Wow what a roller coaster of a day!

Well I think I need to start with today since it is so fresh in my mind right now. Today started out pretty regular day. Got up, showered, had some breakfast (lovely bagel with butter and jelly and the lovely Coke!). Felt really good today - I think it's the coke - the wonderful nectar of the gods...

Anywho, back to my day... Liz and I (aka the Bangah Sistah's) put together the shelving we bought at Home Depot yesterday to go into the laundry room. After putting them in the laundry room we started to clean out the room so we could populate the shelves and get some of the stuff off the ground. We also hung the broom racks that we bought. I got to play with a drill! :)

Our bottom shelf that we signed! Mom, Cheryl, Kathy, Judy, Bob, and Paul check it out when you come next week! It's in the laundry room at Good Shepherd!

That took us through to lunch time. We got these fancy sandwiches called muffalattas (I think...) for lunch. I was not that brave to have one so I had my staple PB and J sandwich, some chips, and a banana for lunch. During and after lunch Gary and Carolyn talked with us about some of the stories about Katrina. The thing that they were insistent upon was that a lot of the media coverage was not accurate. The stories about people being raped and killed in the Superdome were so not true - there was actually only 1 death. They kept telling us stories about people helping people. We all go into our cars after lunch for our tour of the city. During the putting together of the shelves I got a phone call from Julie. We chatted for a few minutes. I told her about our tour of the city later this afternoon. She told me to take pictures of a flower or some other "Happy Place". So I did.

We started out our tour by stopping at the 17th street canal. There I saw the Pontchartrain Baptist Church and they were back up and running! A happy site!

Hope returns to this church right by the 17th Street Canal. The sign says "We are Back! Join us Sunday For Worship 11:00AM"

From there we went to the Temple on Canal Street. This was flooded with 10ish feet of water that sat for more than 3 weeks before it was pumped away! It was amazing to still see the water line after 18 months! During lunch Rev. Gary told us the story about the Torah that belonged to that Temple. When a Torah is not longer able to be used it must be buried during a special ceremony. There was a Christian person from the area that knew the significance of the Torah and when into the Temple to take it. They notified someone from the Temple that they had the Torah safely tucked away for their burial ceremony once they were able to have one. Again a story about people helping people!

George gives the flood line some perspective!

We drove through Union Park - the largest urban park in the US. Bigger than Central Park - who woulda known!! After that we had our lovely caravaning issue... Ask me about it and I'll tell you! Well I don't know if I'll be able to properly tell you the story. SO, we'll just chalk it up to - "You just had to be there!"

The Central Congregational Church was next on our stopping grounds. What a pretty brick building that was totally uninhabitable inside due to termite damage prior to Katrina and now Katrina damage. Look at the steeple! How beautiful is that picture!

The steeple at Central Congregational Church.

Beecher Memorial Congregational Church was next on our tour. This is the church that is partnered with Good Shepard and is in the Ninth Ward - an area very heavily hit by Katrina. They used to worship at Good Shepard before they were able to get back into their own sanctuary this summer. Carolyn was telling us that they still do not have heat for their building and are running off of propane heaters! The congregation of that church, however, doesn't mind because they are just so happy to be back in their spiritual home!

On our way to the next site was quite a bit of an adventure. First we got separated from part of our group and ended up driving in circles trying to locate each other. Abby - the "interim" organist at First Church in Marlboro who lives in New Orleans part of the year - has a GPS system that she calls Merry Mouth... We used her to try and find Richard and his crew. John - from First Church in Marlboro - liked to press Merry's buttons and hear her talk. Towards the end of the tour he started talking back to her... Maybe he needs one of his own! :P

Anyway... Our next stop was a place called Musician's Square. This is a Habitat for Humanity community and was a vision of Ellis Marsalis. Her vision was to create a community where musicians could OWN houses - normally they couldn't afford to buy so they ended up renting - and also have a place to perform and rehearse. This is a strip of houses of rainbow colors where in the center of the square a Community Center is going to be built. The center will be able to host performances, rehearsals, and also have a place for childcare. Julie - this is my "Happy Place" for you! In the midst of all of this devastation and destruction there is a place where hope is blooming and happiness is starting!

My purple house in Musician's Square!! A little peice of hope and rebuilding among such great devestation and loss.

After the rainbow houses we went through the ninth ward to St. Bernard's Parish. Abby's sister Linda lived there and all that is left of her house is a slab on concrete. During these past few days - and I cannot believe that I have only been here for a few days, the bonds and friendships that I have made feel like I have known these people forever! I am SOO incredibly lucky to have landed as a part of this group and they have invited me to be part of their community and welcomed me! Ok.. so back to Abby's sister's house. When we arrived at the house - well really the slab - the 7 of us in the van just sat there. Abby was silent and said that she couldn't get out. It was too hard. I cannot imagine the pain that she must be feeling, not only for herself but for her sister who lost everything! She told us that Linda once said that she didn't even have a spoon. Can you even imagine that!??! Any way, the 2 guys (George and John) got out first and the people in the other cars started to get out. We just sat there for a minute and Sue told Abby that we have to get out and go. So, we did. I hung back a bit with Carol and just looked at the neighborhood and at Linda's slab of concrete - All that was left of her house. A house that she was in for more than 30 years. Carol and I walked up the driveway and onto the slab of concrete. Looking around and knowing that there was once a kitchen here and the bathroom there was overwhelming. Tears came to my eyes before I even realized what was happening. Seeing everyone standing there and listening to Abby talk about what used to be where in the house was so powerful. I took a picture of the concrete where you could still see where the walls used to be. I broke at that point and had to cry. Carol hugged me for a while and we just stood there! Afterwards, Liz and a few others were gathering pieces of the patio to take. Liz and Rev. Steve and I popped out a piece for me to take. What a powerful experience that was. Even now as I write this I am slightly overwhelmed by the experience.

Getting a peice of brick from Abby's sister's house in St. Bernard Parish. This is the peice I am bringing home with me!

Now that we had our sad part of the day we decided to head to the French Quarter to walk around and get some cafe ole and beignet (kind of like small squares of really thick fried dough) with powerded sugar on top - man were they awesome :)! Well Carol and I went into a shop to buy boas on Bourbon St! I got 1 for Jilli and 1 for Amelia! Of course we had to wear them and have our pictures taken under the Bourbon Street sign! We have now been named the Boa Sisters! What a great time! When we met up with the rest of the group I had gotten a wicked cool hat for Julie and Chris decided that he had to try it on! What a great site!! After our deliciousness of the beignet's at Cafe Du Monde we walked back to the cars and headed back to the church for some pizza and beer!

Carol and I with our Boas on Bourbon Street!

Oh, during the day today the internet came back up!! So, Carol and I are now sitting in our makeshift "Lappy Land" typing and playing away while we listen to the symphony of snoring! You have to hear some of these people! I swear Chris sounds just like my Dad - loud enough to wake the dead!! I am SO glad I bunk with Liz in the trailer out back! Sleeping life is nice and quiet back there! Well this is my brain dump for tonight, I don't think I have the stamina to write about yesterday, it seems like such a nothing of a day compared to today. Maybe tomorrow I'll write about it... I have notes so I won't forget what happened. Time to go and read some email. Hope all of you back in MA are warm and not covered in too much snow!

Oh I forgot to mention that since it was Valentine's Day Sue made up little baggies for all of us and put them on our beds during the day! Donna also had Valentine's day cards for us all and put them in the bags. How sweet is that? Ok, now time to add the pics!