And again, picking up where I left off. I'm sorry if this seems a little scattered. I'm just trying to write fast. And again, no proofreading has happened here.
Monday was good too. There was a nice trip to the YMCA (there have been a few trips a week – I just don’t usually write about it. I’m really glad we found a gym here), then just hanging around the house for a while. Tomm had been gone since Saturday with some friends he has in the area, Christina had been in Baton Rouge with her cousin all weekend, and TK, Rob, and Marquis didn’t feel like going out. So it was just the six of the girls on Monday night. We walked down to the Quarter yet again and met up with some people from Dani’s team. We stood at the parade route for a while. Did I mention the parades? There have been parades for like the last three weekends, and every day last Thursday through the Tuesday of Mardi Gras. So on Monday night, we went to a parade for a while. Earlier, on our way home from the YMCA, Heather was telling us about how she was reading a People Magazine while she worked out, and there was a story about how Steven Segal (the action movie star) never really liked acting. He only did it for the money. So now, he’s a cop in New Orleans. Interestingly enough, while we were standing at the parade, there was a group of cops near us. We looked over, and there was Steven Segal. Jess got a decent picture of him. Also, all the parade floats have signs on the front with the name or theme of the float. We were watching a parade, and someone mentioned that a person on a float looked like Harry Connick, Jr. We looked at the float’s sign, and it said something about Harry Connick, Jr. So there was celebrity sighting number two. The next float that went by had Steve Zahn. (You probably don’t know that name. Google him. I bet you recognize his face.) So we saw three celebrities in a span of like 15 or 20 minutes. (Random story: After the Super Bowl, when I was in the crushing mob of people on Bourbon Street, I saw someone who looked really familiar. I thought he just looked like someone I know, but then I realized that I had seen him in a movie but couldn’t remember his name. I later looked up the name, and guess who it was? Steve Zahn.)
When we got bored at the parade, we went over to Bourbon. It actually wasn’t as scary as I would have thought. There were miraculously fewer people on the night before Mardi Gras than there were after the Super Bowl. We caught a few beads (no, not in the stereotypical way), then didn’t like it anymore. The people on balconies were throwing them kind of hard sometimes, and they were big heavy beads. Either you catch it and hurt your hand, or you don’t see it and it hits you, or you get pushed by someone who REALLY wants those beads. It was also getting a little hard to stay together, especially when the group grew after we met up with Forrest (I just realized I’ve been spelling his name Forest. Usually when it’s a person’s name, it’s Forrest. Oops.), Katie, Mike, and Pete, some of the AmeriCorps Direct people. One time Lindsey and I somehow got separated, and it was pretty hard to find people when it was loud and hard to hear anyone on the phone. (Don’t worry, we found them.) The whole giant group of us went over to Frenchman Street, which as I’ve said, is a pretty cool area. We went to Café Negrille, a place we had been to before and always has live music and lots of people dancing. It was a really fun night.
Tuesday, Mardi Gras, was also enjoyable. Lindsey, Heather, and Becky walked to the Quarter in the late morning, and Michala, TK, Jess and I walked down in the early afternoon. We all ended up at the same parade, but on different sides of the street so we couldn’t cross and meet up. We walked down Royal Street on our way to the parade, which we hadn’t spent much time on. None of us were wearing costumes of any kind, and we were in the vast minority. (One of my favorites: A guy wearing a nametag that said “Dat.” After all this time of asking Who dat?, we finally know!) It was really entertaining. Everyone around us was drinking, but not in an obnoxious way. We actually stayed at this parade until the end. Turns out parades are much more pleasant when you’re not super cold. After the parade was over and we could meet up with the others, we grabbed some food at a taco place and ate out on the sidewalk and people watched. This was also very pleasant. We started to walk back home, stopping in a few stores along the way. We passed an area on Decatur near Jackson Square that was kind of like a small amphitheatre. There was a very charismatic guy that seemed to be doing something interesting, and there were already people sitting in the amphitheatre seats. TK, Heather, and I stopped to watch what he was doing, and the others kept walking. It looked like it would be good, so we found seats. It turned out to be a group of four guys doing a breakdancing show, but there was also a lot of comedy. Lindsey ended up coming back and caught the last 15 minutes or so, but I think the others missed out. They just walked back home. When it was over we walked back home via Frenchman Street and ran into a dance party in the street. The music was coming from some kind of speaker that was dressed as a robot. We stayed for a while then kept walking. While we walked away we were all talking about how fun it would be to stay for a while, but we had to work on Wednesday. We actually stood on a corner for a good five minutes debating staying for a while. We ended up being responsible and going home. I was a little sad, but I was still really happy with the day.
On Wednesday all of us except TK and Heather got sent to a new house with a Habitat staff person we hadn’t worked with before named Corbin. This was a house that hadn’t even been started yet. All that was already there was the concrete foundation and the three or four foot concrete pillars that Habitat houses in New Orleans get built on. Our job was to start building the floor system. There were pieces of six inch by six inch lumber that were about twelve feet long (PS, they are freaking heavy) that would have to go across the pillars around the whole perimeter of the house. We had to crown them all, and we became experts. You have to get down at eye level with the piece and look down the length. Most pieces have some kind of warping where it curves in one direction. Either it dips, or it arches. (Jessi, Corbin’s AmeriCorps Direct assistant, tried to tell us they were rainbows and smiley faces. We made up our own lingo.) When you put the 6x6 on the pillars, it is supposed to arch up, like a rainbow. So we had to look at it and mark with a pencil which side should be up. Then we had to install the really freaking heavy 6x6s. It usually took three of us to carry it and lift it up onto the pillars. (Side note: Corbin, the Habitat staff person who is in charge of building this house, is 19 years old. I repeat – he is 19, and he is in charge of building a house. Also, at one point, I turned around and saw him carrying a 6x6 on his shoulder, by himself. He set it down from his shoulder onto the pillars, by himself. Ridiculous!) Then they had to be cut with a circular saw. Since they’re so thick, you would have to make three or four cuts on different sides to get all the way through it. Then, we had to nail them down with the metal straps that were already attached to the pillars. Then we got to move on to the 2x10s. A piece of 2x10 lumber that is about 16 feet long (and also pretty freaking heavy) has to stand up on its 2 inch side and go around the perimeter on top of the 6x6. These also had to be crowned. So we ended up crowning at least 100 pieces of lumber. I think we also got the 2x10s installed around the perimeter. Actually, I think I’m running into Thursday now. It is currently Sunday as I am writing this and sometimes days run together in my mind.
