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