First Phone Call!

 Today I started my classes online and on campus.  I am taking cross culture psychology on campus and art history and communications online.  This ensures I will have a lot of free time.  I am really looking forward to exploring this city to the fullest. Tomorrow I am planning on going out and finding camera shops.  Today I also recieved my first phone call from Kris and Jill.  It was really exciting for me because since I have been here I haven't been able to talk to any one except my roommate on Skype.  Now I just hope my parents will get a calling card so I can talk to them.  Well it's off to bed for me it has been a relaxing day.

Duomo

Today was a really fun day! We had Italian class in the morning then for lunch we ate at the cafe Penny Lane you know like the Beatles song. After lunch Elenora took us to the market where they had street vendors selling clothes and food. There were so many things I wanted to buy but held myself back. After the market Jen, Ambar, and I decided to go to Duomo, a beautiful church, we saw it the other day but it was raining so the colors in the stained glass were not very pretty. When we got there we toured inside it is sooo beautiful. All of the stained glass windows and the paintings on the walls. I was in awe. After looking at the inside we wanted to climb to the top of the building to see the city. So we walked around the back of the building and payed 5 Euros to walk up to the top...not fun. I thought I was going to die we walked up so many flights of stairs, I can't believe we payed to walk up that many stairs, but we decided it was cheaper than going to the gym :) When we reached the top we could see the whole city and the moutains that surround Milan. It was such a beautiful sight. After walking around on the roof for a while we decided we needed some gelato it was delicious! By the end of our gelato we were so tired we started to walk back to our apt and on the way I found a beautiful dark purple scarf that I bought and I am so exited to wear. All in all today was a fun day! I am falling in love with this city!

Milano!

Milano Italy what a beautiful place, and to think I will be living here for three more months is just crazy to me. I love this city. On the first day that we arrived I was not so sure how I felt about it...but I was also very sick from the plane ride and traveling. When we first arrived in Milan we were greeted by Eleonora and Sanda leaders of our trip. When we took our luggage out to the bus I realized it was a Mercedes-Benz. I was thinking to myself, WOW a Mercedes! But then soon after realized that the Mercedes is to Italy what the Ford is to America...Everyone has one and they are very common. I also saw a few fords and chevys..but not to many. Everything here is so small. When I say that I mean that the buildings are smaller the cars are smaller and the showers are much smaller. I never realized how big things in America were until I moved here, or how many things we have that we dont need. Like big SUV's we don't need those. They have smart cars and very tiny cars that are the length of my arms from fingertip to fingertip, and they can get buy no problem with them. Anyways this is such a beautiful city and I am already learning so much about the culture and language it is so wonderful I am looking forward to the next few months in this beautiful country!

My class

I just found out my class is stuck in Chicago. I hope all of you get home safely keep us posted.

Seventh Day... 03/30/08

This morning I woke up at 5 to go out and photograph the lower 9th. The sunlight in the morning down there is amazing! While we were photographing the Military Police were following us. They watched us like hawks. While we were walking we came across this home that was nicknamed by us the band-aid house because it had band-aids painted on it. The entire back half of the house was ripped off and you could see inside. No one has touched it since the storm. There are still dishes in the cupboards and toys on the floor. It was the saddest thing I saw the entire trip. When we were done we headed back to the hotel to pick everyone up. When we walked into the airport we found out our flight was delayed an hour so we sat around and talked about our experiences over the past week. I got really bored so I pulled out my camera and started taking pictures of this woman who had a bright pink shirt that said famous.... hopefully I made her feel like it with the camera :). When we arrived at DFW we found that we missed our connector flight and were going to have to find a way to get us all on. Well the plane that was leaving at the moment had five seats left I was one of the five. My other classmates have to wait it out. When we got off the plane in Minneapolis we were told that our classmates will have to fly to Arkansas tonight and stay until morning where they will fly to Chicago and then finally back home. I hope all goes well and they have safe flights! Well that’s all for me I'm so tired and need to get some sleep before the first day of the quarter tomorrow. Good Luck Class!

