Last Day at the Site

April 10

Seems this is the last day for most of us. Katherine already left the day before. Satisha is leaving in the afternoon and I’m leaving in the evening. Allison and Jessica aren’t leaving yet. Didn’t get to do a whole lot today. Worked with Jeremy on finding the water source for both building we were working on. The group gather together to take pictures. Today was also the last day for the South Carolina and Kentucky folks.

We went out for lunch and got some grits. Had a huge lunch and it made me want to sleep. Went back to the hotel to pack my stuff. The hotel billed me for things I didn’t even use they called them incidentals!. Its Code word for now we’re so going to bend you over. Shuttle came on time and thankfully it went through the French quarters one more time before going to the airport. It was a nice 3 days of volunteering. If you get the opportunity you should give it a shot

Femi

Day 3 site work and hotel bed Magic

April 10

Out to the site again, the truck brought in more dirt today. So more leveling and shoveling. This time they brought in a lot of dirt. Jessica helped out with leveling, Satisha, Katherine and Allison were assigned to painting. Got to chat more with the folks from South Carolina and Louisville. I think I brought in some dirty in the rental van from all my hard work of working with dirt.

Lunch was great, felt like a construction worker with the lunch pack and work cloths (no fashion statement today). More work after lunch. Still felt rewarding, met the women that own the houses we were working on. They also had to put in hours for their crib.

Back to the hotel, nap time. Then out roaming around like tourist. Checking out scenery and the ladies of French quarters drinking Mango Mango. Dinner was great, some combination of sea food and rice. That works for me all the time. Weather was great, we all went back to Satisha and Jessica hotel room. They have a weird thing going in their room. For whatever reason if pressure is applied on the bed either by sitting on the bed or shaking it, the lights in the room goes off. Now this is a neat trick. Though not every girl would be impressed if a guy brought you to the room and the lights keep going out. This makes the windows on my ceiling look like small potatoes. For some reason I got tired really quickly today.

Femi

Day 2 : Off to the site

April 9th

Woke up early, didn’t really sleep much. Walked across the street to wait for Allison and Katherine. Wore my running shoes again this year or what’s left of them. It was the same pair that I wore last year that got stained with mud. Satisha and Jessica met us over there at the site. Jeremy from Habitat was still here, great!! The chain smoking other dude from Habitat had moved on, that guy could work you. The folks from SC and Louisville Kentucky church and a couple from Virginia were also on site, what are the odds that the same folks we worked with the previous year from SC & Louisville Kentucky would be there at the same time . We got to take a couple of pictures and I flexed some of my guns for the camera. The spray –on 6 Pack hasn’t arrived yet in the mail (movie 300 flash back).

Ok, work starts I got assigned, or rather I assigned myself to shoveling, leveling and carrying the wheelbarrow with dirt. This was more fun than doing painting and getting all that paint on my T shirt (you know some of us here have to make a fashion statement). Worked on 2 buildings pouring dirt and leveling off the backward surface. We went through the dirt so fast it finished before lunch. After lunch, as there wasn’t any more dirt to do leveling, I helped out doing stuff, but I will not paint. All that work felt rewarding.

Done with work, back at the French quarters. Took a nap then we all went out for dinner, Jessica, Allison, Katherine, Satisha and her friend Summer. Felt like a stud with all the chicks. We walked around the French quarters, we also checked out Café du mode to get some Beignets (it’s not pronounced as spelt). Took more pictures.

Femi

Day 1. Arrived New Orleans, roach in suite

April 8

Shuttle ride from Airport was ok, slept most of the drive until the shuttle driver called out my hotel. Got checked in, the room was ok wasn’t impressive but would do. This wasn’t a vacation anyway. Came out of the rest room lo and behold a roach on wall. It wasn’t those small ones, it was a big one. This isn’t going to work. Went to the front desk to b&tch. Got a new room, but this one with no wall windows. Apparently the hotel folks converted an attic to a room. I got to see the sky though from just laying on the bed and looking up into the ceiling, as there was a big window on the roof. . Now this can be weird if you’re there with your significant other or your non-significant other (this is New Orleans). It gives a feeling you’re been watched

Went out to check out the night scene. Ate at bubba Gump shrimp. Nothing much was happening this night. Where are the night clubs and djs spinning? found none.

Femi

Day 1 of Habitat for Humanity

Allison and I got up bright and early, 6am, to get down to breakfast by 6:30. We had a good system going with two wake up calls and Allison getting up first while I took a few extra minutes to snooze. Luckily, breakfast was a pleasant surprise with bagels, hash browns, and sausage - NOT your typical continental and a great way to start a long day of work. We then went up to our room to get our cooler ready with our lunch for the day and then off to Ferry Place, our work site!

We arrived at the work site on time at about 7:45am, after heavy traffic due to construction along the route. It was my first time in New Orleans since 2002 and it was eerie to see a couple of houses with the markings made during Hurricane Katrina which showed when houses were searched, how many people were found dead (if any), who searched, and if any hazards were found.

The work site was the same as last year's, and Allison pointed out all the houses that the Jaycees worked on, mentioning how far the neighborhood has come. As a matter of face, a few more months and it should be complete.

