building homes for a better future

It's been a busy week for River 6 this week. We finally started work with Habitat for Humanity yesterday and put up two new houses on our street, just today! We had at least 20 volunteers from Holy Cross church (the primary sponsor for these homes) come to the build today which was great! We also worked with several University of Louisiana AmeriCorps students work with us today, so it was fun to meet new people and work side by side with non River 6ers. I learned how to sheet trusses today, used a skill saw and a pneumatic hammer! I felt so bad. It was at times frustrating to be overwhelmed with the number of volunteers on the site in comparison to the amount of work there was to do, but as the day continued everyone had a job and place on the worksite. I'm excited to see the process of the house from the ground up because I have always been involved in deconstruction and rebuilding rather than new builds.

This past weekend I worked two days at EarthShare again and learned more about farming. It's so relaxing to just be outside in a pretty place, especially now that the weather is cooling down. Weeding and learning about organic growing from Robert, who is absolutely the most amusing guy I've met in awhile, is therapeutic and FUN!

Last weekend we also went out to dinner at a restaurant inspired by George Rodrigue's work. There were blue dog paintings all over the walls as part of his private collection. The food was delicious! Cajun inspired seafood and side dishes. Can't wait to go back or have more somewhere else. We have been hearing that Lafayette has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the country. It's great because there are many places to eat that are both local and yummy!

Today we found out where we will be going for next round! We will be traveling to New Orleans to work with Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit organization that repairs homes throughout New Orleans as result of Hurricane Katrina. We are SO excited to be going back to New Orleans. It will be a great opportunity for me to experience the city that I've visited but never lived in. Jilisa will also be coming to visit and I'm excited to show her one of my favorite cities! We don't have a whole lot of details about what we will be doing there or where we will be staying, but as soon as we do I will update!

Here are some pictures from recently! :)