Week Three and Going Strong

So the Warriors have hit their half way point. Only 10 working days left before we head back to Denver and were definitely "Getting Things Done". Just minor touch-up painting on one house and it's totally complete. And another near by is just a little farther from completion. Our menu has begun to variey and become more creative to the relief of everyone. We had a feast on thanksgiving with three other teams in the New Orleans area and no one left hungry (thanks to our amazing cooks, too.) The team volunteered at the 102nd annual Turkey Day Race Thanksgiving morning and had a good time being labled as race officals. Also we completed more service projects for Hands On New Orleans Friday and Saturday working mainly in a Community Garden laying a brick walkway, which turned out fantastic by the way. Unfortunately, our Football game against our rivals in Earth 3 the "Alpine Rangers" was cancelled today at their request (draw your own conclusions.) Were greeting the next two weeks with a mixture of relief and disappointment. Relieved in the sense that soon we'll be heading back to Denver and almost immediately headed home. However, disappointed that we have such a sort time to complete so many open projects, too. Well signing off for now folks but well post again soon enough until then. GO, Woodland Warriors!

Hey Folks time for another thrilling episode of Earth 4 in NEW ORLEANS

Hey fans its Marshall and unlike other blog posters I will not bring personal squables into this sacred literature.

Tomorrow is turkey day which would usually be difficult to swing on $4.50 per person however our own personal miracle worker Katie has made it very possible. Also we will be eating with the Water 1 and 4 so it'll be an Americorps Thanksgiving. Were all thankful for our four day weekend but the realization that we only have 2 weeks left afterwards to wrap up our projects is very real. We also can't wait to come home and visit all of you, too. And don't worry PT (physical training) is going strong and we found a routine that is ... hardcore thanks to our PT coordinators Clay, Alex, and Josh. Also the team is watching When the Levees Broke by Spike Lee which is showing some of the sides of the Katrina Disaster and producing very interesting discussions on faults and biases. However the team has begun to really bond and hopefully we'll make it through this with as little casualities as possible...I'm kidding of course.


Happy Thanksgiving and stay tuned

first day of week 2, WOO HOO!!!

hey, hey, hey!

in this entry i will use lots of exclamation points because my teammate, SOMEONE, MARSHALL!!!!!! disapproves. secretly, I know he appreciates my grammatical punctuation. so I will use them just for him :)

but seriously, how about how much i love my team? for such close quarters, it's surprising that we're constantly laughing and joking with one another. it's also funny that we're learning each others' most subtle mannerisms even before we learn each others' memories. ah, in americorps nccc, c'est la vie! in fact, as i sit at my computer in the next house over (man, i wish we had internet in our apt), i'm watching videos of my teammates. Hahaha! Can’t get enough.

i think everyone's looking forward to this week. i've heard that a few of us were thinking about this same thing--we got to NOLA, and everyone at Rebuilding Together was quite welcoming. however, the degree to which employees cared about RT was incredible. they obviously put so much time and effort into working with RT, was somewhat daunting. we didn’t want to mess up. we wanted to constantly be busy, doing as much as we possibly could. We realized that we only had a month here, and we wanted to help as much as we could.

This week, for me, at least, i'm definitely feeling more comfortable in my construction abilities. Despite the fact that katie watched me (come close to…) hammer[ing] my elbow, then narrowly avoid the rusty nails at the deconstruction site (t.g. for PPD shots!), I think my construction skills are improving. marshall and i sized a trillion windows today in the salvage section of the RT warehouse. I like to think he taught me everything he knows. Might have a few more things to learn, he told me.

Thurs far, one of the most meaningful things we’ve done, a thing that resonated in me, was the painting project on Saturday. Put simply, we helped a man repaint his house. He’s been working on rebuilding/restoring both his house and his mother’s home for the past 4 years. After struggling with the insurance company, saving up money to repair his flood-damaged home, and watching neighborhood contractors, he vowed to rebuild his own home. I’m not a religious person, but if I had to imagine a god, I saw a piece of one, in that man, here in New Orleans. Talk about inspiration. The definition of resilience.