So obviously, on Thursday morning we were back with Corbin. I guess this is when we crowned and installed the 2x10s. Lots of hammering Wednesday and Thursday. The 2x10s needed a 16 penny galvanized nail (they’re big and have a rough chemical coating on them so they don’t disintegrate in the chemicals of the pressure treated wood) every 6 inches, around the whole house. We were only here until lunch. Another side note: We liked Corbin’s house because it was about 50 feet from a park with a playground. Wednesday and Thursday, we ate lunch and then got to swing the rest of our lunch hour. Fabulous.
After lunch, we got sent to another site with Habitat staff person Pete and AmeriCorps Direct person Brittney. This was another site that had only the concrete pillars. None of us liked working with Pete. He didn’t introduce himself when we got there and didn’t ask our names. He and Brittney did all the interesting work while all we got to do was crown more 2x10s. Occasionally he would ask someone to help him lift or hold something, but we didn’t really get to do anything. We estimated that between Wednesday and Thursday, we crowned about 200 pieces of lumber. Let me tell you, this gets old after a while. It was just Becky, Rob, Michala, and I for most of the afternoon and none of us were in very good moods. Not the greatest day ever. We all decided that we greatly prefer working with Corbin. He talks really quietly and does not explain things very clearly sometimes, but he’s friendly and jokes around with us and lets us do work. Pete doesn’t talk to us at all and doesn’t let us do anything.
On Friday, we were at yet another new site with only the concrete pillars, led by Brian (the one who yells and curses, yet we love him) and his Direct assistant Katie. I did not get to be there in the morning because I had to write a press release that day. Sunday the 21st we had an event that I’ll write about later that we wanted to alert the press about. It was already really short notice, so I really had to do it on Friday. Christina always goes to a coffee shop on Friday mornings because there’s paperwork she has to email in and we don’t have internet at our house. She also has to go to the Habitat office on Fridays to fax or make copies or something. Since I had to write that release and email it that day, she took me with her. Also, Becky decided she wanted to go to the doctor because she had been sick for so long, so she came too. We all went to the coffee shop and Christina and I did what we had to then went to the Habitat office. While we were in the little room with the copy machine a Habitat guy came in and said they had gumbo leftover if we wanted some. He even heated it up for us. It was actually really good and not too spicy for me. Then we took Becky to the doctor and found out it would be a super long wait, so she took me back to the worksite with Brian. There were four other guys working on the house who apparently used to work for Habitat. They were like hardcore construction guys and they were INTENSE. In a day and a half of work with just a few of us with Corbin and Jessi, all we got done was putting up the 6x6s and 2x10s around the perimeter. In a day on this house with those guys, we did all of that plus ran more 2x10s across the whole house every 16 inches to go under the floor, plus started nailing in the plywood sheets for the floor. It was insane. I wish I had been there in the morning.
We were back with Brian on Saturday. Those intense guys weren’t back. There was a group of about 15 or 20 volunteers from Maryland who seemed to be pretty nice. They shared their soda and snacks with us, which is of course always appreciated. Most of the ones I came into contact with had never done construction before, so while they were nice and pleasant to talk to, they weren’t terribly useful. There were several very nice ladies who weren’t comfortable working on the floor because they’re afraid of heights (in their defense, it was about four feet off the ground and had nothing stopping you from falling off) so they became “helpers.” I was working on king studs with Rob and Heather for a while in the morning. This is where you have one full-length 2x4 and one that has been cut. They need to be nailed together just one on top of the other, as flush as possible. We needed 44 of these. After we had done about 18 and been frustrated about how the boards would move as you’re hammering so they weren’t flush anymore, I discovered a trick. Just angle the first nail in sideways. (I realize that made no sense to anyone who isn’t me. I apologize.) After a while of this, Brian told me to teach a volunteer how to do the king studs and then go cut. There was pretty much just a giant list of various kinds of lumber that needed to be cut that Tomm and I were both supposed to be working on. We each had a volunteer “helper.” It wasn’t bad. I like cutting, it just gets monotonous after a while. Sometime in the afternoon, Christina appeared out of nowhere. (She and a few others were working on another site. Tomm, Heather, Rob and I were the only ones with Brian.) She told Tomm and me to come help her on another house, then we’d be back. There was a bunch of stuff that had been delivered to three different Habitat houses and we needed to load them into the storage containers on each site. We first went to the one on Music Street. There were three rolls of chain link fencing, a bunch of fence posts, and a pallet with 30 bags of concrete that were 80 pounds each. We loaded it all into the container then set off for St. Roch Street where we had a bit of an adventure. Becky, who stayed home sick in the morning but now felt better, was waiting for us there. We couldn’t get the stupid container unlocked. Christina went to pick up TK and Marquis, who were doing the same thing on another house, then came back. We all sat down to wait for a Habitat person to come open the container. While waiting, we suddenly heard several gunshots. It sounded like it was within a couple blocks of us. We ran to the van and Christina started driving away. She wanted to go back to Painters Street, the site where Brian was working only a few blocks away, to pick up the others. She was also trying to call our Habitat boss to tell him what happened and was getting a little freaked out. We suggested she let someone else drive so she pulled over. She got out and started walking around the back of the van to the passenger side, and TK slid over into the driver’s seat. Right at the moment that she was facing the street behind the van, she saw a white car run into an SUV at the corner nearest the house where we live, and the SUV flipped twice. She got in the van and we went to Painters to get Heather and Rob. We went home. (I know you don’t know the street names, but these streets are all very close to each other.) By the time we got back to our house, the police were there. Christina did the right thing and went out to talk to them because she saw the actual accident. It was determined by the police that the accident was related to the gunshots and that drugs were somehow involved. And this all happened just blocks from where we live. (Mom and Dad, I just want you to know that none of us ever go anywhere alone and I have never felt unsafe in our house.) It was an interesting afternoon.
Today, Sunday, was that event I mentioned. During the second and fourth projects, each team has to have a Day of Service. We’re supposed to set it up ourselves and recruit volunteers to work with us. We decided to join up with Dani’s team to work in a community garden. We didn’t actually get any volunteers despite our flyers that we posted, but we still got a lot of work done. It was mostly weeding. The garden people really seemed to appreciate it. I think there are only two people trying to keep the whole thing maintained. It was supposed to be over at 3:00, but they let us leave at 2:30 which gave us just enough time to go home, change, and get to the YMCA in time for a workout before it closed.
And now I’m caught up! I hope you didn’t miss the entry I just posted on Friday. I’ve been writing like mad to catch up with myself here. Whew!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Another Longest. Entry. Ever.
Sigh. I'm having a lot of trouble keeping current with the writing. Here's what I wrote about last week, but I haven't written anything about this week yet. Hopefully I'll catch up soon. There's too much to write about!
Alright, picking up where that last update left off. On Saturday the 6th we were still split up. I went back to the house that Brian was in charge of, along with five other teammates and Christina. Brian said there wasn’t enough work for that many people to do, so Christina took Lindsey and me to a coffee shop so we could use internet to work on the CCC project that we are in charge of. (I’m sure I’ll describe that later, but I don’t have a lot of time right now.) On our way there, Lindsey and I both realized that we felt sicker that day than we had the past couple days. (Yes, several of us are sick at once. Big surprise.) We both decided that we wanted to go to the doctor. We went ahead to the coffee shop, then left to find a doctor. Christina had found three nearby that take our insurance, so we went to the first on the list. Oh look, it was closed. We went to the second on the list, and found out it didn’t actually take our insurance. We tried to call the third on the list, and no one answered. Christina called another team leader who is in New Orleans and found out about another one, so we went there. It was quite an epic journey. We had to wait a REALLY long time because they had just switched to a paperless system like the day before and weren’t used to it. When I finally saw a doctor, she listened to my lungs. After only one breath, she said “Oh yeah, that’s bronchitis.” So I got a prescription for an antibiotic and an inhaler. Lindsey found out she had laryngitis, but it was on its way out. It’s interesting how so many of us are sick, but we all seem to have different things.
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. The big day. SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! Oh my goodness, this was an excited city. I really didn’t do anything all afternoon because I was still fairly sick, but we had plans for that night. The AmeriCorps Direct people had invited us to watch the game at their house, and some people wanted to go. And some people wanted to stay there the whole game, while others wanted to watch in the Quarter. The problem was that everyone would want to go out afterward, and no one wanted to have to drive the van back to the house at midnight. Also, Heather was out of town that weekend and was getting back on a bus at 5:30 (when the game was scheduled to start). We came up with a pretty darn good plan. We would all drive the van to the Direct house at like 5, hang out with them for a while, then people who wanted to watch the game in the Quarter would go pick up Heather, drive home to drop off her stuff and the van, then either walk or take a cab to the Quarter. It was a great plan until none of the cab companies whose numbers we had were answering their phone. We (Heather, TK, Lindsey, and myself, the people who didn’t want to watch the game at the Direct house) eventually decided to just walk. The downside of this is that we didn’t get to Magnolia Grill (where else would we watch the game?) until close to the end of the third quarter. It was still really fun though. There were actually a lot of people in the restaurant that night. Those of you who watched know that it was a pretty exciting game. There was an awesome interception by the Saints that led to a touchdown with only like a minute or two left in the game, which pretty much clinched the victory. THE SAINTS WON THE SUPER BOWL! Again, we all ran over to Bourbon Street where again, there was a crushing mob of people. Overall, it was pretty much just an awesome night.
Monday was a pretty lazy day for most of us. Everyone had stayed out pretty late, so we were mostly just sitting around all day. We did laundry later that night, but that was about it. The biggest thing that happened that day is that we found out the options for projects next round. This round is what they call shuffle round. They’re letting each Corps Member rank their preference for the projects then the team leaders pick new teams kind of based on their rankings. They’ll try to give everyone one of their top few choices, but that’s probably not possible. They’ll also try to split current teams up as much as they can, but there are five teams with 10-12 people each, so there will probably be two or three people from each current team on a shuffle team together. Also, the two office Team Leaders from each unit will get a team this round, while two field Team Leaders from each unit take over their jobs in the office. Want to know the projects? There are two projects in New Orleans: Habitat construction (the exact project I have now) led by Nichole, and Rebuilding Together (which is kind of similar to Habitat – it’s like constructing new houses and rehabbing old ones) led by Sarah. Nichole and Sarah are the Sun office people, and they’re both pretty awesome. There’s Habitat construction in Oklahoma City, led by Dani. There’s something called the Fuller Disaster Recovery Center (which is again, kind of like Habitat – constructing new homes and rehabbing old ones) in Orange, TX, led by Julie. Then there’s the one everyone is talking about, in Big Bend National Park, in Texas. That team will be camping the whole two months. I thought Calwood was remote, but Big Bend makes Calwood look like New York City. It is 100 miles from the nearest grocery store. Because it is so far away, Christina said they will probably only go grocery shopping every other week. There is no cell phone service and no electricity. It is in the desert. The project description said that the main goal of the NCCC team will be to repair the trail to their highest peak, which is 8,000 feet high. I forget what all the description said was wrong with the trail, but I definitely remember that it said the trail was too steep for hikers. This project sounds really freaking intimidating, but I just turned in my rankings with it at the top. I am now stressing about the possibility of getting it, but there’s nothing I can do about it until like Thursday the 18th or so, when we find out what team we’re on. Gah!
On Tuesday, we were back at our regular worksite with Dan and Forest. There were a bunch of odd jobs to finish before we got kicked out again for the sheetrock people to put up all the dry wall. It wasn’t terribly exciting. It was pretty darn cold though. We ended up getting out of work at 2:00 though, because the entire city was closing for a parade to welcome the Saints home from Miami, where the Super Bowl was. Seriously. We got out of work then because that’s when the Habitat office was closing. Schools were getting out early. Businesses were getting out early. All for a Saints parade that wasn’t even scheduled to start until 5:00. That’s how much New Orleans loves its Saints. It was nice though, because most of us wanted to go to the parade. We got there at right around 5, but we were really close to the end of the parade route. The parade didn’t actually get to us until about 8. And it was REALLY cold and windy that night. Some of our group left at about 7:30 because they were tired of standing in the cold, but I stayed because I would have been pretty upset if I stood in the cold for that long and then didn’t even see anything. The parade was alright I suppose, but I didn’t have a very good spot to see from. The few floats they had were pretty cool. Most of the floats carried players from the Saints. The first one had Drew Brees, the quarterback, but of course he was facing the other side of the street so I only saw the back of his head. The rest of us left at about 9, before the parade was even over. It was cold, and most of us were already sick and didn’t want to make it too much worse.
We were still at our regular worksite on Wednesday. The sheetrock people were working inside, so we all had to work outside where once again, it was really cold. I did a little touch-up paint, then cut a little more facia, then moved dirt around the rest of the day. The ground was really uneven on the back and side of the house, so a few of us were assigned to level it. I actually preferred that to the painting and the facia, because all the shoveling kept me warmer.
Wednesday night, when I posted the previous entry, was a little interesting. Heather, TK, Lindsey, and I went over to a little coffee shop nearby to use the internet. This coffee shop is in a small residential area. After we were there for a while, we heard the sound of a jazz band. The sound was getting louder. We looked out the window and saw a small parade go by. There was a jazz band, a bunch of random people, and two people twirling fire. It was really random, but very New Orleans.
On Thursday, we were kicked off our regular worksite again. Lindsey and Jess stayed home because they were still sick and it was really cold and rainy again, and Christina, Rob, and Michala all went to a coffee shop to do some paperwork. The rest of us got sent to the Musicians’ Village (a whole neighborhood Habitat recently built). We had to dig up some tiny trees that had only been planted recently and replant them somewhere else. Soon after we got there, Marquis realized he was also too sick to work that day, so TK and I drove him home. (The van can’t have fewer than two people in it.) When we got back I was informed that I would be going with Katie, an AmeriCorps Direct person, over to one of the houses we worked on when we were split up to do some touch up work. We both had to take off our muddy muddy shoes on the porch, and I mopped the whole house while she scraped paint that had dripped on the tile. Then, I mopped the whole house again while she did some touch up paint on the walls. The floor was still wet from when I mopped the first time and neither of us wanted to get our socks wet because it was really cold again, so we both went barefoot. I’m pretty sure that was the coldest my feet have ever been in my life. It was colder inside the house than it was outside, and I was walking on wet tile. It was pretty bad. But walking around in the cold with wet socks for the rest of the day would have been worse, so I think I made the right decision.
In the afternoon, we all went to another of the houses we worked on when we were split up. There was a huge hole in the back yard, and a few large piles of dirt. The hole needed to be filled and the rest of the back yard leveled off. It wouldn’t have been bad, but it was still rainy and cold. And they don’t have soil in New Orleans, they have clay. Like solid clay you could sculpt with. A giant pile of clay that has been rained on is not very easy to shovel. We got the hole filled by about 3, and Forest said we could go.
On Friday, it was determined that we would only work until lunch time. The Habitat people were obviously struggling to find work for us, and we had other things we could do to get hours. Tomm, Marquis, Rob, and Jess were all sent to the house I had mopped on Thursday to do more touch up paint, and the rest of us went back to the house that had the hole in the back yard. There was a huge pile of sand in the front of the house and we were told to shovel it back to the back yard to smooth out the chunks of clay. It took all morning with six people to shovel that entire pile to the back. And of course, it was still raining and cold. I think we got it looking pretty good, but we were all really ready to go home at lunch time. After lunch, we did some service learning to get hours for the rest of the day. We watched the first half of a really long documentary called When the Levees Broke. It had interviews with a bunch of people who were here during and after Katrina. We all actually learned a lot about things that happened in those few days. The movie was done really well and I think we all liked it. Obviously, it was extremely sad, but it gave us a good idea of what people went through.
We had been given Saturday off from work because of Mardi Gras, so obviously we had scheduled an ISP for the day. There’s a place near where we live called the Green Project. It’s kind of like the Habitat warehouse, where they take donations and then sell them for a drastically reduced price. The Green Project also recycles paint and other materials, and I think also uses these recycled materials for art. Fun fact: They’re filming the new Green Lantern movie, starring Ryan Reynolds, in New Orleans. The Green Project guy who was showing us around said that every day, he goes to the studio and picks up a truckload of scrap lumber and stuff. When filming is over, the Green Project will be able to strike the set and take as much as they want. We had two jobs for the day. There were a bunch of wood pallets that needed to be taken apart, and a stack of lumber that was filled with rusty bent nails that had to be taken out. I worked on the pallets because as most of us know, I enjoy taking things apart. It was really a pretty pleasant day. It was the first warm sunny day we’d had in a while and we got to work outside.
Sunday was kind of like our first day of Mardi Gras weekend. None of us went out on Saturday night because half of us were still sick and we were planning on going out Sunday and Monday nights. We knew before we came to New Orleans that the van wouldn’t be allowed out during Mardi Gras so four girls from my team and four girls from Dani’s team decided to get a hotel room for Sunday and Monday nights. This was, of course, before we actually got here and found out that our house is only like a 25 minute walk from the Quarter. So on Sunday night, Jess, Lindsey, Heather, and I packed a bag for the hotel, and we all started walking. We stopped at the Walgreens about halfway to the Quarter because people needed cash. While there, Erin, the girl on Dani’s team who organized the hotel, called us and said that when they checked in, they were given wristbands and told that they would not be allowed in the hotel later that night without them. The room was only registered for four people, not the eight that were planning on staying there. (Yes, dishonest. But we make like a third of minimum wage.) So since the other four were already there, it would be really difficult to get us four in there. We stood around thinking of a way around it for a while then started walking back to our house. We didn’t want to carry our stuff all the way there only to find out that we couldn’t get in. The four of us (we all happen to be roommates in our house also) sat in our room for quite a while trying to figure out a way to work this out. We couldn’t just pull out of the hotel plan, because then the four others would have to pay double (it was already $36 per night for each of us) which would be a lot of money. We really didn’t think we could find a way to sneak ourselves in there. We REALLY didn’t want to pay that much money and then not stay there. The solution we finally came up with was that we would each contribute less than half of the original amount, and the four from my team would just come back home each night. It kind of sucks, but they’re not mad at us and we’re not mad at them, so I guess it all worked out.
