Day 4

Hey ya'll,
The big easy is great as usual. Today, we went out to the
Barataria wetlands to work with the Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP). We did a lot of clearing on the paths and cutting back of vegetation. The amount of land lost due to natural causes, ie: humans damming up rivers, is astounding. One football field is lost every 38 min. Thinking on a larger scale, that's over 25 football fields of land lost every day. Thinking of the history of the environment and NOLA, the damming and levees have really hurt us overall. There was initally natural hurricane protection with all of the swamp land and other land. Now the Mississippi no longer overflows its sediment to create new land, or build upon present landsan hence why the land is "sinking". After that, we ate a late lunch and then came home. We relaxed, showered, and got ready for more of the afternoon. Most of the group went to Tulane for a tour(not me as I'm going next week). Meanwhile, Dean and I went on a mission to find a music store for guitar strings, a walgreens for allergy medicine, and a gym for him and Eric to work out at while here. No luck on the gym. It was quite the adventure, as we got lost on the way back. We got to see some of the very wealthy area of New Orleans. When I say wealthy, I mean huge mansions, Range Rovers, BMWs, Mercedes, Bentleys. Real money here. It is really crazy the separation between the upper and lower class here. Very evident in many aspects. It never ceases to amaze me at how different it is here from home, and just people's mentality, and way of life. I absolutely love it. Once we finally got home, we ate dinner quick and following the fastest shower I've ever taken, got in the van to head out to lake Ponchartrain, and just look out at the water. It was very pretty, although the smell wasn't great. Next, we ventured to Magazine St (my second time today with the music store and walgreens) for some ice cream. We went to la divina gelateria, or basically an awesome gelato place. I love this city and could easily see myself going to college here, and maybe living at some point. You never know.
I'm going to turn in for the night.
Check yo'self,
Ben
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry