Another day of work- Ryan Gale

Today was the second day of work at our house and it went, pretty much, as expected. We continued to dry wall and mud. We were left by ourselves for most of the day (without a site manager) which was nice, but at the same time, it feels as if they are unprepared for us. We finished dry walling the bathroom and will start on the hallway tomorrow. Also, today, we went to a local bakery to pick up several king cakes (the seasonal cake for pre-mardi gras). We only bought three, but the owner of the bakery gave us one for free and a customer also gave one to us, as it was evident we had been working all day. We explained that we were working on a local house in their town (Slidell) and that we were a college from New Jersey just trying to help in the rebuilding efforts. The simple acts of generosity show me how much our work is appreciated down here.

Our home owner was dropped off today by a taxi as we were working on her house. She said she was tired and wanted to go inside, and didn't seem to want to talk much. It is discouraging to have a home owner that does not want to interact much with the workers. The camp we are staying at is holding a dinner on Thurs for all the homeowners, workers, and volunteers. We were unable to ask our homeowner if she would like to attend because she was so short in conversation with us. I cannot blame her as she goes to work very early and understandably is very tired at the end of her shift. I hope to be able to talk to her one day this week, before we leave, and here her story.