So we left our stuff in our house then headed out again. The rest of our group had come back to the house with us which was really nice because it was dark when we left the second time. We don’t live in the best neighborhood, and a group of eight feels much safer than a group of four girls. It also probably would have been a pretty big hassle to try to find everyone once we got there. We met up with a few people from Dani’s team and watched a little bit of the parade that was going on. Then we walked over to Frenchman Street, where there’s a much better atmosphere than places like Bourbon Street. After hanging out there for a while we were trying to decide where to go next. TK had been talking about a free concert that a band called Dumpstaphunk was playing at the Howlin’ Wolf that he really wanted to go to, but it was pretty far from where we were. Some people didn’t want to walk that far but I kind of wanted to go. Eventually everyone agreed to go and we started walking. Then it started raining. Kind of hard. And it was already pretty cold. Jess, Becky, and Michala decided to go in somewhere and wait out the rain, but TK, Lindsey, Heather and I kept walking. It was a pretty long walk, with a couple of stops to ask for more directions, but we found it. It ended up being really fun. The band was REALLY good. There were two bass players, a guitar, keyboards, and drums. Just like at the Yonder Mountain show, we kind of found our way up to the front. The venue was pretty cool too. Actually, the whole area it was in had a pretty nice atmosphere. The rest of the group definitely missed out. When it was over, we actually didn’t have too much trouble finding a cab to get home. It was a pretty fun night.
Alright, picking up where that last update left off. On Saturday the 6th we were still split up. I went back to the house that Brian was in charge of, along with five other teammates and Christina. Brian said there wasn’t enough work for that many people to do, so Christina took Lindsey and me to a coffee shop so we could use internet to work on the CCC project that we are in charge of. (I’m sure I’ll describe that later, but I don’t have a lot of time right now.) On our way there, Lindsey and I both realized that we felt sicker that day than we had the past couple days. (Yes, several of us are sick at once. Big surprise.) We both decided that we wanted to go to the doctor. We went ahead to the coffee shop, then left to find a doctor. Christina had found three nearby that take our insurance, so we went to the first on the list. Oh look, it was closed. We went to the second on the list, and found out it didn’t actually take our insurance. We tried to call the third on the list, and no one answered. Christina called another team leader who is in New Orleans and found out about another one, so we went there. It was quite an epic journey. We had to wait a REALLY long time because they had just switched to a paperless system like the day before and weren’t used to it. When I finally saw a doctor, she listened to my lungs. After only one breath, she said “Oh yeah, that’s bronchitis.” So I got a prescription for an antibiotic and an inhaler. Lindsey found out she had laryngitis, but it was on its way out. It’s interesting how so many of us are sick, but we all seem to have different things.
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. The big day. SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! Oh my goodness, this was an excited city. I really didn’t do anything all afternoon because I was still fairly sick, but we had plans for that night. The AmeriCorps Direct people had invited us to watch the game at their house, and some people wanted to go. And some people wanted to stay there the whole game, while others wanted to watch in the Quarter. The problem was that everyone would want to go out afterward, and no one wanted to have to drive the van back to the house at midnight. Also, Heather was out of town that weekend and was getting back on a bus at 5:30 (when the game was scheduled to start). We came up with a pretty darn good plan. We would all drive the van to the Direct house at like 5, hang out with them for a while, then people who wanted to watch the game in the Quarter would go pick up Heather, drive home to drop off her stuff and the van, then either walk or take a cab to the Quarter. It was a great plan until none of the cab companies whose numbers we had were answering their phone. We (Heather, TK, Lindsey, and myself, the people who didn’t want to watch the game at the Direct house) eventually decided to just walk. The downside of this is that we didn’t get to Magnolia Grill (where else would we watch the game?) until close to the end of the third quarter. It was still really fun though. There were actually a lot of people in the restaurant that night. Those of you who watched know that it was a pretty exciting game. There was an awesome interception by the Saints that led to a touchdown with only like a minute or two left in the game, which pretty much clinched the victory. THE SAINTS WON THE SUPER BOWL! Again, we all ran over to Bourbon Street where again, there was a crushing mob of people. Overall, it was pretty much just an awesome night.
Monday was a pretty lazy day for most of us. Everyone had stayed out pretty late, so we were mostly just sitting around all day. We did laundry later that night, but that was about it. The biggest thing that happened that day is that we found out the options for projects next round. This round is what they call shuffle round. They’re letting each Corps Member rank their preference for the projects then the team leaders pick new teams kind of based on their rankings. They’ll try to give everyone one of their top few choices, but that’s probably not possible. They’ll also try to split current teams up as much as they can, but there are five teams with 10-12 people each, so there will probably be two or three people from each current team on a shuffle team together. Also, the two office Team Leaders from each unit will get a team this round, while two field Team Leaders from each unit take over their jobs in the office. Want to know the projects? There are two projects in New Orleans: Habitat construction (the exact project I have now) led by Nichole, and Rebuilding Together (which is kind of similar to Habitat – it’s like constructing new houses and rehabbing old ones) led by Sarah. Nichole and Sarah are the Sun office people, and they’re both pretty awesome. There’s Habitat construction in Oklahoma City, led by Dani. There’s something called the Fuller Disaster Recovery Center (which is again, kind of like Habitat – constructing new homes and rehabbing old ones) in Orange, TX, led by Julie. Then there’s the one everyone is talking about, in Big Bend National Park, in Texas. That team will be camping the whole two months. I thought Calwood was remote, but Big Bend makes Calwood look like New York City. It is 100 miles from the nearest grocery store. Because it is so far away, Christina said they will probably only go grocery shopping every other week. There is no cell phone service and no electricity. It is in the desert. The project description said that the main goal of the NCCC team will be to repair the trail to their highest peak, which is 8,000 feet high. I forget what all the description said was wrong with the trail, but I definitely remember that it said the trail was too steep for hikers. This project sounds really freaking intimidating, but I just turned in my rankings with it at the top. I am now stressing about the possibility of getting it, but there’s nothing I can do about it until like Thursday the 18th or so, when we find out what team we’re on. Gah!
