I WANT A HOT SHOWER!!!

ok i am gross. and i am admitting it to everyone right now. i need a shower and there is no way in hell i am taking a freezing cold shower. the joys of communal living at Camp Hope. it's been a few days. yes. days. i know ur saying ew colleen u are disgusting but, hey, atleast i am admitting this. plus that's kind of the norm when u are living here haha. ( i did buy some of those cleansing cloths, though, Lee. hahahaha)

Now that i have officially grossed u all out about my showering habits this past week.... coming off off from break has been so hard. it's been a long week at work. though, the thought of leaving in 3 weeks makes me very sad. NOLA is amazing and i could seriously consider living down here for some time. There is a program called Teach NOLA i would like to look into. Habitat has, overall, been a great experience. Today Beth and I led a group of volunteers in siding a house. For me this was a lil stressful just because i totally feel out of my element, faking the whole time that i know what i am doing when with the volunteers. haha. the "teaching" aspect is great, but i just feel i need a few more classes on "how to build a house" before i teach this stuff. co-supervising with Beth definitely helped, though. we could bounce ideas off each other. i miss roofing. SIDING IS RIDICULOUS. it will never be perfect i have learned. and if u are off even an 8th it will make a huge difference in the long run. learned that as well. ok enough about siding.

The lack of pictures is due to a lack of camera now. the picture i put up of preparing meals was back in Baltimore before we left. We were working with this nonprofit called Moveable Feast. This is a program set up for people and their families who are limited because of severe illnesses, low income and high health care costs due to HIV/AIDS. This is a rising issue especially in Baltimore. Something I wasn't really aware of until looking into this organization.

hey mom, "changing the world one bulb at a time." u made me laugh. thank u for that.

ok well i have lovely PT at 5:30 am before work tomorrow. so i should probably get to bed. from that statement u would THINK i am in great shape since being here. open container laws when out on the weekends have proven otherwise..... : ) good night!

Below is a video of my room at Camp Hope (i am inserting this after i have already left NOLA):

this is a long one...

Hey everyone!! so if u have been trying to get in touch with me at all and think i am avoiding u cuz i never answer my phone....that is not the case (well, except for u ash. i am just not answering your calls. JUUUUST KIIIDDDING!) my phone officially drowned in the wash the other day. I'm hoping to have a new one soon. By the way, A. Mary the Verizon store employee was very open about those track phones. She told me to go and buy one and explained the procedure. i didn't even have to ask about it. This is nice considering my alternative is pay 1-200 dollars. yuck. Sooo in due time, i will hopefully get to a walmart or something.

The past two nights my my team and another team (badger 6, which makes us Badger 11 together.) watched the documentary When the Levees Broke. i suggest people watch it. This is an eye opener. I really think every person can come out with a new piece of information after watching it. It's 4 hours, split in a4 acts, so get some popcorn and plan some bathroom breaks. or just split days watching it like we did. Since Watching this documentary was a great reminder of why I am here. and why this area is still in desperate need of help and support. Sometimes u lose sight of this when the focus everyday is on construction. it becomes more about the focus of the siding and roofing, etc. This video provides different perspectives of the disaster and it's effects on NOLA. There is honestly so much I was not aware of until now. I have SUCH a better understanding now from being here, from listening to others, and from this documentary.

As a team we are required to also participate in Service Learning. I may have explained this in an previous post. Beth and I run this aspect of the project for our team. We have organized some opportunities for the team to have a better understanding of what the communities here are struggling with. We're holding weekly meetings and discuss a new theme every week. the team came up with some stuff we wanted to look more into and so we created themes based on those issues or ideas. Housing, unemployment, gentrification, culture and history, etc., of NOLA. These meetings are bringing up some good discussions. It's been hard to find time and find a place to hold a complete meeting without distractions, though, since we are living at Camp Hope (an old middle school that was converted into a volunteer communal living place.)

Saturdays are great days when working with Habitat for Humanity. This is when many of the people who are buying homes through Habitat are able to put in some sweat equity. Since many of them work full time jobs, it is a challenge for them to find time to complete their 350 required hours of sweat equity. These hours that the volunteers put in are basically the downpayment of their house. It is great to work side by side with the house owners and get to know their story. During lunch time there are usually residents playing music in the area as well. That is an AWESOME benefit to working in the Musician's Village.

