I can't possibly describe how tired I am after the second day. Manual Labor is hard...go figure :)
It is such a trip how much Katirnia has affected both Biloxi and New Orleans. We went to the French Quarter and although it is back up and the drinks are flowing on Burbon Street you can see the devestation for miles and miles all around. We are staying in a hotel on the beach and there is nothing here but a few buildings and you can see just vague signs of businesses that got washed away. Everyone here is very warm and appreciative of what we are here for and we must get blessed at least 4 times a day by people we meet. We seem to be progressing very fast and the roof of the house is almost done, we even installed a few windows today. All I can say is we have all gotten hammered in a whole new way on this trip, each of us must have put in at least 500 nails so far. Everyone is in good spirits - especially at 7am when we get together and people have been surprisingly open when it comes to singing in the car. We went to eat at CiCi's yesterday and everyone in town abosultely loves it - we saw the cutest little boy who was getting a to-go pizza and wanted to wave goodbye to each of us while shouting "I'll see you later." -- Adorable.
We will be back home soon sunburned, blistered and very very sore, but with a whole new perspective.
D.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Photos of the Gulf - Tricia
Just wanted to share a few photos of the devistation we have seen all over the Gulf. We flew into Biloxi, drove to New Orleans, and have seen it up and down everywhere we have been. Photos don't do it justice -- the expanse goes on and on and on.
They have spent the last 2 years just clearing the debris so there's a lot of just empty land.
They have spent the last 2 years just clearing the debris so there's a lot of just empty land.
can't believe I'm here (Sarah)
I knew coming on this trip I would see devastation, experience something I have never experienced before, test my limits both mentally and physically, and learn things about myslef and 15 other practical strangers that I never knew. It is day 2 and all this has come true.
While waiting to go through security at the airport in Los Angeles we met a couple and their children who live right outside Biloxi. In her southern drawl she told us that the people of Biloxi really needed our help, and she thanked us for going down and doing our small part to fix a devastating situation. We were about to embark on something that would take us completely out of our comfort zone, and sure enough, my comfort zone has been broken.
When we arrived in Gulfport the airport was under construction, the people moved slower, talked slower, and looked different. I still consider myself a northern New England girl and pretty down to earth. I feel as though I have seen, and done a lot through past experiences but even for me it looks like and felt like I went back in time 10 years. On the drive to the hotel which is on Beach Blvd I saw nothing. NOTHING was there. Unfortunately there once were things there. No houses, no gas stations, no businesses, nothing. Every few miles we would see a pole to a fast food restaurant, or the cement bases to where a house used to be. The saddest spot was a graveyard where the graves were damaged, turned over, and basically the graveyard was completely ruined.
Sunday we drove to New Orleans (quite the city) and on the way we saw a bridge going over the gulf that was broken in 5 or six places. I can not even come close to imagining what it would have been like to live here during the hurricane, or even the few months following.
We arrived at the house we would be working on all week on Monday morning. The frame was finished, and we would be roofing. I was excited to roof, and have never done any work of the sort in the past. After we met our group supervisor, the woman (Miss. Lisa) who will the homeowner arrived. She thanked us for being there, and told us how much she appreciates our hard work. Her thanks led to tears, which resulted in tears for the rest of the group. Her appreciation really makes me thankful for everything I have. It makes me realize the small things in my life that are not going the way I want are so miniscule in comparison to how harrowing the situation is of the lives of the people down here. I need to realize how lucky I really am more often. I need to be more appreciative, and I need to be more thankful for the things I have and the people who have helped me achieve the things I have done. (thanks mom and dad).
The roofing was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. My forearm in extremely sore. My nailing ability has improoved ten thousand times from the first nail Monday morning. (It took me 5 different nails to finally get the first one in). I am afraid of heights, yet by the end of the day you would never know. I felt comfortable on the roof, and like I was really accomplishing something. I have learned more about construction these last 2 days then I have in 22 years combined.
To wrap things up- (sorry so long, there is so much to say, and even more to say that I am sure I am leaving out) this experience has been extraordianry and it is only day 2! I cant wait to finish out this week, and see how the house looks from the time we started to the time we leave. There are only 3 days left- I wish we had more time down here! Goodbye for now.
thanks for reading.
Sarah :)
While waiting to go through security at the airport in Los Angeles we met a couple and their children who live right outside Biloxi. In her southern drawl she told us that the people of Biloxi really needed our help, and she thanked us for going down and doing our small part to fix a devastating situation. We were about to embark on something that would take us completely out of our comfort zone, and sure enough, my comfort zone has been broken.
