Another day has come and gone and as I type this piece up, I look back and can't believe just how quickly it has gone by. After typing last nights Blog, we had another reflection component, and it was pretty phenomenal to hear about some more of their thoughts. One of the more entertaining pieces was 2 of the young ladies telling their story about our stop by the Walmart on the way back to our lodging from the build site. While they were in line, they were chatting with an older gentleman from the area that was just ahead of them in line. As they finished with their conversation and he finished with the cashier, he then looked at the girls and said to the cashier "I'll be taking care of their bill as well, it's the least I can do to thank you for your help".
How bloody cool is that!
We got the news that Canada beat Russia! YA BABY!!
On another note, today's build went well. We finished putting up all the walls as well as the plywood. In addition, we finished the front porch and a monster sized beam that acted as the roof support above the porch. (this was a very interesting piece of the project; those beams can be quite long in length and HEAVY) The interior walls have the framing up and we took some good photo's of some of the students sitting on a cinder block in what is going to be the bathroom, pretending to be reading a magazine. Sweet! The weather today was around 16-18 degrees and SUNNY. Everyone is applying aloe gel like it's going out of style.
The most interesting piece of today was on the drive home from the building site. We asked the bus driver to take us through the 9th Ward, the areas of New Orleans that experienced the most damage during the disaster. What we saw here was astounding. The area of town is east of the French Quarter and really not that far from there, but the difference of damage is almost unbelievable. The neighborhood, from what we saw is predominantly black and the damage that still exists is impossible to hide. Countless houses are still collapsed, horribly damaged, rotting, and water marked and yet still, there are people residing in the unit. There are still the "X"'s used to identify houses that had been searched, as well as the numbers that indicated how many were rescued or how many bodies were in there to be retrieved by a specific unit responsible for collecting the dead. This portion had an expected dramatic effect on the students. (and Colin, myself and the driver) We didn't have a chance to get out to take a walk, and to be honest, I almost felt guilty to be driving through the neighborhood as though we were on a safari and these PEOPLE that were lining the streets or front porches, were staring at the bus as it slowly made its way along its path. Many of our students initially had their cameras out, and wanted to capture the moment, the experience, and share it with their friends and family, but you could see many of them affected in a similar way.
It's not all dull and dreary, there have been many homes that have been restored, but there are so many, SO MANY that are still in the same state they were years ago, the few weeks after the storm rolled through.
Colin and I chatted with a local man last night as we got directions to the area, and you could immediately sense the passion the man had in regards to the subject of the effects of the hurricane as well as the political parties involved with the "rebuilding efforts". He must have went on for about 10-15 minutes about the plans by the "higher powers" to "white wash" the area of town, forcing the blacks that left, to remain away, and making life so miserable for those that returned or stayed, that they'll eventually leave on their own. I'm not in a position to make any valid arguments one way or the other, but I don't think it takes much more than common sense to realize that if this long after the initial damage, so many properties still remain in such a decrepit state, something isn't adding up.
This evening some of the students went down to the French Quarter to see some more of the always entertaining sights, and I took about 20 of them to a Cheesecake Restaurant in the Garden District (not far from where we're staying), and the owner of the restaurant came out to introduce himself to the students and thank them for their efforts. He also gave me his card and his office number and told me that if we bring a group next year, be sure to call him beforehand, and he'll be sure to set up a complimentary dinner in one of his private backrooms. Very Cool dude!
Oh ya, I forgot to mention this earlier in the week, but there is also a Naval base/training facility near bye, so every morning for about 30-60 minutes, you can hear and see countless fighter jets streaming along the skyline! This was even more remarkable today seeing as the sky was nothing but breathtaking blue and the sun was blanketing us with its warmth and beauty.
That's about it for now. One more day of building tomorrow, where we're going to present "Andrew" (our boss at the build site) with a Canadian Flag with each of us signing and thanking him for his PATIENCE, knowledge and brilliant sense of humor while guiding us through the project. We'll then present the representatives of the church with a similar gift before we load the bus Saturday morning.
I may not get to Blog tomorrow, seeing as Colin is taking a group of students to watch the Hornet's game (NBA game) and I'm taking the rest to see some additional sights in the French Quarter, so if I don't and you've been keeping up to the blog, I hope you enjoyed it.
I know I did.
-Curtis
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