Following up on earlier reports here, this is the latest from the team in New Orleans. No pictures yet, but I'll add them if I receive a fresh batch.
Wednesday morning: hump day. Clare tries to lessen the blow of what often proves to be hardest day to get through by treating us to a French toast breakfast at the Palace. Yum. We linger over the maple syrup and then schlep back to church for more of the same work. We’re a little tired from the week’s escapades, but we manage to still put in a sincere effort to keep the repairs coming. The painting group has started sealing the floor and staining the woodwork in the church. The drywall effort continues, and some raking and weed work happens outside. We eat bologna sandwiches for lunch. It is a good day.
At night, our group splits into two groups. The majority of folks head to the movie theater to see Superman Returns on its opening night. The leftover people stay back at the Palace for a rousing game of Scrabble (George wins) and some down time. The predominant report from the movie is that it’s not that good, especially if you are in the front row of the theater.
After our evening plans we file off to bed. We seem to have no problem sleeping this week – between the work and the heat we knock out fast, regardless of our lodging.
Thursday we are back up and at it again. Today we start a couple of new projects in addition to the dry wall and the painting. A few of us have decided to take on the sacristy of the church, which is in dire need of some TLC. It hasn’t been used since the storm, and the items that were once found there (thuribles, altar linens, tapers, patens and chalices) can be found scattered all over the back hallways of the church. By repairing the walls and cleaning and organizing the sacristy we can make it usable again, which will free up other space in the church. We also start painting the room that will serve as the nursery for the church, a priority for the Grace church community. Finally, we have been asked to stain and repair three large bookcases. In the midst of these new projects, we also keep plugging away on our old ones. The end of our time here is in sight, and we are trying to get as much done as we can before we leave.
As the week has progressed we have adjusted to our surroundings. The closed stores have started to look normal, we are used to the water lines on the area buildings, and the trash on the streets seems commonplace. But then we trip across something that jars us from that normalcy. While cleaning out the sacristy on Thursday we came across one of these things. An old church register was lying in a box on top of a cabinet, its pages purple from the ink and warped from the water. The last date in the register was August 28th, and the lines and pages after that were blank. There were ten people at the service that morning. We learned that some of the people that had been at that service evacuated the area that afternoon, picking up neighbors on their way out of town. They drove to Monroe, Louisiana, where many of them stayed for weeks. These stories are important for us to hear. We do not want to become complacent.
Thursday night brought another exciting event for our group. George had arranged for us to go to a Zephyrs game, Louisiana’s minor league baseball team. We loved having the change of scene. Though sparsely attended, the atmosphere at the game was light and enthusiastic. And the food vendors at this baseball stadium were no joke. We had our choice of Mexican, barbecue, Cajun, burgers, po boys, ice cream, sno-balls, and more. We chowed and cheered, and left at the end of the evening tired and satisfied. But the Zephyrs lost. Bummer.
Friday will be our last day of work here, and we’ll try to accomplish as much as we can at the church. We wish that we can stay longer and do more to help (but we are looking forward to coming home too!).
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