Composite Team

f I didn't mention before, I got accepted onto a composite team for 4 weeks working with the Saint Bernard Project. They solely rebuild homes, mainly in Saint Bernard Parish and some in Orleans Parish. So I leave my own wonderful Badger 7 team for a month and then come back. I am the only one on the composite team who was already in New Orleans, so the rest of them spent the past weekend driving down here.

So I'm with the composite team in our awesome digs less than a mile from Camp Hope. The team jumped out of the vans, ate some dinner, and we headed for a brief orientation, cause that's the way we roll. :) Tomorrow we start some intense training. Normally training with the Saint Bernard Project is two weeks, but we're doing it in one, as they really need us to be ready in one week when they have a huge number of volunteers to lead. So far as I know, we're mainly in the phase of doing insulation, drywall hanging and mudding for most of the 50 houses under construction. Maybe some mold remediation too. We'll see!

Exhausted, as always, but had a good weekend. We did ISP time at the Los Islenos Festival, and I talked to cute old guys about oyster recipes and the best types of crawfish to eat. We got tons of free food. I ate Canary Island shrimp, alligator sausage, raw oysters, grilled oysters, sno-cones, funnel cakes, and a few other items. And yes, I felt sick after eating all of that. Also got the 15-passenger van stuck in the mud and enjoyed a Louisiana storm. Unfortunately it's freezing now, after several days of 70-degree weather and getting a sunburn.

Yesterday I planted a very large cactus that we named Betsy. I texted dad to let him know that I was working hard, sweat dripping off my nose, and drinking lemonade. I just need a tool belt and a stubby chewed-up pencil behind my ear.

We've worked on a lot of projects and I have plenty of photos to post so I can explain them, but I'm too tired right now!!!