When we first arrived in Dulac on Friday night – all I could think about was what does this place look like in the light?! When we all sleeply entered the community center we were all excited to see an amazing kitchen filled with food, a common area with a TV and what appeared to be much softer beds 🙂

On Saturday, we had our first day of work. We met at the warehouse ands talked about the 2 houses we’d be working on – neither one being in Dulac!

The house I decided to work on is located in Golden Meadow – a good hour and a half away from the Dulac Community Center. At first, I thought the trip would be easy and would be a way to catch up on sleep. But the lack of time working is catching up to us. Our supervisor, Jim quickly explained how to tile and put lament wood flooring on, and left – which caused one of our rooms to be redone today. I was pretty upset because it took us a good day’s work to complete, and I felt really let down. But it was great to keep positive energy and thoughts and team up to re-do it.

Despite, my swollen bug bites from planting in Port Fouchon, the lack of sleep, and now the stomach bug that’s going around i’m trying to stay positive and hopefully finish out the hard work for this house. I felt amazing when we were able to meet the home owner, Linda! She blessed us all, thanked us and told us how excited she was to see hardwood floors and tiles. She also mentioned how she’s a sheriff and works with kids who are all “hooligans”. I was so overwhelmed by all of her comments – it’s really inspiring me to get her house done!

I’m really thankful for everything I have in my life – and this trip has really helped me realize how lucky I am to have a roof over my head, a loving family, amazing friends and most of all a college education so I can take everything I learned back to all those around me! Thanks 🙂

After finally arriving to New Orleans last night – I was so over tired and excited to start the week! Today I went to Miss Cowards house in the 5th ward. I was so excited to help out – I hope we get to meet the house owner at some point, so I can really feel great about all the hard work I put in. I started the morning out by sweeping dust and debris from the floor. I then moved on to touching up the yellow paint throughout the interior of the house. For those who know me, this was a perfect job for me. Considering the fact I am somewhat OCD, I couldn’t help but search for every scratch in the paint. I then primed a cabinet, which I will hopefully get to paint tomorrow!

All in all, it was a great day. I really enjoyed the house I’m working on, and our group really accomplished a lot today. I am already starting to see a bigger picture. On a side note, I’m writing my research paper on the animals left behind after hurricane Katrina. The house next door still had spray paint “cats” on the outside. I took a picture to include in my paper.

Rachel Feingold – December 7, 2009:  So, today I woke up in a grumpy mood (as usual) but in a half hour I felt as good as new after I put on my tool belt and ate a bit of cheerios and coffee. After breakfast all eighteen of us set out to the PNOLA headquarters, where Christi spoke to us. She was so cute and happy- her energetic was really contagious! After Christi gave her little “Schpeal” we separated into two groups and headed out to two different worksites. When I arrived at my worksite I was ready to set my teeth into a project. I went with Chris’s (a project manager) group, to a house shared by two sisters. The house however, with two front doors, was really two separate houses that shared a wall. Interestingly however, each side of the house was inhabited by sister. I thought it was interesting how the sisters lived together, and still lived together as adults. I think that down in New Orleans family tends to live together, and although I dare say that family in New Orleans is considered more important than in the rest of the country, I think that I can say that families proximity to one another is more important. Anyway, I started working, but I quickly left to go on a journey to pick up and drop off supplies from a KABOOM playground build, with Meredith and Greg, another PNOLA worker. I must admit, I was a little skeptical to go with Greg, because although I trusted he was from PNOLA, he was still a scruffy looking man who pulled up in a beat down white truck. However, my initial impressions of Greg could not have been more off. After the first five minutes of the ride I could tell that Greg was a genuinely sweet soul. He welcomed both Meredith and I to his city, the city where he was born and raised. Greg pointed out his favorite spots and told us about Po-Boys and Gumbo (delicious!!) . Interestingly, as we were driving, I forgot about Katrina and started to think about New Orleans as an actual city: A place not characterized by a single event but steeped in years and years of rich culture. This was the place where Greg and his parents had grown up. I was actually experiencing New Orleans. I wasn’t just reading statistics. I wasn’t just reading about deaths and facts. Riding around with Greg I was able to take a glimpse at the lives of these people. I saw them on the street corners laughing and talking. I saw the couch under the highway, where Greg told me people sat and drank. As Greg said in his endearing southern accent “Dings are chill in New Orleans, we are a slow paced in New Orleans.” There is a really interesting story to tell everyone about Greg’s mom but I am being told I am writing too much so I will refrain for now…but if you want to here it just ask me or Meredith! Love, Rachel

[posted by Jan due to the reluctant laptop’s poor internet connection…]

The past few days back at Union have been very educational. The movie “Washing Away”, which we watched on Tuesday discussed how the Louisiana coastline is actually washing away therefore making the land extremely vulnerable to small storms, winds and flooding.

The articles we read for Friday were also really interesting. The piece on education really put things into a better perspective for me. What stood out most was the statement, “materials and facilities can be replaced. Students are receiving a real-life educational experience in that they see that they cannot take people, things and places for granted.” The other article on Memorial Hospital helped us realize the ways in which the system malfunctioned: how they were short on doctors, nurses and resources and needed help. I couldn’t imagine being placed in such a high stress environment and forced with the decision of who to help first.

My favorite part so far was definitely learning how to use power tools and perfecting tasks of hammering nails, to cutting and hanging dry wall. I think we are all ready to head down South!