Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I've been at work or in the van for 12 hours a day. I would have caught up with you this weekend, but my parents came down. It was really nice to see them (and have running water). Christina hung out with us and we shopped and went out to eat and took a tour of the French Quarter. It was really nice.
It was weird to actually get out in the city though. Most of the time we just stay in our Camp Algiers bubble and I don't have the money to do much. A lot of the businesses are reconstructed, but they don't have the manpower to stay open. The riverwalk was eerily deserted. When we walked in, to what used to be a bustling mall, it was dead silent and most of the lights were out. Ashur got pretty freaked out and didn't want to go in. I wish people realized how much of New Orleans and Mississippi is still a sort-of ghost town. In some places streetlights are out and no one lives in the miles of abandoned subdivisions. It's like nothing I've ever seen, and it's been 8 months. Sometimes it feels like one of those zombie movies where the guy wakes up and the whole town is quiet. Basically, Lousiana is in need of drastic demolition and reconstruction, immeasurable, and there aren't enough volunteers to do it. Not only that, but next year, NCCC won't even exist. I can't explain to you the destruction that still covers New Orleans; I also can't explain the negligent approach the government is taking.
On a not-so-make-you-want-to-cry note Habitat is going really well. We've put the finishing touches (A couple of times) on one woman's house. She should be able to move in at the end of next week. The other 4 houses we're working on are in different states, but making great time. We also get to work with some of the best volunteers I've met all year. Shout out to Matt and Mike, and all the guys on the Catholic build. It's the best project we've had, and we get to build houses for people who really need it. Hope everything is good in Arkansas and Minnesota, or wherever you are.
6 comments:
ummm, about the shelves... can i get you to raise the one in the back bedroom tomorrow? thanks.
It's nice to here what is really going on down there. You're doing great work! Keep it up (even though we miss you!).
Love you Chandle!
PS- Ashur is a man-child now! I can't believe how big he is! My, how time flies...
no kidding! ashur is soooo old and big. i still picture him as the little thing in the pictures from your birthday when we all went to your parents' house (and slept 2 or 3 to a bed and perla was moaning in her sleep--that was rad).
miss you. glad you're doing this important work.
Hee, hee. That's was Virginia's bday at her parents' house.
Chandle... love the new comic on your computer screen. LOVE IT!
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