On Tuesday, we were back at our regular worksite with Dan and Forest. There were a bunch of odd jobs to finish before we got kicked out again for the sheetrock people to put up all the dry wall. It wasn’t terribly exciting. It was pretty darn cold though. We ended up getting out of work at 2:00 though, because the entire city was closing for a parade to welcome the Saints home from Miami, where the Super Bowl was. Seriously. We got out of work then because that’s when the Habitat office was closing. Schools were getting out early. Businesses were getting out early. All for a Saints parade that wasn’t even scheduled to start until 5:00. That’s how much New Orleans loves its Saints. It was nice though, because most of us wanted to go to the parade. We got there at right around 5, but we were really close to the end of the parade route. The parade didn’t actually get to us until about 8. And it was REALLY cold and windy that night. Some of our group left at about 7:30 because they were tired of standing in the cold, but I stayed because I would have been pretty upset if I stood in the cold for that long and then didn’t even see anything. The parade was alright I suppose, but I didn’t have a very good spot to see from. The few floats they had were pretty cool. Most of the floats carried players from the Saints. The first one had Drew Brees, the quarterback, but of course he was facing the other side of the street so I only saw the back of his head. The rest of us left at about 9, before the parade was even over. It was cold, and most of us were already sick and didn’t want to make it too much worse.
We were still at our regular worksite on Wednesday. The sheetrock people were working inside, so we all had to work outside where once again, it was really cold. I did a little touch-up paint, then cut a little more facia, then moved dirt around the rest of the day. The ground was really uneven on the back and side of the house, so a few of us were assigned to level it. I actually preferred that to the painting and the facia, because all the shoveling kept me warmer.
Wednesday night, when I posted the previous entry, was a little interesting. Heather, TK, Lindsey, and I went over to a little coffee shop nearby to use the internet. This coffee shop is in a small residential area. After we were there for a while, we heard the sound of a jazz band. The sound was getting louder. We looked out the window and saw a small parade go by. There was a jazz band, a bunch of random people, and two people twirling fire. It was really random, but very New Orleans.
On Thursday, we were kicked off our regular worksite again. Lindsey and Jess stayed home because they were still sick and it was really cold and rainy again, and Christina, Rob, and Michala all went to a coffee shop to do some paperwork. The rest of us got sent to the Musicians’ Village (a whole neighborhood Habitat recently built). We had to dig up some tiny trees that had only been planted recently and replant them somewhere else. Soon after we got there, Marquis realized he was also too sick to work that day, so TK and I drove him home. (The van can’t have fewer than two people in it.) When we got back I was informed that I would be going with Katie, an AmeriCorps Direct person, over to one of the houses we worked on when we were split up to do some touch up work. We both had to take off our muddy muddy shoes on the porch, and I mopped the whole house while she scraped paint that had dripped on the tile. Then, I mopped the whole house again while she did some touch up paint on the walls. The floor was still wet from when I mopped the first time and neither of us wanted to get our socks wet because it was really cold again, so we both went barefoot. I’m pretty sure that was the coldest my feet have ever been in my life. It was colder inside the house than it was outside, and I was walking on wet tile. It was pretty bad. But walking around in the cold with wet socks for the rest of the day would have been worse, so I think I made the right decision.
In the afternoon, we all went to another of the houses we worked on when we were split up. There was a huge hole in the back yard, and a few large piles of dirt. The hole needed to be filled and the rest of the back yard leveled off. It wouldn’t have been bad, but it was still rainy and cold. And they don’t have soil in New Orleans, they have clay. Like solid clay you could sculpt with. A giant pile of clay that has been rained on is not very easy to shovel. We got the hole filled by about 3, and Forest said we could go.
On Friday, it was determined that we would only work until lunch time. The Habitat people were obviously struggling to find work for us, and we had other things we could do to get hours. Tomm, Marquis, Rob, and Jess were all sent to the house I had mopped on Thursday to do more touch up paint, and the rest of us went back to the house that had the hole in the back yard. There was a huge pile of sand in the front of the house and we were told to shovel it back to the back yard to smooth out the chunks of clay. It took all morning with six people to shovel that entire pile to the back. And of course, it was still raining and cold. I think we got it looking pretty good, but we were all really ready to go home at lunch time. After lunch, we did some service learning to get hours for the rest of the day. We watched the first half of a really long documentary called When the Levees Broke. It had interviews with a bunch of people who were here during and after Katrina. We all actually learned a lot about things that happened in those few days. The movie was done really well and I think we all liked it. Obviously, it was extremely sad, but it gave us a good idea of what people went through.
We had been given Saturday off from work because of Mardi Gras, so obviously we had scheduled an ISP for the day. There’s a place near where we live called the Green Project. It’s kind of like the Habitat warehouse, where they take donations and then sell them for a drastically reduced price. The Green Project also recycles paint and other materials, and I think also uses these recycled materials for art. Fun fact: They’re filming the new Green Lantern movie, starring Ryan Reynolds, in New Orleans. The Green Project guy who was showing us around said that every day, he goes to the studio and picks up a truckload of scrap lumber and stuff. When filming is over, the Green Project will be able to strike the set and take as much as they want. We had two jobs for the day. There were a bunch of wood pallets that needed to be taken apart, and a stack of lumber that was filled with rusty bent nails that had to be taken out. I worked on the pallets because as most of us know, I enjoy taking things apart. It was really a pretty pleasant day. It was the first warm sunny day we’d had in a while and we got to work outside.
Sunday was kind of like our first day of Mardi Gras weekend. None of us went out on Saturday night because half of us were still sick and we were planning on going out Sunday and Monday nights. We knew before we came to New Orleans that the van wouldn’t be allowed out during Mardi Gras so four girls from my team and four girls from Dani’s team decided to get a hotel room for Sunday and Monday nights. This was, of course, before we actually got here and found out that our house is only like a 25 minute walk from the Quarter. So on Sunday night, Jess, Lindsey, Heather, and I packed a bag for the hotel, and we all started walking. We stopped at the Walgreens about halfway to the Quarter because people needed cash. While there, Erin, the girl on Dani’s team who organized the hotel, called us and said that when they checked in, they were given wristbands and told that they would not be allowed in the hotel later that night without them. The room was only registered for four people, not the eight that were planning on staying there. (Yes, dishonest. But we make like a third of minimum wage.) So since the other four were already there, it would be really difficult to get us four in there. We stood around thinking of a way around it for a while then started walking back to our house. We didn’t want to carry our stuff all the way there only to find out that we couldn’t get in. The four of us (we all happen to be roommates in our house also) sat in our room for quite a while trying to figure out a way to work this out. We couldn’t just pull out of the hotel plan, because then the four others would have to pay double (it was already $36 per night for each of us) which would be a lot of money. We really didn’t think we could find a way to sneak ourselves in there. We REALLY didn’t want to pay that much money and then not stay there. The solution we finally came up with was that we would each contribute less than half of the original amount, and the four from my team would just come back home each night. It kind of sucks, but they’re not mad at us and we’re not mad at them, so I guess it all worked out.
