At the end of June, my family and I set out on an almost week long vacation to New Orleans, Louisiana. We headed to the Cedar Rapids airport on Saturday June 27, and our plane was scheduled to leave at 11:30 am. After we boarded our plane in Cedar Rapids, we had to travel to Atlanta, Georgia for a connecting flight. There would have been minimal layover time because our flight from Cedar Rapids left late, however, when we arrived in Georgia there were some delays because a strong storm system was moving through the area. Heavy rains and lightning delayed every flight and pushed our arrival time to New Orleans to 9:00 pm. Once we arrived at the airport and got our bags off the plane, we went and got our rental car, a 2015 red GMC Envoy with …show more content…
Illinois plates. I had to Google pop radio stations in the surrounding area because that is the kind of music my parents and I enjoy. We could not find any pop, so we settled on a country station and I remember listening to “Little Toy Guns” by Carrie Underwood almost every time we got in the car. We drove our car to La Quinta hotel, our home away from home for the next week. Other than our time spent relaxing at the hotel, my parents and I also found time to sightsee and of course they watched me play volleyball! With our crazy schedule while in New Orleans, there was not much time for relaxing. There really never is any time for relaxing when we go on vacation, even though that’s the whole point. My family likes to spend as much time as we can touring every square inch of our destination, that’s what makes the experience fun! Being that this was a very important volleyball tournament, I tried to relax whenever I could though. However, my relaxation time was limited because of our crazy schedule of sightseeing and volleyball playing. There were a few mornings where I slept until 10 and likely would have slept all day had my parents not started getting ready and insisted I woke up. Other than sleeping, my relaxation time fell on the last day of the trip, after volleyball was over. Whenever we go to volleyball tournaments, we are not allowed to go swimming because it wears you out. So I made it my mission to go swimming after our last game of volleyball. Our hotel had a rooftop pool and I couldn’t have been more excited! The second I got back to the hotel room, I put on my swimsuit and was ready to go. My mom and I rode the elevator up to the roof. There was one major problem, our room key didn’t open the pool door like it was supposed to. We tried and tried to open the door but there was no hope, until I thought I found a loophole. There was a weight room that also had a door that entered into the pool. My mom tossed me the key and tried to open the door, no luck. I tried and tried hoping just one time I would get lucky and the door would open, but it wouldn’t. We headed back down to the room so my mom could call the front desk and see what the problem was. The front desk didn’t know there was an issue so they said they would send someone up right away to fix it. My mom and I waited for about 15 minutes in the room before heading back up. I ran to the door and tried our key right away thinking it would work, wrong. Our key still didn’t work. Lucky there were now people sitting out on the rooftop, who had gotten in when the person came up to fix it, that could let us in. My excitement for the pool was very short lived, and it ended up being kind of sad, but I was determined to go swimming. I hopped in the pool, which ended up being 4 feet deep, which is not very fun when you are 6’1”. That didn’t stop me, I ended up just walking around in the pool for a little bit because it was pretty cold. Before we knew it, a storm had started to develop and it was thundering. Soon after, we saw flashes of lightning and that scared my mom. She told me I had to get out of the pool. I ended up swimming for less than 10 minutes. After that, I was pretty upset, but it is better to be safe than sorry. We went back to the room, showered, watched tv, and went to bed, our trip back home began the next morning. The sightseeing on our trip didn’t prove to be as disappointing as my relaxation time. When we were in New Orleans, we managed to do a lot of sightseeing, as much as we could handle. New Orleans is very warm, making it uncomfortable to do much sightseeing outside, and a person can only tolerate so much walking before your feet hurt. Some of the places we visited include Mardi Gras World, the World War II Museum, the aquarium, and some of the infamous streets in New Orleans. Mardi Gras World was easily my favorite of the places we visited. It is a giant building where most of the Mardi Gras floats are built and stored. The employees work year round for Mardi Gras. The day after Mardi Gras is over, planning for the next year is already beginning. Many of the pieces are reused year after year and are slightly repurposed or altered to make them look different from past uses. It was amazing to see the time and quality that went into making each element look perfect. The things I saw on the streets of New Orleans are also memories I will never forget. Bourbon Street was quite the experience. All I have to say is prostitution must be legal in New Orleans, because there were girls barely clothed standing on the corners trying to solicit males to go into the clubs. It was quite disturbing actually and would definitely not receive a PG rating. Although I had time to play in New Orleans, my real business was volleyball. Back in March, my club volleyball team qualified for the Junior Olympic National Championships which were held in New Orleans this year.
