Baptized in the Louisiana rain!

We woke up to rain, that continued all day. The temperature was in the seventies, so the rain wasn't too bad. This affected where numerous groups were sent to work. We ended up in the Upper Ninth Ward, close to the Musician's Village. Unlike the neighborhood a few of us worked in last year, most of the houses were still standing, but many are still vacant. The vacant houses often have spray paint on the front listing the number of dead people found in the home after Katrina. Still, 5 years later, these houses stand right across the street from where we are working.

As part of Rainbowcorps, we were joined today by Reid from North Carolina and Michael Adee, the Morelight Director. We met our work leaders, Henry and James, Americorps volunteers, at orientation this morning. We were also happy to see Alex, our leader from last year. Today we worked mainly on flooring: laying tar paper, preparing tiles for grouting, and scraping grout. The first day seems to always be a little more challenging, because you arrive at your house having no idea what is expected of you. By the end of the day, it was good to see what we had accomplished. We can't wait to see what progress we have made by the end of the week!

Everybody in Olive Tree Village seems to be very friendly (even the Baptists! :) ) Our roomates are lots of fun, important because it is dorm style living.

Red beans and rice for dinner tonight! YUM!

- Sumalabarbgie