So we left our stuff in our house then headed out again. The rest of our group had come back to the house with us which was really nice because it was dark when we left the second time. We don’t live in the best neighborhood, and a group of eight feels much safer than a group of four girls. It also probably would have been a pretty big hassle to try to find everyone once we got there. We met up with a few people from Dani’s team and watched a little bit of the parade that was going on. Then we walked over to Frenchman Street, where there’s a much better atmosphere than places like Bourbon Street. After hanging out there for a while we were trying to decide where to go next. TK had been talking about a free concert that a band called Dumpstaphunk was playing at the Howlin’ Wolf that he really wanted to go to, but it was pretty far from where we were. Some people didn’t want to walk that far but I kind of wanted to go. Eventually everyone agreed to go and we started walking. Then it started raining. Kind of hard. And it was already pretty cold. Jess, Becky, and Michala decided to go in somewhere and wait out the rain, but TK, Lindsey, Heather and I kept walking. It was a pretty long walk, with a couple of stops to ask for more directions, but we found it. It ended up being really fun. The band was REALLY good. There were two bass players, a guitar, keyboards, and drums. Just like at the Yonder Mountain show, we kind of found our way up to the front. The venue was pretty cool too. Actually, the whole area it was in had a pretty nice atmosphere. The rest of the group definitely missed out. When it was over, we actually didn’t have too much trouble finding a cab to get home. It was a pretty fun night.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Random Jobs Week
So this is the week that we have been kicked off our regular worksite while the plumbers, electricians, and sheetrockers do their thing. Normally, on a Habitat house, the roof would have been put on as soon as possible so those subcontractors can be working on that interior stuff while volunteers are doing all the exterior stuff, but we’re building our house backwards. There was some kind of issue like the subcontractors couldn’t come when we needed them to, so we had most of the exterior done before they got here. So now while they’re working on the inside of the house, we have nothing to do. So all week, we’re getting split up to go around to other houses that are almost done and do some finishing touch stuff.
I unfortunately don’t really have anything to talk about for the beginning of the week because I was sick. Saturday night, when about half the team went to the first of the MANY Mardi Gras parades, I stayed home with a few others because I felt sickness coming on. On Sunday, I was pretty sure I was sick. Sore throat, stuffy nose, the works. On Monday, we had an ISP (Independent Service Project) opportunity set up at a community garden, but I stayed home and slept. On Tuesday at work, everyone was split into pairs to work on different houses, but Lindsey, Tomm, and I all stayed home sick. Tomm slept all morning and Lindsey and I watched way too many episodes of Bones. (Christina brought seasons one, two, and three on DVD.)
Wednesday was more of an interesting day. Lindsey, Christina, and I stayed home in the morning because we were all sick. Eleven people living in one tiny house means that any bit of sickness turns into the plague. Once one person gets it, it’s probably only a matter of time before everyone gets it. So we dropped everyone off at their various worksites, then came home and slept. The three of us ate lunch at the house then started getting ready to go to work because we all felt better. Lindsey was the first to the porch to get her boots. She opened the front door and said “Oh, no.” “What?” I said. “Something bad happened,” said Lindsey. I went out on the porch, and she pointed to our van. The window right behind the passenger window wasn’t there anymore and there was broken glass all over the ground around it. We told Christina, went out and looked, and our GPS was gone from its hiding place. (Yes, we hide it like you’re supposed to, not leave it in plain view.) Lindsey left for one of the worksites which was within walking distance, Christina called the police, and I started tracking down a place we could take it to get it fixed. Miss Pat, our across-the-street neighbor who loves us because she lives in a Habitat that AmeriCorps people helped with, and someone else were able to give the police a description of the perpetrators. Apparently there were two of them and they were like 13 years old. Hoodlumage starts early here. When the policeman saw that it was a government vehicle, he brought in a detective, who brought in someone to fingerprint the van. Dani, the other Sun team leader in New Orleans, came over in the cargo van we brought down here, and the three of us took the van to the place I had found. It ended up being an epic journey because the place we were trying to go was right across some railroad tracks and we COULD NOT find a way to get across for a long time. When we got there, they told us they couldn’t fix it without the plastic handle thing that unlatches the window and pushes it open. I distinctly remember seeing the handle on the ground because when I was on the phone with the auto glass people trying to tell them which window needed replacing, I told them it was definitely a window that opens because I see the handle on the ground. The guy didn’t mention that I should bring it. So we had to drive back, which took about a third of the time it took to get there. Christina was going to have me go back with them again but I asked to be dropped off at a worksite. I hadn’t done anything for like three days. I couldn’t really stand just driving around anymore. I didn’t do much when I got to work. They were starting to clean up when I got there. The supervisor for that house was this tiny old-ish man named Brian. He curses a lot, smokes like a chimney, and is super mean, yet somehow I found him hilarious.
On Thursday, everyone went back to the houses they had been working on all week. Michala, Tomm, Marquis, Jess, Christina, and I were all sent to the house with Brian again. He told half of us stay at that house with Katie (his AmeriCorps Direct person – like Forest is on our house) and half go with him to yet another house. Tomm, Christina, and I went with him. This house, like I think all the others we’re working on this week, was pretty close to finished. We got to use nail guns (which are designed not to just shoot out into the air – don’t worry Mom and Dad) to nail in some molding down along the baseboards. Then we used putty to fill those holes. Then we caulked the seams. Tomm and I hung the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. It wasn’t a terrible exciting day, but it was kind of fun. The best part of the day was when Brian had Tomm and I installing interior doors. It was fun because it was easy and yielded such immediate and noticeable results. Brian was kind of working on the house with us and on another house at the same time, so he was going back and forth a lot. He taught us how to install the doors then left again. On the third bedroom door we installed, we closed it to make sure it was right. That was when we found out that the door was locked. From the inside. While we were in the hall. And the locks were the kind where there’s a little button that turns, not the button that pushes in. Luckily there was a hole through the doorknob from the outside, so Christina grabbed a nail and tried to pick the lock. She couldn’t get it, so I tried. I was just about to give up but then I heard it click! I was pretty excited. If we couldn’t get that door open, I think we would have had only two options. Either bust the door down which obviously would have messed up the doorframe and hinges and probably the door itself, or go outside, take the boards off the windows, and hope the window was unlocked so someone could climb in. I don’t think Brian actually would have been mad at us, but I’m still really glad we got it open before he got back.
