just fabulous. We took time and interviewed someone whose heart was crushed. He had family in Mexico and in California.  That man really made me change my ways of thinking.  There was also a little piece of danger down south.  I was walking on the sidewalk and I was walking down the street when there was a car going top speed and just tried to run me over. It was just inches away from me. I was very lucky that I got away from that.  Seeing people fixing there houses and rebuilding them just made me feel like if

I was at home (Oakland, California) because people are always fixing their houses, especially my family. They are always doing something to the house.  When I first seen a book which was just for Hurricane Katrina’s impact, there were houses (marked) with Xs and they were just there abandoned with no one there.  When we were driving around I saw those houses like they were in the book and I said to myself “wow almost three years and still no one has help this people who’s houses are still destroyed.” 

Our second day on New Orleans was so shocking to me. We went to the place were the levees first went down and it was so sad seeing no house but the stairways to the door were still there.  I was just shocked seeing a wall just there and basically that wall was the problem of the sto

ry. If it wasn’t for that, New Orleans would still continue on what they were doing.  I went inside some houses and there was furniture still there, TVs just there…It was horrible. I couldn’t take it any more.  The thing that shocked me the most was that there was a mailbox and inside of the mailbox there was mail from the city of New Orleans. Who knows what that letter said.  Later that day we interviewed Hispanics, or to be more specific, immigrants who migrated to New Orleans.  They were telling me that not only don’t the contractors pay them but that the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) agency contracted them and still did not gave them a cent.  It was interesting because I thought that FEMA ran through the government. Shouldn’t they contract people with passports, or should I say, citizens? 

Our day three at Gulf Shores was great. I’ve never seen such a place like

that.  We went to the beach and the sand was white. It wasn’t brown, black, nor gray. It was white.  The water was beautiful. I swear that I’ve never seen waves like the ones from Gulf Shores. They were beautiful.  The students who were with us, they were very like family to me.  They really had time for everything we wanted to do. They were always on our side. They never said “no” to anything. 

Day four at Mobile was great; sleeping over at our host cribs was such an experience to me.  I learned things that I never new about other cultures.  One thing that I did new in my life was praying on the table. 

Day five at Mobile was very special. I experienced classes I’ve never

heard of in my life. There were hallways that were as big as the streets and classrooms that were the size of my backyard.  When we had the round table discussion it was special because we just talked on and on. I felt like I was at home talking to my mom because with my mom I say everything that it’s on my mind. That’s how I felt when I was on that round table discussion.

Going down south was a really great experience. I never regret going to this trip. I love it and hopefully I will be going back this summer if everything goes right.  Once again I would like to take a moment and thank all the teachers for this enormous trip.

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