Laissez les bons temps rouler

Tuesdays are usually spent working with Habitat, building, painting, or drilling away at the houses we build at a break-neck pace. But today, there's a big, staff-wide meeting that will take up all of the time of our kind supervisors. Since there's no one to make sure that we don't get into trouble playing with the tools, we've got the day off!

It's the perfect day for relaxing, too. The team and I spent the weekend in New Orleans, seeing some sights, listening to the awesome live music that seems to be everywhere, and spending our normal off-day working for an organization called the St. Bernard Project. Both this organization and Habitat for Humanity have a similar mission-- to provide simple, decent housing for the community. But the St. Bernard Project is different in that it renovates the homes that were inundated by the hurricanes' wind and rain. Most of the houses in and around New Orleans that sustained flooding and other damage have been gutted by now. All that's left are these empty shells that have tell-tale spray paint on them, showing who searched the houses after the storm, how many people (both dead and alive) were found inside the structure, as well as noting other hazards that might have been found. On this house, the markings are on the second story, right above the steps.





The mission of the St. Bernard Project is to fix up houses like these and get the homeowners living in their neighborhoods again. Mold has to be abated, new chunks of framing has to be installed, flooring and drywall have to be put in, and oftentimes, exterior work needs to be completed too. Two NCCC teams work with the Project right now, and Silver 6 spent our Monday teamed up with some of our NCCC peers. We got to help them out and see how another community based organization works to help the Gulf Coast area and its residents get back to normal.

Saturday night and Sunday were an opportunity for me to see other sides of New Orleans with the very capable guides, Jesse and Caitlin. These two lovely folks went to school with me and have spent the last year and a half running a women's shelter in the 9th Ward. Round of applause for them. We listened to some fantastic live music and spent a good portion of Sunday afternoon navigating the bayous outside of New Orleans in a great, big canoe. We saw a copperhead up close and personal, several small-ish alligators, a beautiful owl, and hilarious little frogs that made tiny screamy noises when startled. The bayou is one of the most beautiful places that I've had the chance to explore. Tall, tall cypress trees, with beards of Spanish moss clinging to them punctuate the swamps and waterways that are full of life. It's pretty easy to forget about the devastation that the area went through and is continuing to recover from when you're surrounded by the expensive, mostly white and touristy French Quarter or the beautiful wildlife out in the bayou. The different sides of the city can seem very incongruous at times and it would be easy for to think that the city is entirely back on its feet, if you saw it with an untrained eye.