Teams from across the United States and surrounding territories have the opportunity to compete against other teams of their age and skill level if they qualify prior to at a qualifying tournament. My team began play on Sunday and ended on Thursday, which was four days of high level, intense volleyball. We didn’t play so well the first couple of days going 1-3, but came out strong the last two days of the tournament. We ended up with a record of 6-3, winning five straight games. That was good enough for us to win the bottom half of the tournament, placing 25th out of 48 teams overall. The last game was bittersweet for me, it was likely the last club volleyball game of my career. I have been playing club volleyball with the organization for four years and I had the same coaches for all four of them. They taught me more about volleyball and life skills than I could have ever imagined, and for that I will forever be grateful. I will miss my club family more than anything and couldn’t have asked for a better experience to end on. Competing at nationals is a big deal and I couldn’t be more proud of everything my team was able to accomplish. I have a strong passion for volleyball and it consumes most of my time, but I don’t mind. I couldn’t have asked for a better “vacation” to New Orleans, filled with playing
volleyball. Friday morning we set out on our journey home, just in time for the annual Fourth of July festivities held in Iowa. Our flights on the way home were slightly different than on the way out to New Orleans. Our connecting flight this time around was in Milwaukee rather than Atlanta, and all of our flights were on time. It was hard for me to accept that the vacation was over and I had to go home. Time always seems to go faster when you are enjoying yourself. Although I wish I could have stayed on vacation forever, I was ready to leave the heat and humidity of New Orleans behind. It was an amazing cultural and eventful trip and I wouldn’t have wanted it to go any other way. I’m glad I got to experience everything New Orleans had to offer!
“The Old Man and the Storm”, was a documentary that forces the viewer into seeing the reality of the situation and the devastation Hurricane Katrina brought. June Cross and June Elliot, shown by the company Frontline, produced the video. When Hurricane Katrina and its follow up storm Rita went through Louisiana and specifically New Orleans, it gave a devastating and lasting impact on the residents. Cross went to New Orleans and met the man that inspired the now documentary. Upon visiting the town Cross-meets Herbert Gettridge, a man adamant on staying in New Orleans and repairing his house no matter at what cost. The story tells the tale of the residents trying to salvage what they had left after the storm. They found that insurance companies
Eleven years ago Hurricane Katrina hit us, hard. The levees failed to do what they were made for. It was both a natural and man made disaster that was destined to happen and too late to stop. The damage has been done; the lives lost. But this storm, awful as it was, did more than destroy. The hurricane brought people closer as we cleaned up cleaned up after it’s mess. There were people donating, volunteering. It all just goes back to show our identity as Americans. It shows that even when we get knocked down, we always resurface, united as one, and if that isn’t our identity; I don’t know what is.
We were going to win the game. That was the end of it. I knew it. We were the winners of that game. I stood up and yelled in a voice that even frightened me. I didn’t scream about moving our feet, or calling the ball, I screamed about how big of winners we were. I was done with moping. For seven minutes of my life, I had forgotten that I could do anything I set my mind to, and I had given up. The worst seven minutes of my volleyball career were those seven minutes in the third game of the final match at Brighton Volleyball Tournament. I had put my determination down to wallow in my disappointment. Disappointment needs to build determination. I had decided a long time ago that there were certain things in life that I could do better than other people. Those were my gifts. I use my gifts to my full potential.
Have you ever been to Texas? I have been once. My trip to Texas was unbelievably awesome. I saw many of things on my way there. While we were there, I had loads of fun. Many things happened while we were there. Texas was the coolest place I have ever been.
The most nicest thing that I have ever done was give people food clothes and money to people in my grandfather church and people in the streets in Haiti. During the summer my mother and I take trips to Haiti to help with family and friends and pray with them. So this summer I asked her can we go to my grandfather church that he left when he passed away and give people things that is in help. When I landed in Haiti I was anxious to get off the plane and help people that was in need. After we got off the plane we had to get a cab. On the cab ride I notice a lot of people in need in the streets so I told the driver to stop and I gave people cloths food and money for their family.