Sixth Day 03/29/08

This morning we woke up at 7am, loaded up the van, and headed out to the Honey Swamp tour. Where we toured the bayous and swamps. While on the boat we saw a large alligator and our tour guide fed him marshmallows. It was really fun watching his mouth come out of the water and watching him chew. After our tour we loaded up the van and drove back into town to meet up with the people from parkway partners. After they explained what they wanted then we went over to a small market store that had Chinese food. It was the best Chinese I have ever had. When we finished we headed back over to the tree planting where we photographed. I mainly photographed two girls that were around my age. They were fun to talk to. As I walked around I found a young child watching from a doorway and another young boy playing basketball as he watched them plant trees in his neighborhood, and it made me really happy to know these kids will grow up with the trees and have them around to play under and around. After we left we headed over to the lower 9th Ward. It was just a huge open area with steps and foundations. There were only a few houses left around. It's sad knowing the area was once a neighborhood. When we got back we all went out for dinner. It was so much fun you could tell we all had a special bond from this trip. We laughed and played silly games. It made me feel like I was really a part of something. A few of us headed back to the hotel but on the way we got a call from Rich he told us we needed to walk down Bourbon St. just to experience it. So we walked back and as soon as we hit Bourbon I had a huge smile on my face it was amazing. With all the people in costumes and beads. I was amazed. I'm glad we went back. After we walked a couple of blocks we headed back because we had to get up early in the morning.

Fifth Day 03/28/2008

\Waking up at 8:15am this morning I felt well rested and ready to go. We walked down to a cemetery and took photos. As we were taking photo I felt as if I were sweating off 20lbs. It was so humid and hot. After the cemetery we went to Audoban Park where we walked around under the huge trees. They were gorgeous. We also had a picnic in the park. It was very relaxing. When we were done eating Brian, Steph, and I went for a walk around the neighborhood to photograph homes. When we arrived back at the park our group was walking over to see the birds and ducks. After watching them for a while we were given the assignment to shoot a 5x5, 5 architecture and 5 strangers. So we walked around and photographed architecture. After walking for a while we headed back to the hotel where we had the rest of the night off. Brian and I decided to relax in the pool for a while and then go shopping for souvenirs. After we spent a ton of money we met up at the hotel and headed out to Juan's Flying Burrito. We had the most delicious flying burrito ever! In all I had a relaxing day we didn’t over work ourselves and were able to have more freedom. I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow!