The above comments/religious references, etc., are mine. They are not the opinions of AmeriCorps NCCC or my teammates.

Signing off,
Ayla aka Squiggles (!!!!)

Monday November 23

Today we had another great day at our Rebuilding Together worksites. Today Clay worked at the warehouse moving and organizing tools. Ayla and Marshall sized windows and fence posts, and loaded materials for customers at the Salvage Store. I'm sure they had lots of quality time together to discuss their vegan vs. carnivore views. Liz, Josh, Benn and Katie worked at the S. Johnson house painting, and cleaning. Jeremy, Brendan, Alex, and Bart worked at the Louisiana Pkwy house doing painting and glazing, probably other cool stuff too.

Tonight during dinner we started watching "When the Levees Broke" as part of our Service Learning. Its full of alot of information, not only about Katrina, but about the history and culture in New Orleans as well. The movie really provoked some thoughtful discussion amongst the group, and the remainder of the movie promises to do the same.

Meanwhile Captain Torture ran PT again today. After running to Washington Park we did relay sprints, Squares of Pain, and ended with some quality pushup time with our noses in the dirt, before the mosquitoes ate us alive. Then we ran home to a nutritious dinner. PT was awesome today. Its really a time of togetherness and comraderie. Everyone really pushed themselves today, and I for one can feel myself getting stronger.

Its been a great week here in New Orleans! I cant wait to continue our great work with Rebuilding Together, and to see more of New Orleans!

~Katie

One week down

Still in New Orleans and going strong. This update comes from a much needed laundry mat cleverly named "The Washateria". The team throughly enjoyed the French Quater last night, visiting places such as Cafe du Monde, Bourbon Street, and Frenchmen Street. We've fallen into a comfortable routine for house chores. Knowledge of who is culinarily inclined and who isn't is surfaceing quickly but with little complaints. Physical Training is also beginning to become a set routine as well. With Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday being "Tough Days" and Tuesday and Thursday are "Light Days". The team is also finding their place in the worksite with Brendan excelling at ladder skills and Marshall deciding to stay in the Salvage Yard. The Warriors have also been building up required Individual Service Project hours like crazy working for a organization called Hands On New Orleans doing alot of small touch up jobs throughout the city. Planning has also started on our Thanksgiving "Feast" which will probably be shared with other Teams in the Louisiana area. Closing time has crept up on us so this is where we'll end this post. Stay Tuned for more.

Hello from New Orleans, LA

Hey folks,
We have arrived in New Orleans safe and relatively sound, but lack of internet signal makes our posts short and far between however we'll try to be as detailed as possible. Bart and Marshall have been working in the Salvage Yard Portion of Rebuilding Together breaking down windows and doors for basically every scrape of usable material. The rest of the crew is broken up into two teams consisting of Liz, Jeremy, Katie, and Ben; and Josh, Alex, Clay, Ayla, and Brendan. Both teams are painting and scraping which has begun bumpy, but by the end of the spike we should have quite the crew of Da Vincis. Our housing is futuristic consisting of a TOUCH SCREEN FRIDGE, and all stainless steel appliances and stunning two bedrooms, two bathrooms house in a shotgun style housing. This mansion and all our projects are supplied by Rebuilding Together, who instead of just demolishing the historical and unique houses of New Orleans rebuilds them to maintain their architectural integrity, all of course non-profit. The supply of oxygen in the air is breathtaking (literally) but we're Physical Training everyday in a nice city park. We're happily tired but looking forward to a weekend of New Orleans which is filled with shops, cafe's, and historical treats resembling a smaller Paris (minus the Effiel Tower of course). This city of gumbo, creole, and non-stop entertainment is definitely a welcomed change from Colorado for the time being.

New Orleans!

Here is Earth Four's Online forum! Hopefully our team will be posting here bi-weekly about our team's spike project! In 7 days we will be travelling to New Orleans, Louisiana!! We will be working with Rebuilding Together, and our team is very excited for this great opportunity, and to share them here with anyone following the blog!