NOLA: Day 1 March 21, 2011
Posted by Marina in : Spring 2011 , add a commentAt 4 a.m. I left Stevenson University to go to the BWI Airport to park my car for a week and embark on the trip of a lifetime. However, I first had to successfully make my way through two different airports. Note: Before this trip, I had never flown ALONE, anywhere. SO for me to have a lay over in Philadelphia and make my way through all the fun at BWI by myself, I must admit it was a HUGE accomplishment for me. Here is a picture of the first plane I flew on from Baltimore to Philadelphia, my best friend described it as a toy plane!
I am pleased to tell you that I did indeed make it to New Orleans around noon their time. I was so excited to be in New Orleans that I was literally skipping down the hallway to baggage claim where I was greeted by fellow SU students. From there, I was picked up on the curb by my boss and trip leader, Morgan. Sitting in the van with five other people, I was sunctioned to the window looking at the city and the surrounding area. As we were driving, I started to remember the very first time I ventured to New Orleans. In my mind, the city had changed in a positive way however it was obvious that there was still more work to be done. But have no fear, SU is here! We arrived at Camp Restore and I was stoked to get out of the van and explore. However, we were all starving so we chose our bunks in the little trailors and moved ahead to good ol’ Hot Wok (yeah, we know, soooo original to New Orleans lol). But after our delicious Chinese buffet experience, we headed out to Walmart, the coolest place to be in NOLA when you are a tourist… or a Spring Breaker from SU! My favorite part about this Walmart excursion was the glass coke bottle incident with my best friend Brittany. Here she is holding the glass bottle of coke I bought her that we had to run around the store for in attempts of opening the non-screw off cap…
I know, she’s gorgeous 
Our next adventure happened outside of the van. For those of you who don’t know, I am deathly allergic to bee/wasp stings. Needless to say, we had an extra passenger on the way back to Camp Restore…
He stayed with us, right outside my window, for a good while! Needless to say, I was semi-freaking out as my wonderful peers laughed at me… for a good ten minutes (lol). Anyway, we made our way back to Camp for the afternoon to relax and hang out. Here is a picture I took of our sleeping site…
They may not look like much, but they were actually pretty cozy after a long week of working! But before our first night of sleep, we all freshened up and went out to dinner for some authentic New Orleans cuisine. Britt and I split a Shrimp Poe Boy. For those of you know don’t know about Louisiana, they don’t understand what a portion size is. The food is amazing and there is lots, and lots of it! Not to mention hot sauce is a must on basically everything. It is my kind of place! But I ate a little too much and returned to Walmart with the crew, went back, set up my bed and sleptwith excitement for Day 2.
NOLA: Day 2 March 21, 2011
Posted by Marina in : Spring 2011 , add a comment
You may be wondering why a picture of Bonnabel Blvd. is the first picture of Day 2, but I’m not.
45 SU students and faculty/staff members gathered on the corner of Bonnabel Blvd. to witness a super amazing Mardi Gras parade! Yes, a parade. It was a gorgeous day and I enjoyed waiting for the parade while soaking up the rays on my wintery pale skin. Luckily for all of us, the locals were enjoyable and wonderful people that opened their arms to us and let us fully embrace their culture by showing us the parade of a century. The wait for the parade made us anxious, so we were able to grab a cool treat after our lunch. Check out the most FABULOUS snow cone (and the largest) ever.
Let’s just say that four spoons went into this bowl and did not stop until it was gone – and man was it delicious! However, after the sugar rush wore off, we were especially infactuated with the thought of collecting colorful, sparkly, shiny beads to wear with pride. And when the parade started, we took full advantage! Beads, potatoes, cabbages, cups, bags, and much more were thrown into the crowd. Some of us got into the street and danced for our beads and flowers from Kruze members. It was so much fun! Here is a picture of me and my girls with our beads!
In short, thats a WHOLE LOTA BEADS.
We took our decorated selves and spent the rest of the evening enjoying the French Quarter. I had a wonderful, New Orleans dinner and spent the night shopping and sight seeing. I was exhausted from my long day and was so excited to start working the next day!
NOLA: Day 3 March 21, 2011
Posted by Marina in : Spring 2011 , 1 comment so farWelcome to the Orphanage
Below you will find pictures from the orphanage we worked at during our very first day of work. It required a lot of hard work and a lot of tile chipping for hours and hours on end. By the end of the day we were completely exhausted! But check out photographs from inside the orphanage and a picture of me hard at work!
After a hard day of work, we returned to Camp Restore, showered, ate, relaxed, and put our sore muscles to bed.
NOLA: Day 4 March 21, 2011
Posted by Marina in : Spring 2011 , add a commentWaking up on Day 4 in New Orleans, I felt so sore from head to toe. Pulling up tile off of a floor that is damaged beyond belief from the hurricane is alot harder than it sounds, I promise! But Tuesday was a new day and I was stoked to start working with Habitat for Humanity on a house in the neighborhood that Lil’ Wayne grew up in! (true story). After our amazing breakfast, prepared by our chef Michael, we took our 30 minute drive to the job site. We pulled up and this is what we saw as far as the house is concerned:
That would be the basic frame of the house. Floor included, of course. But this is what we had to work with. I will admit, I was hesistant at first because let’s get real, I am not a construction worker or a carpenter in my real life. So having to work on a house all week was intimidating with the limited amount of skills I had. However, I found that I had a lot more skill than I thought. Day one started out and I found myself hammering in nails into the side of the house until my hand turned purple! Let me just say that hammering for hours is def a great forearm workout! But I survived my first day on the worksite and was excited to go back the next day and hopefully get on a ladder, which on Day 4, I was deathly afraid to do.
We spent the evening back at camp relaxing our hands and our minds. I, on the other hand, had some fun with side walk chalk I bought at Walmart during our many adventures. This was my favorite chalk creation:
It’s Barbie March 21, 2011
Posted by Marina in : General, Spring 2011 , add a comment
That’s right ladies and gentlemen the one and only NICKI MINAJ was in downtown Baltimore on Sunday, March 20th during her I AM STILL MUSIC Tour. Countless fans filled the arena as the doors opened, Nicki rocked it out all night with surprise special guest performance with Lil’ Wayne that topped the night off perfectly!
Nicki owned the stage as she rose from the floor to open the show with Roman’s Revenge and continued to let Baltimore know that she is in deed THE BEST B DOING IT, DOING IT!!
Nicki came to win, to fight, to conquer, to thrive, to survive, to prosper, to rise.. to fly!
If you haven’t already for more on Nicki Minaj sign-up, for free, on http://www.mypinkfriday.com/ for the latest news, updates, photos, and what’s happening with Nicki daily.