When we arrived in Gulfport the airport was under construction, the people moved slower, talked slower, and looked different. I still consider myself a northern New England girl and pretty down to earth. I feel as though I have seen, and done a lot through past experiences but even for me it looks like and felt like I went back in time 10 years. On the drive to the hotel which is on Beach Blvd I saw nothing. NOTHING was there. Unfortunately there once were things there. No houses, no gas stations, no businesses, nothing. Every few miles we would see a pole to a fast food restaurant, or the cement bases to where a house used to be. The saddest spot was a graveyard where the graves were damaged, turned over, and basically the graveyard was completely ruined.
Sunday we drove to New Orleans (quite the city) and on the way we saw a bridge going over the gulf that was broken in 5 or six places. I can not even come close to imagining what it would have been like to live here during the hurricane, or even the few months following.
We arrived at the house we would be working on all week on Monday morning. The frame was finished, and we would be roofing. I was excited to roof, and have never done any work of the sort in the past. After we met our group supervisor, the woman (Miss. Lisa) who will the homeowner arrived. She thanked us for being there, and told us how much she appreciates our hard work. Her thanks led to tears, which resulted in tears for the rest of the group. Her appreciation really makes me thankful for everything I have. It makes me realize the small things in my life that are not going the way I want are so miniscule in comparison to how harrowing the situation is of the lives of the people down here. I need to realize how lucky I really am more often. I need to be more appreciative, and I need to be more thankful for the things I have and the people who have helped me achieve the things I have done. (thanks mom and dad).
The roofing was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. My forearm in extremely sore. My nailing ability has improoved ten thousand times from the first nail Monday morning. (It took me 5 different nails to finally get the first one in). I am afraid of heights, yet by the end of the day you would never know. I felt comfortable on the roof, and like I was really accomplishing something. I have learned more about construction these last 2 days then I have in 22 years combined.
To wrap things up- (sorry so long, there is so much to say, and even more to say that I am sure I am leaving out) this experience has been extraordianry and it is only day 2! I cant wait to finish out this week, and see how the house looks from the time we started to the time we leave. There are only 3 days left- I wish we had more time down here! Goodbye for now.
thanks for reading.
Sarah :)
Monday, February 26, 2007
Day One Under Wraps (Craig)
Sitting in the sweet suite occupied by Colleen and Mel overlooking the Gulf of Mexico right now. We're all drinking beers and comparing blisters after a long day of work. On the way to Yankie Stadium, somebody mentioned that the 8-4 working day will be a breeze compared to the hours we crazy advertising people pull every day. I mean jeeze, we're going to be done at 3:30 in time to clean up and be out by 4. That's nothing. Well, after pounding nails for 6 hours (allow 45 minutes for us to scour lunch from either Taco Bell, Burger King, or Subway), the entire team was exhausted driving back to the Edgewater Inn stopping only to pick up wine and beer. Now we sit here comparing stories from the work site and comparing areas of burnt skin from the gorgeous Mississippi sky. The pains and sores are nothing vs. what they'll be later in the week, but for now, we're all proud of the effort we put in on day 1.
Speaking of day 1, it consisted mostly of laying plywood slates to the roof on top of the frame that last week's group built. Imagine this group of desk hounds climbing ladders, hammering nails, wearing hard hats, bending nails, dropping nails on other's hard hats, and avoiding the top two rungs of unstable ladders. As tragic as it may sound, we actually worked very hard and efficiently. Most of the roof is now firmly in place ready for the shingles to be added tomorrow. We all know way more construction terminology than we did yesterday while pouring hurricanes down our throats on Bourbon St. We now know what OSBs, H clips (Colleen is now a clip knocker), scabs, and cat claws are. Actually, we may know what a cat claw is a little too well. It's not our fault, though, since it was last week's group's fault that we had to build scabs because the OSB's didn't fit perfectly into the necessary H clips. Oh snap! Now I know more acronyms besides EOD, GRP, RFP, and CTA! Woo Hoo!
Alright, my face is starting to feel the effects of forgetting sunscreen and drinking a few Coronas, so I'm going to sign off for the night and join the group for a night of fine dining at CiCi's. Mmmmmm. Pizza.
Night.
