Day 4 in St. Bernard Parish
Day 4 began on at 3 am - woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Functioned fine today, however - must be ALL THE SUGAR.
Headed over to the mess hall at 6:30 for coffee & grub (eggs, potatoes, pancakes today) and then met up with the team at 7:15 for a bus taking us to the site. Our team leader decided to take her rented van, so I said I'd go with her and we got later to the site since we stopped for gas and sodas (Diet Dr. Pepper to fuel the troops).
Once we got there it was a day of ripping and gutting. Moldy sheetrock is my nemesis. The grossest part was the pantry I cleaned out which included dead rodent(s) and various unrecognizable crap. Blech.
Lunch was the usual - sandwich, chips, cookies. Plenty breaks throughout the day to keep hydrated. It's hard to do that because it's a hassle to take off the mask and antibac hands and all that.
We didn't finish the house today. I think we could have if we were better coordinated, but it is what it is and we still did fine work. We still have a room or two to get through - and a California King bed with a huge sturdy frame which will be really tough.
I really want to come back this summer for a few weeks. The camp facilities would get annoying, but it's such rewarding work. Talked a lot with neighbors today - all really nice folks who had some interesting stories.
I also want all my friends to come with me! And all their friends!
Most interesting stories? Last night from a security guard who was a prison guard - that prisoners were drowning in their cells and couldn't get out. Today from a person who knows several people who were evacuated to the Superdome - the violence there was so horrible including child rapes and murders - such horrible things that are never broadcast.
Our workday ends at 2:30, when the bus picks us up and toolboy waits with the tools for the tool pickup. We all smell really bad then, so we rush back and stand in line for the showers. The worst are the boots, for standing in Katrina sludge, but I'm not leaving mine here because they weren't cheap and they're really good boots. I've been so happy several times for having steel-toe, steel-shank boots - as well as a hardhat. Started off the first day with a pipe falling on my head, and I could hardly feel it. Yay purple hardhat!
Hey, so Jordan is looking like a possibility ASAP though. Just got email back from Mahmoud's brother's wife's sister who asked for my CV and says as a native speaker I have a great shot at a job there at the German Jordanian University where she works - she asked how soon I could start. I also just got email from a woman I met in Jordan - the one I almost visited, but she wanted me to stay four days I was leaving sooner than that.
I could be cool with Jordan. It's a mellow place and I like it, and I would learn so much Arabic so quickly because it's not an English-speaking place really. And as long as I had holidays to travel, that could be cool. I just don't know how long I would want to stay.
But anyway, things are good here - lots of hard, hard work.
Tonight I volunteer at the community kitchen, serving food to the needy. A guy today just said to me, "You can only do so much good." I laughed and said, "But there's so much other crap I have to make up for!" So, off to it.
Headed over to the mess hall at 6:30 for coffee & grub (eggs, potatoes, pancakes today) and then met up with the team at 7:15 for a bus taking us to the site. Our team leader decided to take her rented van, so I said I'd go with her and we got later to the site since we stopped for gas and sodas (Diet Dr. Pepper to fuel the troops).
Once we got there it was a day of ripping and gutting. Moldy sheetrock is my nemesis. The grossest part was the pantry I cleaned out which included dead rodent(s) and various unrecognizable crap. Blech.
Lunch was the usual - sandwich, chips, cookies. Plenty breaks throughout the day to keep hydrated. It's hard to do that because it's a hassle to take off the mask and antibac hands and all that.
We didn't finish the house today. I think we could have if we were better coordinated, but it is what it is and we still did fine work. We still have a room or two to get through - and a California King bed with a huge sturdy frame which will be really tough.
I really want to come back this summer for a few weeks. The camp facilities would get annoying, but it's such rewarding work. Talked a lot with neighbors today - all really nice folks who had some interesting stories.
I also want all my friends to come with me! And all their friends!
Most interesting stories? Last night from a security guard who was a prison guard - that prisoners were drowning in their cells and couldn't get out. Today from a person who knows several people who were evacuated to the Superdome - the violence there was so horrible including child rapes and murders - such horrible things that are never broadcast.
Our workday ends at 2:30, when the bus picks us up and toolboy waits with the tools for the tool pickup. We all smell really bad then, so we rush back and stand in line for the showers. The worst are the boots, for standing in Katrina sludge, but I'm not leaving mine here because they weren't cheap and they're really good boots. I've been so happy several times for having steel-toe, steel-shank boots - as well as a hardhat. Started off the first day with a pipe falling on my head, and I could hardly feel it. Yay purple hardhat!
Hey, so Jordan is looking like a possibility ASAP though. Just got email back from Mahmoud's brother's wife's sister who asked for my CV and says as a native speaker I have a great shot at a job there at the German Jordanian University where she works - she asked how soon I could start. I also just got email from a woman I met in Jordan - the one I almost visited, but she wanted me to stay four days I was leaving sooner than that.
I could be cool with Jordan. It's a mellow place and I like it, and I would learn so much Arabic so quickly because it's not an English-speaking place really. And as long as I had holidays to travel, that could be cool. I just don't know how long I would want to stay.
But anyway, things are good here - lots of hard, hard work.
Tonight I volunteer at the community kitchen, serving food to the needy. A guy today just said to me, "You can only do so much good." I laughed and said, "But there's so much other crap I have to make up for!" So, off to it.
posted by NOLA at 1:40 PM
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