Today was our first official work day for the week. We worked in St. Bernards Parish where the houses are paid for by the United Arab Emirates. Because they are paid for, they are built on sights of the homeowners old homes, which is really cool. The group i was with made a lot of progress. Hurricane straps, press board, Bon Jovi and monkey like behavior were all part of the day. One of my favorite parts of the day, was when you listened carefully you could hear all the hammers singing and sometimes they were really synchronized. It was a beatiful sound. There was also much instant gratification as we could visibly see the house becoming closed in by press board and the number of hurricane strips going up. We also put up three walls. While i know that my arm will be very sore tommorrow, I can't wait to see the progress continue. Tomorrow is the trellis and we will begin roofing.
During the lunch hour, we were able to take a stroll through the neigborhood and see the some of the leftover devastation and talk to some of the residents. One lady who spoke with us for a length of time grew up in the parish and told us about how safe it was, she also told us how she was very very afraid to go into downtown New Orleans. It was interesting hearing it from someone who lived hear their whole lives. We also got to meet the brother of the person whose house we were building. He told us that he and his two brothers all lived within five houses of each other. I am hoping he will come around again tomorrow and we will get to speak with him somemore! Below I have posted a picture of the group getting a saw lesson from Jesse one of the Americorp members. I got to use the saws all and the chop saw today!! Which made my day!!!
-Megan
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