We listened to a safety speech about paying attention to your surroundings and how to use certain tools and materials and then as the list of duties was being read off, people raised their hands to volunteer. I didn’t particularly want to paint as I wanted to try something new; so when “who’d like to work on the fence” was asked, I gladly raised my hand. We got our gloves and doo rags on and Allison and I worked together with three gentlemen, Chris, Jim, and Patrick. Kyle, a seasoned volunteer who volunteers twice a week instructed us on how to start and we got to work.

First we dug holes for the fence posts using post hole diggers –easy at first but we were digging on hard ground, with sand and rocks so it got harder the deeper we went. As we finished some holes, we were told that distances between holes were off and so we had to work to fix them. It was funny how everytime someone measured something the measurements were slightly off. After we figured out the holes and measurements, Allison and I got to mix cement in a wheel barrel and then we all filled holes while making sure the poles in the holes were level. There was lots of leveling, measuring, releveling, remeasuring and repositioning going on, but at the end of the day we got it done and left the cement to set overnight.

It was a very warm day out so we made sure to stay hydrated. A couple of volunteers came by with their truck to bring sandwiches and drinks to the work site volunteers around 10ish at which point instead of taking the food and setting it aside, some folks decided to take an early lunch. I resisted until noon when everyone was able to take a much deserved one hour lunch. Two sandwiches and chips later, we were nice and full from lunch and ready to continue working.

With the cement drying, we found other jobs to work on. Chris and I broke down an old set of stairs which has been used as temporary steps for the houses while they were being built. With the house almost complete and the stairs done with their useful life, we separated all the planks using power tools, hammers, and just muscle.

I also got to use a belt sander to sand the side of a plank going up on the front porch. I really wanted to use power tools, so any chance I got, I asked and they actually let me! We ended the day at around 4pm and went back to the hotel room to change and relax before dinner. Allison and I went to Yo Mamma’s -- a great hamburger joint in the French Quarter, which by the way also has interesting "art work" in the ladies bathroom. The burgers were huge and we stuffed our faces. Then we walked around and got Mango Mango drinks which we took back to the hotel. We were wiped and ready for bed to rest up before day 2 of Habitat.

Katherine Torres-Hertz

Arriving in New Orleans

I arrived late last night and met up with Katherine when she landed this morning. We had a few issues with the rental car, the spot they assigned us to had a small compact car in it. That might have worked for a the 2 of us but it would have been a little tight when the rest of the group arrived. We had to go back in to the office to get the situation straighted out. Katherine made the mistake of making eye contact with a strange women in line behind us who spent the next 10 minutes telling us all about her problems with renting a car and her credit rating. She kept telling us her sob story even after we were up at the counter and were trying to get the car situation worked out. She must have struck out with Hertz too because when they pulled our Sienna around we saw her getting back in to her cab to head off to another rental car company. She seemed crazy to me so I certainly wouldn't have rented to her if I was the Herzt rep.

We headed off to Walmart of pick up our lunch supplies for the week. Either we didn't follow the directions right or Google Maps lied because we had a little trouble getting to Walmart. We got to see some of the wetlands and put a lot of miles on the car but we weren't working on a schedule so it was ok. Eventually we made it to Walmart and were able to make all of our purchases, then it was off to the hotel to check in and get settled.

Our hotel, Country Inn and Suites, is really nice especially compared to the places the group has stayed the last couple years. The only thing I'm worried about is how far away it is from Mango Mango. We'll have to figure something out with that. After getting settled in the hotel Katherine and I headed out for a late lunch. We ended up at Gumbo Shop and as usual it was great! It was so nice to be able to enjoy sitting in the courtyard with the sun shinning on us! We walked around the quarter a little then headed back to the hotel to rest a little. We intended to go back out later but it had been a long day so we ended up staying in, it was going to be an early day the next day! I can't wait to see all the changes on Ferry Place from a year ago!

Back to Reality

Wow...the week just flew by. I can't believe that it is already Sunday and almost time to catch our flights home.

I personally started the morning asking the Lord for forgiveness for all the daiquiris I drank by going to mass at St. Louis Cathedral...LOL! Then met up with Jessica and Allison for brunch at the Court of Two Sisters...one of the best NOLA Brunch spots! YUM! We ran into Jan and Scott at brunch and caught up for a bit. Bruce and Lisa hit up another locale then headed off to do some last minute shopping. We took a walk around Jackson Square and checked out the local artists and saw some triathelets crossing the finish line. Then continued to walk our brunch off.

Late afternoon came too quickly and it was time to pick up the car, our luggage, and head to pick up Lisa and Bruce at their hotel...and off to the airport.

Our flights back to Omaha and Chicago were ontime, which is always nice. We were hoping to land before the nasty weather hit Chicago, unfortunately we landed in the "blizzard." Going from 80* to 30* in the same day is very painful! Not fun at all!

The experience of volunteering with Habitat for Humanity New Orleans was fabulous, even despite their disorganization. We all had the opportunity to learn new things and step outside of our normal day to day duties.

The fabulous volunteer group consisted of Jan & Scott Cohn, Rachel Lewis, Allison Mead, Bruce Moritz, Femi Okikiade, Brent Proulx, Lisa Tonjes, Shatisha Wilks, Sue Warmuskerken, and Jessica Zeiger.

We'd all like to thank our donors for their generosity and kindness! Without your support, this fabulous opportunity wouldn't be possible!

Till next year...

The Chicago & Omaha Jaycees