6.24.2006

NOLA

Well, I arrived safe and sound in New Orleans, although we encountered layover problems at Miami. For those living on the East Coast, rain weather covered the areas.

We had to wait for a couple hours for our plane coming from LaGuardia airport to arrive at the Miami International airport.

New Orleans, at least in the business district and the French Quarter, is working again. Besides the few problems with the occasional side street detours, infrequent broken windows found on office buildings, and collections of unclaimed cars covered with grime and dirt underneath bridges, the city has been gaining ground in getting back on its feet.

Unfortunately, its like a ghost town here. The number of people on the street are not like the usual numbers I encounter when I visit this city. We were told that the restaurants and stores are working at 80 percent capacity. I believe that. You can tell the service was slower than usual. I saw Help Wanted ads all over.

God is here as well. As I was waiting for luggage at the baggage claim, I saw this written on the back of a t-shirt:

Rebuilding the city of New Orleans
One church at a time.

Truly encouraging to see that God is at work in a city that was torn apart during a major disaster.

I'll post more details later. (Update: See more details here and here to get the latest entries on Traveler's visit to the Big Easy.)

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