Fourth Day 03/27/2008

Another early morning I awoke to the sound of Colbie Colait's "Bubbly". I wasn't feeling to bubbly this morning I didn't want to get out of bed. After forcing myself to get dressed, I met up with everyone in the lobby. We loaded up the vans and headed out to the Holy Cross-neighborhood where we meet up with a man by the name of John. He is in Americorps and works with the Rebuild New Orleans program. He introduced us to Sydney Davis who is a homeowner in the neighborhood. He stayed behind when the storm came in order to protect his home after the storm from looters. He found himself stuck in the attic and had to be rescued by someone cutting through his roof. He told us next time they are told to evacuate he won't be sticking around. He allowed us to photograph him he said at his age people taking his photograph doesn’t bother him. He said not much bothers him anymore. After talking with Sydney, John took us down the street where they were disassembling a home to reuse the parts to restore other homes. The Rebuild New Orleans program takes down houses and saves the pieces, like doorways and moldings, in order to help fund the program instead of solely rely on the generosity of strangers. The next home we went to was the home of Miss Gibbs. I was not expecting to get emotionally attached to this woman. After she answered the door John explained to her who we were, and without hesitation she invited us in and opened her home and heart to 20 strangers. When we first entered the home she kept on telling us don’t be afraid to go in Miss Gibbs home, and come on baby come in go in my room and see don’t be afraid of Miss Gibbs. She offered us coffee or water, while telling us stories of how she had to be rescued by boat after the storm. Miss Gibbs is by far the biggest hearted woman I have ever met. I was so interested in what she had to say I wasn't even worried about getting the right photograph, I just wanted to hear her talk. When we left she gave a few of us a big hug and told us she loved us and that she wished us a safe trip back and for us to have fun the rest of the week. As we were loading up the vans she yelled once more from her doorway "Love YOU!" After arriving back at the hotel we dropped our bags in our room and met back in the lobby to go get lunch. We walked over to Mothers and I ordered a turkey po boy. Our waitress was so nice they called her big booty Pat. After stuffing our faces we came back to the hotel and were given time to rest. I was able to take and hour-long nap it felt amazing. When I woke up I had to meet everyone back in the lobby for critique. After crypt. we packed up and headed back out to the Algiers neighborhood. It is a neighborhood that wasn't badly affected by the storm because it's levees held. In order to get there we had to get on a ferryboat and cross the Mississippi River. While on the boat we met a couple of locals and they told us to stay out of a certain part, past this street that I can’t spell the name of... We split up into groups in my group was Rich and Amanda. We decided to walk towards this bridge. While walking our path was cut short and we weren’t able to get close to it so we walked down into the neighborhood where we found Mardi Gras World, where they build Mardi Gras floats. As we were walking through this part of the neighborhood we noticed there wasn’t a lot of difference here from the places that had been affected by the storm. This made me wonder what the whole city looked like before Katrina. While walking we suddenly saw the street sign we weren’t suppose to pass, we had been walking in the bad part of the neighborhood the whole time. As soon as we crossed the street there were beautiful old restored homes. I suddenly felt very safe, unlike before. We all became very uninspired because we have seen so many old home since being here, and we were also so wore out that we weren’t feeling very creative so we walked back to the ferry and headed back to the hotel. Tonight we were able to get back by 6 and we have the rest of the night to relax, blog, and edit. Of course as soon as I got back into the room I passed out for a couple of hours. Now that I have been able to nap and shower I feel much better and tonight I will be able to go to bed at a decent time. Even though I'm physically and mentally exhausted, I can't wait to get up tomorrow and do it all over again! I love New Orleans!

Third Day 03/26/08

This morning when I heard my alarm go off at 6am, I was in no mood to get up. I didn’t get to bed last night until after midnight. After fighting myself for 15 min. I finally rolled our of bed and got ready. I met up with everyone in the lobby at 6:30am and we hopped into the vans and drove to Musicians Village to shoot at sunrise. While walking around we ran into Maya who works in volunteer services. She told us a little about what they are doing and about the community. After talking with Maya we walked around some more until 8:30am when we met up with Elise. Who is the public relations person for Habitat for Humanity. She laid down the ground rules and they set us free to take pictures. The first thing I did was walk through one of the houses where I found high schoolers painting. At first they were interested in us being there but they soon grew tired of being photographed so I moved on through the house and on outside. Where I walked along the backside of the houses and found the high band setting up. They were going to perform at noon for everyone on the job site and anyone else who wanted to come. The teacher gave me a newspaper article about what they did to be able to get down there. They were from IL. After being informed on the band I explored some more and found them working on the framework of a house. At first they were very aware of me taking their pictures so after a while I started to act like I was bored with taking their photos and they started to relax and I was able to get some great shots. There were a few students who came up and talked to me about what I was doing and were very comfortable in front of the camera. While photographing everyone started to get tired so Rich asked a staff member where we could get lunch and he introduced us to a woman by the name of Pearl. She is a homeowner. She allowed us to take photos of her with the flash and umbrella. Then she led us to a small market where we go po boys and sandwiches. While walking back to the habitat site I felt very out of place with my huge camera bag and camera strapped around my neck. I hate the feeling of being a tourist and with us there is no way to even try to hide the fact that we are tourist with our cameras. After getting back we all packed into the van and came back to the hotel where I was able to take a 30 min. nap before we met again in the lobby for critique. After crit. we took the streetcar to the cemeteries. Along the way we met a lady by the name of Kathy she told us about the cemeteries and tried to contact a friend to get us in because at that time of day they were closed. But her friend couldn’t do anything for us. So we found a way into one of them. We split up into groups so that we wouldn’t get mugged because cemeteries are not the safest place. After we split up we turned around and a flock of birds flew up and scarred us. While walking through the cemetery I saw beautiful mausoleums. The sky was so blue it looked amazing. I've also come up with an idea for my final project, I want to use us. The behind the scenes type series, what it takes to make a photograph. I told Rich my idea and he said he would think about it. Hopefully he will say I can. Because I find myself taking more photographs of us. Than my surroundings. Although I still take pictures like everyone else. At the end of this day my feet hurt, I'm sun burnt, and my middle toe on my left side is numb. And with all of that I still can't wait to get up tomorrow and do it again. The pain is worth the gain!

