Hi from Neil!

Today it came up Sunday. After a second long day on the road we slept well on our air mattresses in our giant dorm room. To start the day off we walked around the Garden District, an area of beautiful mansions on one side of St. Charles Boulevard. They are in great shape with many flowers you’ll never see in Minnesota, especially in April, no April Fool’s there! We even listened to a mockingbird we spotted as it sang on a post. On the other side of the boulevard, however, are many homes in need of lots of work and evidence of wind damage.

When we returned we attended the service at the church. It was a two hour event full of fantastic music from the choir, vocalists, and the band. It was a cool cultural opportunity for all us Minnesotans. Music and celebration was intense from beginning to end! The congregation was honored that the Louisiana bishop attended. He honored us as well several times thanking all the volunteers in the purple shirts who were there. Afterward we were well fed and thanked some more.

Then we were off on a neighborhood beautification project. We dug, weeded and planted along several blocks of a major street in the Central City area. The southern sun was strong and temperature in the 80s, so we sure came home tired. Oh, I almost forgot! Just as we were starting we ran into the New Orleans Indian parade. Family and neighbor groups dress, chant, and dance in elaborate, feathery costumes that reminded me of Native American style costumes. They are really colorful and some were 10 feet tall with the huge headpieces! We were told that they make new ones each year, and that they can spend a thousand hours getting them just right. They then compete against each other in face-offs. Another really cool glimpse of southern culture!

Tomorrow it sounds like we will work on a Boys’ and Girls’ Club building they have been unable to use since the storm. We hope our work will give them some fun, positive things to do after school. And, some major league baseball players may be there with us!

Talk to you next time!!!