In August 2005, at the tender age of 7, I received the most devastating news. I was told by my family that a hurricane was coming to my city, New Orleans, Louisiana. Because of this storm, Hurricane Katrina, I was told that I would most likely have to move away for a long time, meaning the rest of my life. My family and I lost everything, and the hurricane ended up destroying the entire city completely. This was heartbreaking to me for a plethora of reasons, including that I lost loved ones and was separated from the rest of my family at such an early age. This ravaging storm marked the most drastic change of my life.
I was born and lived in Haiti for eight years of my life. The poverty there is so high that it has been labeled the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. That is where I grew up. People had homes, but they could often be blown away by strong winds. Our materials for building homes was of very poor quality and limited. We had so little money that I often saw kids and their families sleeping on the side of every street corner. I was one of the most fortunate kids. I remember sleeping on a dirt floor in my grandmother’s little hay house when I was around six years old. At least I had a home. I was put in an orphanage where I was later adopted and brought to the United States. Almost everyday, at the orphanage, the kids and I talked of how
If I were able to travel to anywhere in this world without worrying about expenses, I would travel to New Orleans; a Louisiana city that is located on the Mississippi River and is in close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. New Orleans has a number of things to provide as to why I would travel there, but I only picked my main three that I mostly want to do. The first reason is for the unique and diverse culture New Orleans has to offer. The other two reasons are for the history and to witness the creepy side of New Orleans that it is most famous and known for.
Coming to Haiti I did not know what to expect. As soon as I stepped off the plane I was filled with mixed feelings on weather I would be able to appreciate and take in an environment that I have never stepped foot in. The air smelled different, the pace felt slower than America and the people appeared to have a communal camaraderie that I have never seen before. The sad part is, my mind was conditioned to expect Haiti to be a sloven third world country, however my time here has proven quite the opposite. I look forward to the adventures and experience awaiting to come.
I hate moving. The fact that I’m leaving all my friends and my old house. I live in Florida. I love it there, its warm and sunny. I cannot believe I’m moving to Louisiana it will take weeks to get used to it and make new friends. The new house is in the middle of the country, I wont be near friends at all. As I said goodbye to all my friends I got in the packed full car with my mom. When I saw my town get smaller and smaller in the mirror as got just a little sad. I was disappointed to leave my home in Florida to Louisiana.
I tried to start the car but it wouldn’t work. I turned my head again
Where y’at Nola? In New Orleans that means what’s up or where are you. I come from a New Orleans background. My entire family was born and raised in New Orleans, sadly I was not. At the age of six,my family and I relocated to Arkansas after Hurricane Katrina. Although I barely remember living there I am still able to embrace my New Orleans culture thanks to my family.The best part about our culture is the cajun food. My grandmother continues to cook cajun food as if we were still back home. The New Orleans Boil is one meal that my grandmother cooks that brings my entire family together. This meal has a lot of meaning in our family .
My trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana was an amazing experience since I was able to meet my mother in law and that my boyfriend was able to meet his mother since he was 8. The drive to Louisiana was fill with woods and empty roads but we were able to make it there safely. Once we were able to catch up on everything throughout the years, we started to head to New Orleans to visit the aquarium. During the drive to New Orleans, the weather got crazy and the streets begun to flood. People were walking through knee length water on Bourbon Street and all the buildings looked so pretty since most of them were vintage and had a voodoo touch to them. Once the rain had stop, we made our entrance to the aquarium and explore this wondrous building full of
The place where I would like to call me second home is located all the way down in Savanna Georgia. I can remember way back about nine years ago in the summer of 2008. The plane ride was a long and hot, and I spent the whole ride playing on my PSP. When I got off the plane I remembered walking through the freezing cold Savanna International Airport seeing all the flags of different countries hanging from the ceiling, but then taking one step out of the airport front doors looking for the car services that was rented and feeling the crushing 100°F heat and deathly humidity. But it is all worth the painful heat to spend time in the beautiful city.
It was the start of summer 2002, and the Mid America Youth Basketball (MAYB) national tournament was taking place in Andover, Kansas. Along with the rest of the team, I was excited to play some basketball for the first time since the middle school basketball season was over. Our team, Carlon Oil, had been together and played every summer for the last four years. We were a really good team, with an overall record of 65-4 over those four years and were hoping to continue our legacy. Lonnie Lollar, our coach for the summer, was also the coach of our high school basketball team. I had a history of groin injuries, and every summer it seemed that I would have to sit out at least a game on the bench icing my groin. But this summer was different, and I along with everyone in the gym wouldn't have expected my summer to end with a injury such as a broken leg.