Second Day 03/25/2008

Today was our first real day of shooting. We had to downstairs by 8:30am. It wasn't hard to wake up because I slept so well, yesterday wore me out. After we met in the lobby we loaded up and headed off to the Holy Cross-neighborhood. I rode in the car with Colleen, and on the way she was pointing out places of interest. When we reached the neighborhood we drove around to scout out what we wanted to photograph. We pulled over on Douglass and walked up to the top of the levee. The view was amazing you could see all kinds of ships and barges; it also had an amazing view of the city. We split up into groups of two. Peter was my partner. We decided that we wanted to find people to photograph. The first group of people we came across was a Church Group from Washington. We stopped and chatted for a while, they were very friendly. One of the guys even knew someone who goes to our school, small world. They were painting the house and seemed very aware of us taking pictures. While I was talking with one of the guys from the group Peter seemed to disappear behind the house. I've decided from now on we need to find someone to go with us and talk to the people while both of us photograph otherwise I seem to be doing most of the talking. After talking to the group for a while we moved on down the street where we came across a contract company. Where we stopped and talked with two men that were standing on the porch of one of the homes they were working on. They told us all about the houses in the neighborhood and how to tell when they were constructed. They also invited us into one of the homes they were working on. After touring the home we headed back to the car to meet up with everyone. When we reached the car we realized we were the only ones there so Peter and I decided to keep exploring. As we were walking we saw Rich in the distance so Peter called him and he told us to come down where he was. As we were walking closer we saw a man by the name of Robert. Rich was talking to him and learning more about him. Robert is a homeowner in the Holy Cross-neighborhood he was born and raised in his home. He allowed us to take a few photographs of him. After we took a few photographs we found a house that was being built by project pink (the project started by Brad Pitt) we asked the construction workers if we could get a tour of the home and they told us to talk to the boss who was in a trailer-office. While Rich went inside Peter and I waited outside. Unfortunately the man told us we couldn't because he had to talk to corporate but to keep in touch with him and maybe would could go in another day. After being turned down we tried to catch up with the other group. Once we found them we noticed they were talking to a lady who was telling them stories about the neighborhood. She told us we needed to talk to Miss Stacy the resident who has been living there the longest. Miss Stacy was a very nice lady she explained why Flood St. was name the way it was and she told us her story. She said some days she thinks Katrina was a blessing because now she has a gov. loan to restore her home and it’s on the historical registry. Miss Stacy also took us inside her home. It was beautiful. It is still in the process of being restored but the ceilings were so tall and there was so much room. From the outside it doesn’t look nice at all but looks can definitely be deceiving. After going to the Holy Cross-neighborhood we had a tour of the Ogden Museum. Where we were able to see prints of Jerry Uelesman up close. We were also shown pictures that weren’t on the walls ones from the back. They pulled out a few Walker Evans and Eggleston prints, just to name a few. After the tour we headed back to the hotel to grab all of our gear. We were headed to the French quarter. Where we split up into groups of three my group was Peter, Bethany, and I. After a quick lesson from rich on how to use the flash with an umbrella. We were told to find a subject and use this technique. While wandering we came across a man by the name of Patrick playing his guitar. Bethany approached him and asked if we could photograph him. So we set up the flash and umbrella, and had him sit by the water. He was more than happy to sit for us. After photographing Patrick we walked back to the church where we met up with the rest of the group, and found a place to eat. We ended up eating at this Cajun restaurant where I had Gumbo for the first time, it was amazing! At sunset we were given the assignment to photograph a building and balance the light. After we finished our assignment we did some shopping for souvenirs, and then headed back to the hotel to get some shuteye!

