Where to begin...

So, a lot has happened since Friday at four when we left cold, snowy Waverly, IA and headed south to New Orleans, Louisiana.

After spending the night in the Hubbard House in East St. Louis, we were off on a 12 hour car ride to NOLA. The ride was long, but sleeping helped pass the time. After getting lost in the city, we finally made it to Common Ground Relief's location in the lower ninth ward. We got settled in, and hung out.

Sunday was a busy day of fitting in as much of New Orleans as possible. We took a driving tour of the city seeing the different areas affected. It was crazy to see how many houses were still around with X's and in complete shambles. Pictures can not even begin to show the destruction and the impact of Katrina and its lingering effects. I couldn't imagine living through it, but it made me wish I had been able to go to New Orleans pre-Katrina. Our group had the opportunity to attend mass at Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Sunday morning. This was an incredible experience. Being raised Catholic, going to a different church was interesting. The church members were so into church and had incredibly strong faith. I was really moved. After mass we were treated to an excellent lunch of potatoes, fried chicken, and vegetables. After church, we headed down the street to watch some Mardi Gras parades. NOLA parades differ greatly from those parades in Iowa. We toured the Mardi Gras museum and walked around the city, and tried beignets (like funnel cake). We all also got to try "Cajun food." The jumbalaya was really good, but very spicy. What is New Orleans without Bourbon Street? We took our time walking the many blocks of Bourbon Street and seeing some...interesting sights. The excitement was incredible. After a late night of exploring, experiencing, and talking we all headed to bed.

Monday morning we were up and at 'em heading to the Chevron Tree farm. Here we helped two workers plant trees that will grow into larger trees and transported to other parks and places in Louisiana. Working here was interesting. It seemed that Common Ground expected the task to take all day. We finished in two hours. With some of the extra time, we went on an alligator hunt...and found THREE! It was the highlight of week considering it's what I've been wanting to do since arriving. We were directed to go back to our base and get another task. Our second job for the day was yardwork around Common Ground houses. The boys, being the manly men they are, dug concrete blocks out of the ground (groups who had been here a year ago tried doing this and couldn't). We finished early here as well, which meant an early end to the work day. Our evening was filled hanging out and spending a lot of time with the kids next door. We played football, volleyball, soccer, catch, and raced for a good two hours. One little girl shared a lot about the family, even about leaving and coming back after Katrina. After another late night of talking, laughing, and what not, we headed to bed.

Today, we headed to a house in the upper ninth ward to do drywalling. I had little to no experience with power tools and drywalling, but I'm a little better now. The group worked so well and the house is almost completely drywalled. We learned from Myke, that the resident is in New Orleans and still paying rent on her property and her and her husband are just waiting to get back. Myke and the whole crew (Zach and Boris) were incredibly helpful, patient, and fun to work with. I was able to learn how to drywall and even ran a circular saw. It was interesting, on the other side of the house (the house was like a condo; it's called a double shotgun house) there was a dog kept in a kennel. We learned he was there as a sort of security system; the resident had had her piping stolen twice while she was trying to rebuild, and the dog was there to scare off possible burglars. It made me so sad, because the dog was there day in and day out all alone locked in a kennel. The crew from Common Ground may be laid back, but they are incredibly hard working individuals, and they love what they do. Tonight Chad, Brooke and I made dinner (spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread). It was decent. The group really just chills together and we all seem to get along really well...some of us are wondering where class will go when the trip is over. Haha. Well...that's about it for now!