I have met some amazing people. We are welcomed so greatly by residents of New Orleans. Wherever we go in uniform, there is always someone saying thank you to us for being here. Oh and the PoBoys are sooooo good!!! hamburger one, or a fried shrimp. dressed (apparently that means with lettuce, tomato, etc. "the works.") Tried a LITTLE bite of a crawfish pie. not my thing yet. i think it could eventually be good. alot of people love it down here though! it's like a small version of lobster i guess. The meat pies are tastey though! mmm, oh and SnoBalls! my team has a small addiction to those. they are like a mix of a slushie and snow cone. but better than both of those. and u can get them stuffed! with ice cream. mmmmm. they have never ending flavors and little stands randomly throughout the area. unfortunately it's cash only and u know how often i carry cash on me. OKAY so now that i went on a shpeeel about food.... OH WAIT!!! THAT JUST REMINDED ME OF SOMETHING AWESOME!! this is a long message. i have so much to write about. Bored yet? ar u seriously still reading right now? Oh just Mom is.... yeah i figured. it's ok i understand. : )

PROJECT GREENLIGHT. Look into this as well!! We have to complete 80 hours of ISPs. (individual service projects) We find non-profits that interest us and volunteer our time on our days off to work for them. There are so many opporunities here in NOLA for ISPs. Festivals are a favorite ( like Jazz Fest coming up!!!). So Project Greenlight involves installing energy efficient lighting into houses and to educate people on how much they are saving with money, electricity, and what they can do to reduce carbon and other toxic emissions. Our job was to deliver this message and install the bulbs for a bunch of houses in the area. HANDS DOWN the best ISP we have done. We were able to meet some residents, spend some time with them in their homes, help them out, and at our first stop we even got fed!! haha.... seriously though. u guys know how i LOVE to try new things. haha hey Dioli's guess what, i tried something new down here. Sweet potato pie! This wonderful lady gave us each a little pie and chili dogs. i don't usually like sweet potatoes. this was so good. we were all raving about it days after. and here i am, still talking about it. The woman was so thankful at the last house we went to. She kept telling us how much she appreciates our help and that god will bless each of us when we have our own families. She hugged us all and was just so happy to have us there. Just an all around great experience.

Tomorrow is our last day of work until next Tuesday! We have a mini Spring Break!! and we all need it so bad. My team decided to get some cheap hotel rooms right in the French Quarter. Right now at Camp Hope we are about a half hour away from there. It will be fun to just be right by Frenchmen St. and such. We won't have to worry about what time to be in by or who is driving our van. u know, the important things in life. haha.... And on that note, i need to go pack since we are leaving right from work tomorrow!!! OHHH and i have a fun show to see tomorrow! RATATAT at the House of Blues!!! there are a few of us going to that show. it should be fun. MISS U ALL AND LOVE U! call me and if i don't answer then leave me messages!!! i really miss talking to people! when i get my phone i will be sure to make a better effort than i did this past month. : ) oh and if u email me or leave me ur address somewhere then maybe u will get a postcard ; )

life in NOLA

OKAY so i have been real bad about writing on this blog site recently. It has just been soooo busy. Lots to do and in our free time we sleep. Not complaining though. Living down here is great and I wish we could stay longer than the 2 months. We had today off from work because of a crazy work schedule this week.

We also had saturday off. That was one of the best days down here. We usually work Saturdays. It was a gorgeous day, we bought snowballs (this really good slushy/snowcone type thing....but better. and u can get them filled with ice cream. so good! and there goes my plan of getting in better shape...), and we went to the Crawfish festival at night! they even had some of those wonderfully creaky old carnival rides. reminded me of the Quincy Carvnial haha. There were crawfish races at this festival. People choose a crawfish that has a number on its back. then they bang the table to try and get the crawfish closer to them.... it's a lil odd. but hysterical and fun to watch. I am writing this late at night and should be in bed. sorry if this makes no sense! There are alot of festivals down here, all with delicious food.

There is a whole bunch of stuff going on! i just can't write about 

it now because i am falling asleep. Oh 3 of my team members got tattoos today. that was memorable. and no DAD it wasn't me. yet. : ) they each got a fleur de lis symbol.  

lets seeeeee, what else is new. OHHH, how about that this past week was depressing because i officially have taken on Leanne's role of losing things.

Here is my list this past week.... AmeriCorps sweatshirt (that i wear all the time), my favorite green necklace (the blown glass one from UNH. i am SO MAD), Digital camera (with all my pics thus far. this is why u haven't seen much.), my sunglasses (yup. the aviator ones i fell in love with and didn't care how much they were.), and my water bottle (which isn't a big deal, just something else to add to the growing list).

i had to vent about that. i am a little upset with myself and i am hoping those things turn up. i think someone stole my camera instead of turning it in to the front office at Camp Hope because I went back to where I left it and it was gone. ohhh well. That's communal living for ya. i really should go to bed now!