check out my flickr! www.flickr.com/tupa07

My First Day!

Today was the first on our week long adventure in New Orleans. Megan stayed over last night in order for us to have a ride to the airport. I woke up at 2:45AM to get ready, we left the apt at 3:15AM. On the ride to the airport I had butterflies in my stomach I was so excited! Also we didn't look up directions we just figured we would drive down by the mall and find it from there well we ended up not taking the exit to the mall but taking the one after it, and found ourselves heading down a restricted road for authorized personnel only. So we had to turn around and get off at the mall exited. That's when our instinctive compasses kicked in and we found the airport. When we arrived there were only a few others waiting. Both our teachers ended up being 20min. late. The group checked in without them. When we got on the plane I found myself sitting next to a rather large man who ended up elbowing me the whole plane ride to Dallas. But to my left was Bethany, she was nervous about the flight but we talked for a while and I think that may have distracted her some. Once we were in the air I found myself not feeling well. I had a headache and felt like throwing up. Landing in Dallas made me feel very lightheaded. Once we landed we had to find our gate. We found the sky train and hopped on. It felt like we were in the Jefferson’s because the train car was small and went really fast. The airport felt really futuristic. Once we arrived at our gate we had an hour and a half to kill so we wandered around and took some photos. I also gave my parents a call to let them know I had landed. While we were sitting waiting Caitlin was playing " Are you Smarter than a 5th grader?" on her DS and some of the questions seemed really hard even to hard for a 5th grader. When we were boarding the plane I started to feel sick again. As we go up into the air I felt fine again. As we were landing in New Orleans I was watching out the window and could see a ton of damage. When we got off the plane and were walking to get our checked luggage. I realized that this is the airport that was shown in the documentary by Spike Lee and when we walked into the large room right before our checked luggage I was just thinking of the images of the bodies spread out wall to wall trying to leave and it hit me that I was in New Orleans. It became very real to me. We rented a van and a SUV type vehicle. We could hardly fit all of the luggage in and we were packed. On the car ride to the hotel I felt like throwing up again I was trying as hard as I could to hold it back because I didn’t want to be known as the girl who threw up the first day! Luckily I was able to hold it back and make it to the hotel. I've never before in my life felt as sick as I have on this trip. Well we arrived at the Country Inn and the architecture of the building is beautiful inside and out. After checking into the hotel we were able to unpack a little and then get something to eat before we went on the tour. We ate at Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant. I had chicken Parmesan it was delicious yet a little spicy. After lunch we met up back at the hotel for our tour of the damaged areas. At first we saw downtown and I took a few photos then, then we moved onto the lower 9th ward and Jefferson Parish, these areas shocked me I couldn't believe how little they have done to fix the areas up. Some parts looked like they hadn't even been touched. I thought it would be bad down here but I didn’t realize it was this bad. They need so much help to get this city back to pre Katrina it will take so a long time. As we were driving we were noticing the markings on the outside of the houses from the rescue teams and at first it was kind of cool because we were seeing zeros that meant no one was found dead inside but then we can across a house with a one and it hit me once again that this is very real and these people have been through so much. After a while I felt guilty taking pictures because we were paying this tour company and they were making money off of others suffering. I didn’t like that feeling. After the tour we had a couple of hours to do whatever so Brian and I sat by the pool for a while and then went back to his room to hang out and download images from the day. Most of my images didn’t turn out because I was taking them from a bus and my camera was filthy the cage didn’t clean them before we came down here! For dinner we ended up going to this Nacho place it was really good I had two chicken tacos that were delicious! As we were sitting there I happened to look up at the telephone wires and saw a ton of beads hanging and I realized that pretty much anywhere you go in New Orleans you will find beads. After dinner we waited for the bus for 45 min and I was freezing because I didn’t really bring the warmest of clothes. After riding the New Orleans public bus I realized that our buses in Minneapolis are like luxury the buses down here are very worn out and rickety. They seem like they could fall apart at any moment and they have graffiti all over and they are dirty. All in all my first day in New Orleans has been an eye opener and I'm looking forward to learning more about this city and it's culture over the next week!

