Today was our first day in New Orleans. We arrived last night after two missed connections and a five hour delay, but we got here safe and sound, though exhausted. This morning we were up bright and early for orientation at PNOLA, and it was really interesting to learn about the history and the mission of the organization. My group was working on a house with Luke. We were mostly painting and priming, and a lot of the work was tedious, to be honest. It took a long time and sometimes when we were done it looked exactly the same as it had before. However, at the end of the day the house looked much better and it was definitely rewarding. After work my group made dinner which was actually pretty good thanks to Dolev, who taught us how to make chili. There was a minor crisis when it was all gone by the time Janet arrived back from Rite Aid to eat, but all in all we managed. Overall it was a pretty good first day, and I’m definitely looking forward to going to bed tonight.

-Ali Littlefield