To Care in Crescent City

A few weeks have passed, and a few projects have been done. While I am beginning to feel that my job will be mostly authoring mentoring/tutoring programs that may have to be implemented in the next term, I am growing much more comfortable being in N'Orleans. It's funny how important small things become; your favorite restaurant, place to get a cup of coffee, street, park, bar. It lets you see a city as more than just a location.
Our latest corporate project is painting murals for schools, an affair financed by Starbucks. It's hard to think about Starbucks without thinking of Lewis Black's hysterical critique of the company, but it's encouraging to see that companies are investing some time and money into the betterment of the city. It's been fun so far, and though the work I've been doing with my other VLs has ranged a bit, it has brought some insight into what can be done to best help the city progress. If New Orleans is going to rebuild in a way that stabilizes it for the future, it's going to be done by New Orleans and the private sector.
From a personal standpoint, my views on what it means to be successful here have been greatly modified. Though I still put a high level of measure in being able to complete some programs here, I am finding that I am being shaped by my VL family. I'm learning to be a bit more open, less critical in my approach. In some ways, my VL family is a bit like N"Orleans; diverse, cultured, sensitive, thoughtful, foreign. We're all starkly different in our philosophies and backgrounds, sleep habits and diets. Funny how there's no real drama between us. Either way, it's good to be part of it.