5 days!

With only 5 days left before we leave I'm starting to get butterflies in my stomach from the excitement. I'm also very nervous because I only get one chance to do well if I mess it up then I don't get another chance. I packed more today because I wont have much time to pack this weekend because I am going home for Easter. I feel like I am bringing way to much stuff yet at the same time feel like I'm going to forget something. Brian and I have found a ride to the airport so that is one less thing to worry about. Our final meeting is tonight to discuss the little details of the week. Also I will be posting some of my images that I have taken for classes so you can get a feel for my work.

Finals

I've been doing finals since this past week and it's so stressful and with the trip to New Orleans it only adds to the stress. I ordered flash cards in the mail I'm hoping they come in before we leave. If they don’t that will be one more thing to worry about. My speech that I have been working on is about my unicycle now I know that doesn’t sound like it would be hard to write but finding information is not to easy and the fact that I cant stay concentrated on writing I get distracted by every little thing. I wish they had never invented facebook because that is my biggest distraction. My roommate is moving out this week it's one of those bitter sweet things its nice because I will be able to have my own room and sleep in peace without someone walking in and out. But it's also a bitter thing because outside of this apt we get along really well and I know that when she moves out we wont hang out because she will have her own life going on and I will have mine so that makes me very sad. When I first moved in we were very close but recently haven’t been I wish it would go back to those times when we got along so well when there was no drama of living together. But those times will never be again and I will have to move on and just keep those times in my heart. Now that I've done my rambling I must get some sleep so I will be well rested for my speech tomorrow or should I say today now since it’s past midnight.

Excitement

With less than two weeks before we leave I'm getting super excited. I already went out and bought all of my travel sized needs and even started to pack my suitcase. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is getting up so early monday morning to leave. I'm still wondering if I can bring mace on the plane if it's in my checked lougage. I've looked on the website for the airlines and it didnt say anything about it so hopefully I can. I've heard New Orleans can be a dangerous place so I would like to have it on me just in case becasue I will be carrying expensive equipment on my back and I dont need it to get stollen. All in All I'm looking forward to getting out and seeing new parts of the counrty. CAN'T WAIT FOR NEW ORLEANS!!

Spike Lee

Recently I watched the film When the Levees Broke by Spike Lee. Before watching the movie I wasn't very informed on how slowly the government responded or how huge the disaster really was. After watching the movie I am upset with the government for taking so long to respond to such a huge disaster like this. To live in a country where you’re told that you are free, free to be anything you want. We are supposed to have higher standards than other countries yet other countries responded to this disaster faster than our own. I feel Lee really told the story the way it should have been told, he didn’t glamorize anything. It really made an impact on me and made me see the disaster from a whole other perspective. It makes me anxious for New Orleans because I know what these people went through and that I will be talking to people and hearing their stories, and I’m not sure if I will be able to hold it together and not break down and cry.