We were still split up on Friday. Again, we all went back to the houses we had been on all week. This day was much less interesting. Most of what we did was just paint the baseboards we had installed the day before. Brian was gone most of the day so we spent a lot of time with Katie. We asked a lot of questions about AmeriCorps Direct. I’m going to apply to be a team leader for next year, but doing AmeriCorps Direct with Habitat is pretty tempting. And now I’m all conflicted. But that’s another story.
I know this post is ending abruptly. Right now it is Wednesday the 10th. I wasn’t done writing this, but this is when I have internet. So here it is! With no proofreading. Hope it’s ok.
I unfortunately don’t really have anything to talk about for the beginning of the week because I was sick. Saturday night, when about half the team went to the first of the MANY Mardi Gras parades, I stayed home with a few others because I felt sickness coming on. On Sunday, I was pretty sure I was sick. Sore throat, stuffy nose, the works. On Monday, we had an ISP (Independent Service Project) opportunity set up at a community garden, but I stayed home and slept. On Tuesday at work, everyone was split into pairs to work on different houses, but Lindsey, Tomm, and I all stayed home sick. Tomm slept all morning and Lindsey and I watched way too many episodes of Bones. (Christina brought seasons one, two, and three on DVD.)
Wednesday was more of an interesting day. Lindsey, Christina, and I stayed home in the morning because we were all sick. Eleven people living in one tiny house means that any bit of sickness turns into the plague. Once one person gets it, it’s probably only a matter of time before everyone gets it. So we dropped everyone off at their various worksites, then came home and slept. The three of us ate lunch at the house then started getting ready to go to work because we all felt better. Lindsey was the first to the porch to get her boots. She opened the front door and said “Oh, no.” “What?” I said. “Something bad happened,” said Lindsey. I went out on the porch, and she pointed to our van. The window right behind the passenger window wasn’t there anymore and there was broken glass all over the ground around it. We told Christina, went out and looked, and our GPS was gone from its hiding place. (Yes, we hide it like you’re supposed to, not leave it in plain view.) Lindsey left for one of the worksites which was within walking distance, Christina called the police, and I started tracking down a place we could take it to get it fixed. Miss Pat, our across-the-street neighbor who loves us because she lives in a Habitat that AmeriCorps people helped with, and someone else were able to give the police a description of the perpetrators. Apparently there were two of them and they were like 13 years old. Hoodlumage starts early here. When the policeman saw that it was a government vehicle, he brought in a detective, who brought in someone to fingerprint the van. Dani, the other Sun team leader in New Orleans, came over in the cargo van we brought down here, and the three of us took the van to the place I had found. It ended up being an epic journey because the place we were trying to go was right across some railroad tracks and we COULD NOT find a way to get across for a long time. When we got there, they told us they couldn’t fix it without the plastic handle thing that unlatches the window and pushes it open. I distinctly remember seeing the handle on the ground because when I was on the phone with the auto glass people trying to tell them which window needed replacing, I told them it was definitely a window that opens because I see the handle on the ground. The guy didn’t mention that I should bring it. So we had to drive back, which took about a third of the time it took to get there. Christina was going to have me go back with them again but I asked to be dropped off at a worksite. I hadn’t done anything for like three days. I couldn’t really stand just driving around anymore. I didn’t do much when I got to work. They were starting to clean up when I got there. The supervisor for that house was this tiny old-ish man named Brian. He curses a lot, smokes like a chimney, and is super mean, yet somehow I found him hilarious.
On Thursday, everyone went back to the houses they had been working on all week. Michala, Tomm, Marquis, Jess, Christina, and I were all sent to the house with Brian again. He told half of us stay at that house with Katie (his AmeriCorps Direct person – like Forest is on our house) and half go with him to yet another house. Tomm, Christina, and I went with him. This house, like I think all the others we’re working on this week, was pretty close to finished. We got to use nail guns (which are designed not to just shoot out into the air – don’t worry Mom and Dad) to nail in some molding down along the baseboards. Then we used putty to fill those holes. Then we caulked the seams. Tomm and I hung the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. It wasn’t a terrible exciting day, but it was kind of fun. The best part of the day was when Brian had Tomm and I installing interior doors. It was fun because it was easy and yielded such immediate and noticeable results. Brian was kind of working on the house with us and on another house at the same time, so he was going back and forth a lot. He taught us how to install the doors then left again. On the third bedroom door we installed, we closed it to make sure it was right. That was when we found out that the door was locked. From the inside. While we were in the hall. And the locks were the kind where there’s a little button that turns, not the button that pushes in. Luckily there was a hole through the doorknob from the outside, so Christina grabbed a nail and tried to pick the lock. She couldn’t get it, so I tried. I was just about to give up but then I heard it click! I was pretty excited. If we couldn’t get that door open, I think we would have had only two options. Either bust the door down which obviously would have messed up the doorframe and hinges and probably the door itself, or go outside, take the boards off the windows, and hope the window was unlocked so someone could climb in. I don’t think Brian actually would have been mad at us, but I’m still really glad we got it open before he got back.
We were still split up on Friday. Again, we all went back to the houses we had been on all week. This day was much less interesting. Most of what we did was just paint the baseboards we had installed the day before. Brian was gone most of the day so we spent a lot of time with Katie. We asked a lot of questions about AmeriCorps Direct. I’m going to apply to be a team leader for next year, but doing AmeriCorps Direct with Habitat is pretty tempting. And now I’m all conflicted. But that’s another story.
I know this post is ending abruptly. Right now it is Wednesday the 10th. I wasn’t done writing this, but this is when I have internet. So here it is! With no proofreading. Hope it’s ok.
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