Monday

Today was the first the day of work, a new experience for me. My team went to Slidell today. The first house we went to, we began dry walling. It was something I have never done before so I was nervous. After a while, I began to get the hang of it, it became fun working with my peers. After a while we went to eat lunch at the church. We talked about how our day was going so far.My sandwhich was good. It was good to take a break too, and to be in some heat. Working together as a team is what I love doing, everyone works together to accomplish a common goal. After lunch, we split up into two teams. Some went back to the first house while others went to another hose. This house was owned by a lady in her late 40s. She lived alone, well with her pitbull Jewl, who richard was horrified of. Sorry Rich, it was funny. Her house was not hot by Hurricane Katrina, but was messed up due to wind and rain damages. Her house was built by her mother in 1965, her mother later passed the same year she says. The house we worked on, we tore down a room, the ceiliing, and took out the carpet. It was very tough, but we managed to get the job done.
It was a great experiance working with my team today. I look forward to the rest of the week and woring to get the room done we started working on today. We are building stronger relationships with each other on teams and its great. It very challenging beacuse seeing this in person is way different then seeing it on television.

9th Ward Tour

As we take a tour of the lower and upper 9th Ward, I think to myself how can this be. I'm finally in New Orleans. Coming here I had an image that everything would look fine, not perfect but back to normal. I was wrong. As we took this tour around the 9th ward, I saw houses that still needed to be fixed. I saw houses that have not yet been touched. Some streets had only about two houses. There is so much work that needs to be done here. After four years you would think that things would be up and running, and some are but more needs to be done.

As we rolled up in our TCNJ Bonner Vans, the warmth and welcome that we received from fellow New Orleaneans is amazing. The people here are so friendly and welcoming. They noticed we from New Jersey, and knew what we camr for. Just to see that these people have high spirits after loosing everthing is great. they have excellent spirits.

Later on that day we went to the French Quarter. It was somthing new to me, there were many people shopping and just looking around. The scavenger hunt was a little bit challenging, but with the help of some of the pople in New Orleans, they made it easy and fun. What an experience I had today. I am looking forward to starting work with my team.

When the Levees Broke-NOLA

This is not my first time watching this movie. I first saw it in 2006, when it came out. It was very depressing to watch it again. It's sad to see the seperation of family memberes, and it hurts to even think about it. The many lives that were lost due to the flooding reminds me of how we do not always have the help we think we are going to get. With a crisis like this how could they lack government support. It was left in the hands of the people to survive to help each other out. One song that has a strong impact on me is Georgia Bush, by Lil Wayne. It just basically tells people how George Bush did not help during Hurricane Katrina, and part of it is his fauult. Although this rap maybe a bit explicit, I believe he is telling the truth.

Having never been to New Orleans, or having no experiance with Hurricane Katrina, I'm not really sure what to expect. I'm pretty sure some progress has been made, but I look forward to helping out more. I also look forward to having a great experience with the Bonners.