Speaking of day 1, it consisted mostly of laying plywood slates to the roof on top of the frame that last week's group built. Imagine this group of desk hounds climbing ladders, hammering nails, wearing hard hats, bending nails, dropping nails on other's hard hats, and avoiding the top two rungs of unstable ladders. As tragic as it may sound, we actually worked very hard and efficiently. Most of the roof is now firmly in place ready for the shingles to be added tomorrow. We all know way more construction terminology than we did yesterday while pouring hurricanes down our throats on Bourbon St. We now know what OSBs, H clips (Colleen is now a clip knocker), scabs, and cat claws are. Actually, we may know what a cat claw is a little too well. It's not our fault, though, since it was last week's group's fault that we had to build scabs because the OSB's didn't fit perfectly into the necessary H clips. Oh snap! Now I know more acronyms besides EOD, GRP, RFP, and CTA! Woo Hoo!
Alright, my face is starting to feel the effects of forgetting sunscreen and drinking a few Coronas, so I'm going to sign off for the night and join the group for a night of fine dining at CiCi's. Mmmmmm. Pizza.
Night.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
The first 36 hours (Colleen)
Seems like we've done and seen so much already. Diving along Beach Boulevard in Biloxi is a very sobering experience. I was here years ago for a friends wedding and remembered beautiful Southern mansions lining the beach. Now the only things there are cement slabs with nothing on them, empty fields, the shells of a couple building and a couple new buildings. And Casinos. Now that casinos are allowed to be built on the land - seems that they are the only thing that they have found money to build. We went to a casino the frst night to get some dinner - scary. It was like a huge Las Vegas casino and it was packed!! Won some money, that I will spend while I'm here!
We also went to New Orleans today - on a picture perfect day. Still shocking to see that there is still so many destroyed buildingds in the drive in. Also neighborhoods that look like they are in some third word country. Had beignets for breakfast and oysters and gumbo for lunch. We had our Habitat orientation tonite at an old high school foootball stadium. Tomorrow starts the building!
All 15 of us are driving around in a big extended van - very fun driving it, except we feel like the Partridge family.....enjoying the Edgewater in, even though Mel and I had to have our door kicked open tonight because somehow the security lock inside locked.
Watched the academy awards in a meeting room - the kid at the front desk said as we left the room "did you guys get to see your show? Hope you enjoyed it!" - as if we were possibly the only idiots that would want to watch it.
Have to be on the road at 7am tomorrow - so off to bed.
We also went to New Orleans today - on a picture perfect day. Still shocking to see that there is still so many destroyed buildingds in the drive in. Also neighborhoods that look like they are in some third word country. Had beignets for breakfast and oysters and gumbo for lunch. We had our Habitat orientation tonite at an old high school foootball stadium. Tomorrow starts the building!
All 15 of us are driving around in a big extended van - very fun driving it, except we feel like the Partridge family.....enjoying the Edgewater in, even though Mel and I had to have our door kicked open tonight because somehow the security lock inside locked.
Watched the academy awards in a meeting room - the kid at the front desk said as we left the room "did you guys get to see your show? Hope you enjoyed it!" - as if we were possibly the only idiots that would want to watch it.
Have to be on the road at 7am tomorrow - so off to bed.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Two days away... (Craig)
It's February 22nd, and the Deutsch team leaves for Biloxi in less than two days. I am getting extremely excited to go for several reasons. I'm excited to do my little part to help clean up what Katrina swept away. I'm excited to put action behind the words I've been speaking for months now. I'm excited to take part in something amazing with an amazing group of people. I'm excited to see a different part of the country. I'm excited to put my normal life on hold and try something completely new, something completely good.
We'll only be gone for a week, and we may not even build an entire house, but at least we are going. At least we care enough to take time from our overly comfortable lives to lend a helping hand to those who aren't as fortunate. I'm proud of each person in the group, including myself, for what we are about to do. I'm also proud of all of our family and friends who donated the money that is allowing us to make the trip. Without their support, we wouldn't be heading to Biloxi on Saturday morning.
We'll be updating this blog throughout the week with stories and photos of what we see, do, hear, and feel. We hope you take as much from the trip as we will.
Thanks and talk to you soon.
Craig
We'll only be gone for a week, and we may not even build an entire house, but at least we are going. At least we care enough to take time from our overly comfortable lives to lend a helping hand to those who aren't as fortunate. I'm proud of each person in the group, including myself, for what we are about to do. I'm also proud of all of our family and friends who donated the money that is allowing us to make the trip. Without their support, we wouldn't be heading to Biloxi on Saturday morning.
We'll be updating this blog throughout the week with stories and photos of what we see, do, hear, and feel. We hope you take as much from the trip as we will.
Thanks and talk to you soon.
Craig
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