Thursday, June 14th

Thursday - whoa! It was one heckuva day!

Our work day on Thursday was pretty typical for the week. We met at the Habitat headquarters in the Musician's Village, then hooked up with our house leader, Eric, and went to the two houses on Galvez.

It was a pretty productive day, all things considered. One of the issues we keep running into is the need to fix mistakes that were done on previous days. This is what we did a lot of today. We kept working on the floor system. I would have thought we'd be done with it by now, but the work goes on.

Others in the group did calking, painting and sanding. I think this work was more rewarding for them because they could track and see their progress.

I shouldn't make it seem like the floor system work wasn't rewarding. It was. It is just a tad bit frustrating to constantly be redoing things. Having an expert set of eyes watching our work at all times is just a luxury that Habitat does not have.

At lunch time Carla, Dottie and I took a fun little field trip. We got in the van and drove north and east from our job site to visit two houses that we had gutted on previous trips. The first place we came to, a two-story gut from last June, looked about the same as it did when we left it. It was vacant, and no work had been done on the interior. Too bad that there was no obvious progress, but one way to look at it is at least the house is still standing!

The other property we visited was more enjoyable. This was the house on Corrine Street where we had interviewed Herman during last year's April trip. We lucked out to find the homeowner, Venny, inside the house. The house really hadn't been touched since we'd left, but currently Venny is working with contractors to get plans made for beginning the rebuild. She was so happy to meet us. Right away she gave us big hugs. Then just before we left she took our a photo album to show us pictures of her house from before Katrina. It was very pretty. We were reminded of the shame of Katrina and how it took good people's lives and turned them completely upsidedown. We hope with all our hearts that Venny can put together the money that's necessary to rebuild her home.

The afternoon was a bit of the same as the morning. We got interrupted for just a short time by a passing storm. The craziest part of the rain was that, unlike Minnesota where rain usually cools everything off, the rain down here just made things more humid and sticky. The sun came out and it felt like we were in a sauna.

Following our work, we went a few separate ways. Angie, Kirsten and I drove down to the Habitat officies which just happens to be only a mile or two from our house. We wanted to drop off our checks but also to possibly buy some t-shirts. The folks at the office were thankful for our checks and were even willing to pose for some pictures. Nice people all around this city!

While the three of us were at the office, some of the others went to the Quarter for - you guessed it - tattoos. Oooooh! Permanent souvenirs. Carla, Jen and Dottie each got different versions of a Flor de Lis (sp). Very becoming, girls! I thought about doing it for an instant, but then lost the courage. I was impressed by Jen when she said that she wanted to get a New Orleans tattoo because her trips to NOLA have marked a change in her life to volunteer more and lead a more giving lifestyle. She said these trips have been life-changing. Way to go Jen!!!

And the beat goes on... I told you this was a busy day. After returning from the Habitat office I had a hankerin' for some seafood and I knew that the Saltwater Grill was just two blocks from our house. I dropped off Kirsten and Angie, then took the PT Cruiser to the Saltwater. I ordered five pounds of boiled crawfish and a shripm po-boy, then drank an Abita outside while I waited for my food. It was a nice little moment. Once home, it was only Rose and me who wanted to dive in to the crawdads. Sam doesn't eat meat, Angie and Kirsten just plugged their noses, and the rest were in the Quarter. Oh well, their loss. The crawdads were wonderful!!! Glad I could squeeze in this super awesome opportunity!!!

Is there more??? Yes!!! After these things we all met in the Quarter for dinner and drinks at 13 Monahan's where the girls got to share their tattoo stories.

Anything else??? Of course. We left the quarter and since the van had to stop at the house to drop off some to-go boxes, Sam, me, Rose, and Angie had the time to swing into Cafe Dumonde. Actually Sam just chauffered us there and drove around until we were done. We all got some gift items, and some coffees and binets too. Another experience you just have to do a couple times while you're in this glorious city!!!

Still more??? For sure - the best was still to come. Next stop - Mid City Bowl for some Rock n Bowling and Zydecko night. What a party!!! This place is an old dillapidated building but has charm up the whazoo. It's a bowling alley but there is a stage set up right adjacent to the lanes - so you can rock and bowl. What a concept! The band that was playing was this group of you guys who were kicin' out the Zydecko. It was just the best. And to make things even more fun we met up with folks from the job site including Cynthia, Beau, and Rocky.
Good times!




We bowled a game and danced until midnight. Can't say you could really find this kind of an experience back home.

Whew! Now are we done??? Not really! Next came a drive down Magazine Street and a trip to the Bon Temp Roulais (sp once again). This place was a smokin', happenin' bar and the place was packed. We did a few drinks in the front of the bar, then went to the back for some music from a blow-you-away brass band. The tuba player was the fella whose house we dedicated on Monday. What a wild scene! The place was packe, no air conditioning, and everyone was dances and having a great old time.

Now I think we're done. Mostly we were except Sam just had to peak his head into his favorite local joint - The Maple Leaf. We did that and saw a three-piece rock band perform three songs before they quit for the night.

Is the day over??? Yes, oh hapy blog reader, it is!!!