Thursday: DAY 4

Part I: OPD.

Another good 8am-6pm workday. (OPD has been different from one of last year's trips in many respects.)

OPD has strongly emphasized the breadth of its confidentiality agreement, so I can’t discuss most of the things we actually do during the day.

That being said, it’s common knowledge that many people in need of public defenders are people of color who have been picked up for drug charges. Michelle Alexander's interesting article sees current drug laws as the modern Jim Crow:

If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African-American men in some urban areas have been labeled felons for life. (In the Chicago area, the figure is nearly 80 percent.) These men are part of a growing undercaste--not class, caste--permanently relegated, by law, to a second-class status. They can be denied the right to vote, automatically excluded from juries, and legally discriminated against in employment, housing, access to education, and public benefits, much as their grandparents and great-grandparents were during the Jim Crow era.

Part II: Work ended; the night began.

30 seconds from the OPD office sits Sal’s. At 6pm, OPD hosted a happy hour thank-you for all of this week's interns.

We enjoyed drinks, pool, music, and a colorful owner. Sal owned a sports bar before Katrina hit, but he and his family left New Orleans after the storm flooded his restaurant. He moved back in 2006, starting fresh in a building next to the OPD office. Sal plans to revitalize the entire courthouse area—an ambitious goal, but feasible under Sal’s genuine character and hospitality.

We caught up with Georgetown at Pat O’Brien’s, a five-bar rumpus of 30-somethings, beads, and Hurricanes.

The drink on the right—the tsunami?—drew particular attention; it contains 64 shots of rum.

Evening highlights:

• That huge drink
• Dan’s remarkable ability to find our car, despite the serious impediments he faced
• Our OPD guide for the week, Benji, was on Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Goosebumps
• Learning that a women was not in fact Sal’s wife, but rather his 30-year-old daughter
• Dan’s remarkable ability to provide clear directions while I drove everyone home, despite the serious impediments he faced
• After humming the song "Brickhouse" earlier in the night, hearing two different live bands play it
• Paul Revere's midnight bride
  
• Earning beads from Kate

All In A Day's Work IV

Sal owns an amazing bar near the office. Sal likes brown liquor. Sal doesn't know what a vegan is. I like Sal.

All In A Day's Work III

Ben battles the building AC. On Monday, people are fainting from heat stroke. By Friday, the room is so cold everyone is shivering. Ben makes things happen.

All In A Day's Work II

Margaret fights injustice. Tom gets caught in the crossfire.

All In A Day's Work

Kate wears a mardi gras mask at work to make the clients feel more comfortable.

Day 2

Another exciting day at the Orleans Public Defenders. I unfortunately spent my morning doing data entry, so I was ready to make up for it in the afternoon. Luckily, our law clerk Benji had an assignment that allowed me and another volunteer to explore New Orleans (or at least the New Orleans projects). Margaret thankfully lent us her car (sorry, Margaret!) and we were off to the eastern edge of the city. After hours of searching, we headed back to the office since Margaret needed her car by 6:30 and probably would have killed me if I were late.

We then headed out to dinner at Squeal BBQ (yes, like a pig). The food was good, and we even discovered a species of dog-baby (looks like a dog, but mysteriously sounds like a baby). We tried to get a picture, but it left before we got a chance, so you'll have to take our word on it.

We next headed over to the Maple Leaf to hear the Rebirth Brass Band. We arrived around 9, grabbed some drinks, and sat down in a sketchy patio out back. We soon found out that the show would not start until 11 AND that we had to pay a $12 cover, but we decided that we were only in New Orleans for the week, so in true UVA style we paid the cover and stayed out. We discovered many things about each other while were waiting, including how most of us had at one time or another thought we were going to be eaten by bears while camping, as well as my famous Christopher Walken impression.

Finally, the band started, and it was LOUD. It was also crowded, a bit too crowded to be comfortable. The air was hot and sticky, and the guy behind me was practically beating me to death with the huge bag around his waist, but it was an exciting, genuinely New Orleans experience nonetheless.

Travel Super Power Update

Captain Dan revealed that he can read street signs from over a football field away. Unfortunately, this super power vision does not extend to cars quickly approaching from the right.

Flash to Tom: OH GOD!!!