Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Crazy Life
It has been awhile since I have updated, but things have been outrageous. We have been working 9 hour days and by the time we get home, do PT, and eat dinner I am just so exhausted that I don't want to do anything. Doing things for Graduate school as well as study for the GRE is really difficult with only the weekends to work on it.
Our project hasn't been the greatest, as we have been doing a lot of side jobs and work that we do not necessarily enjoy. We have been doing a lot of cleaning, painting, grouting, caulking, and other touch up work...Just yesterday we dug 30 holes for a playground that was being built today, but were not allowed to attend the playground build today. The Saints football players were there with many volunteers. It's frustrating to feel as if we are not being appreciated or valued for the training and work that we are capable of doing. On the bright side, it is really nice to be in New Orleans, and the weather is just starting to get cold (although I wore shorts to work today!) We have been working a couple days a week with the deconstruction team, which works to salvage material from houses slated for demolition. It is cool to see the historical wood they pull from homes, but it is very dirty and at time tedious work.
In terms of the team, we are having a tough time lately, as some people got in trouble for underage drinking, and one member of our team went home :(. I really miss him, and it seems like the dynamic of our team has been off ever since. I'm starting to realize that this experience is not exactly what I wanted it to be, which is frustrating and disappointing at times. I also find it tough to relate to many of the people on my team, so having alone time is hard and being with them 24/7 is really difficult. I'm hoping that the Thanksgiving break and Christmas break will give me a new sense of motivation and hope for the last 5 months of this program. I really love the nonprofit sector and the work that we are doing, but am having a hard time relating to the people.
ALSO. Jilisa came to visit this past weekend and we had a GREAT time. I was really excited to show her the city and introduce her to the culture. It was a nice getaway.
Will post pictures soon, but it is hard to take pictures, as we are all on different sites.
Our project hasn't been the greatest, as we have been doing a lot of side jobs and work that we do not necessarily enjoy. We have been doing a lot of cleaning, painting, grouting, caulking, and other touch up work...Just yesterday we dug 30 holes for a playground that was being built today, but were not allowed to attend the playground build today. The Saints football players were there with many volunteers. It's frustrating to feel as if we are not being appreciated or valued for the training and work that we are capable of doing. On the bright side, it is really nice to be in New Orleans, and the weather is just starting to get cold (although I wore shorts to work today!) We have been working a couple days a week with the deconstruction team, which works to salvage material from houses slated for demolition. It is cool to see the historical wood they pull from homes, but it is very dirty and at time tedious work.
In terms of the team, we are having a tough time lately, as some people got in trouble for underage drinking, and one member of our team went home :(. I really miss him, and it seems like the dynamic of our team has been off ever since. I'm starting to realize that this experience is not exactly what I wanted it to be, which is frustrating and disappointing at times. I also find it tough to relate to many of the people on my team, so having alone time is hard and being with them 24/7 is really difficult. I'm hoping that the Thanksgiving break and Christmas break will give me a new sense of motivation and hope for the last 5 months of this program. I really love the nonprofit sector and the work that we are doing, but am having a hard time relating to the people.
ALSO. Jilisa came to visit this past weekend and we had a GREAT time. I was really excited to show her the city and introduce her to the culture. It was a nice getaway.
Will post pictures soon, but it is hard to take pictures, as we are all on different sites.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Rebuilding Together New Orleans
So we have been working in New Orleans for just about 2 weeks now. We have been spread out among several different sites all over the city, working on houses that were effected by Hurricane Katrina. Many of the homeowners are unable to finish fixing their homes either because they cannot afford it or they are disabled/elderly.
The past week I worked on a house in the Gentilly neighborhood. A gentleman named Mr. Tyson owns the home and was the unfortunate victim of contracting fraud, which many homeowners in New Orleans have experienced since the storm. He put all of his money into fixing his home, but they contractors did a terrible job and he had to start from scratch. He is currently living in a FEMA trailer in front of his house while RTNO fixes his home. I spent the week doing a lot of finishing painting and other work around the house including mudding and taping, shallacing (spelling?), cleaning, and tiling. It was nice to do many different jobs on the same site and to see our house captains get excited about how hard we worked. By the end of the week we had completed everything on the list she had created for us, and are about ready to move furniture into his home.
Last weekend was halloween. We went out on Saturday night to Frenchmen street and I have never had more fun! It was crazy. So many people in costumes, parading the streets with beers in hand. I was a dalmatian while others from my team were sexy firefighters. It was quite entertaining.
I'm excited to see what next week holds! Got to go, talk to you soon!
The past week I worked on a house in the Gentilly neighborhood. A gentleman named Mr. Tyson owns the home and was the unfortunate victim of contracting fraud, which many homeowners in New Orleans have experienced since the storm. He put all of his money into fixing his home, but they contractors did a terrible job and he had to start from scratch. He is currently living in a FEMA trailer in front of his house while RTNO fixes his home. I spent the week doing a lot of finishing painting and other work around the house including mudding and taping, shallacing (spelling?), cleaning, and tiling. It was nice to do many different jobs on the same site and to see our house captains get excited about how hard we worked. By the end of the week we had completed everything on the list she had created for us, and are about ready to move furniture into his home.
Last weekend was halloween. We went out on Saturday night to Frenchmen street and I have never had more fun! It was crazy. So many people in costumes, parading the streets with beers in hand. I was a dalmatian while others from my team were sexy firefighters. It was quite entertaining.
I'm excited to see what next week holds! Got to go, talk to you soon!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)