Home again

Most of us are home. We were beginning to show the early stages of separation anxiety when we were saying our good-byes to each other. We get so close to each other (literally and figuratively) during these trips.

Thanks to all who read the blogs. I hope I was able to paint a picture of a day in the life. I can only reflect on my own experiences which are very different from every other person's. When I write, I am sitting amid a room full of people having conversations (in which I am frequently engaged). I typically write early AM before coffee or at the end of the work day. I normally sit at a desk 8 hours a day, so the level of activity makes me tired at the end of the day and my head isn't clear because I am tired and hungry! My grammar suffers because of all those things.

It's all worth it.

Thanks for the few who commented. It's encouraging to know that people are reading.

My own bed will feel great tonight, but I will miss the comradery we shared night and day.

We celebrated a new grandchild in China (George Clattenburg's) and mourned a sudden death of Karen Zhan's (Follen Church) mother-in-law, Zehra Khan's grandmother, in Pakistan. We also felt the pain of a mother, grandmother, brothers, sisters and cousins as we listened the story of one of the Vaughn family members who was murdered 6 months ago as he was riding his bike to get ice cream.

I overheard a conversation between a person of deep Christian faith and our Polly Leland-Mayer discussing the beliefs of the UU faith. The two women are as different from each other as they are alike. It was a beautiful moment for me to hear that conversation. Polly's presence was a gift to all.

Thank you to Terry and Molly. Your abilities to organize and guide us with love and compassion is extraordinary.

To all the fellow team members from the UUAC and Follen members as well as our extended friends - thank you. Each person gave me strength and support. Each one of us was a piece in a puzzle that interlocked perfectly.

Anyone who questions why we continue to go - talk to any one of us. If you think you want to go, but don't know if you could do the work - talk to any one of us.

Thank you to all of the members and friends who continue to support this beautiful work. You make the difference.

The Road Home

I will re-use the title from my last post from NOLA 6. The Road Home. A federal program to get people back to their homes in NOLA (but I won't get into the politics of that program). Today is our road home.

At 5:30 this morning, there were two people down in the RE classrooms working away, trying to finish up a couple of projects. Diehards! I suspect that we may have to pry them away from this place.

We had dinner at Ifama's last night. She looks so much better than she did a year ago! She has put on some of the weight she had lost and her color was much better. Her sister Lydia made us green salad, potato salad, rice, gumbo and fish/veggies. Of course, her famous cakes that she loves so much (via Sam's Club).

It was a late night for us after a hard day's work, but it was worth it to see Ifama. I told her that being there was like being home. We have such a personal connection to her home. It was my first NOLA trip. George's Hall brought back so many memories.

This morning, the dining hall is a buzz with people chatting about the NOLA memories, along with chatter about the last few chores cleaning up behind us.

We are looking forward to coming home. We won't be hitting the Ibuprofen bottle so hard, and will be able to sleep in our own beds. We'll be showering indoors. Cooking for ourselves. Making our own lunches. Back to friends and family.

However, we know what it means to miss New Orleans. Most of us will be back, and hope that you can come, too. This is a special place.

Ahhhhh......

As I write this message, everything is winding down and we are relaxing before our sacred circle and then off to visit Ifama. Her sisters and brothers are helping her cook dinner for us.

What a day! Friday is always very hectic, and today was just that. Paint this! Fill that! Plug that in! Everyone was driven to get it done.

One of the Vaughn sisters works at a Po-Boy shop and we all ordered po-boys from her shop. They clearly aren't used to getting an order for 25 sandwiches. I am sure that it made for a busy lunch hour for them. The Po-Boys were great!

We were able to finish all of the items on Terry's Mutha Bored (yeah - it's a joke). We were also able to buy her a new gas stove and water heater (via private donations). We presented them to Mary shortly after lunch and she was so happy. She was moved to tears. I know that the family was really happy that we helped their mom.

Bourbon Street was really jumping last night. What fun! Many people were wearing Halloween costumes. Halloween is a big celebration around here. Many elaborate decorations. Tomorrow night should be a scream. It should be like being in Salem, MA...only with extreme decadence and good music.

The weather has made a drastic turn and many of us were wearing sweatshirts this morning. It was comfortable all day. Low humidity.

We are all buzzing around now, showering, finishing things up and getting excited about seeing Ifama.

Roger is counting up all the Home Depot receipts. I'll bet that there were no fewer than 50 trips there this week. Kathy Copplestone was there so many times that they gave her a contractor's card!

We are tired but feeling good about the work we did and the bonds we formed with many of the extended Vaughn family.

We are all looking forward to seeing our loved ones tomorrow.

See you in church!

I just wanted to let you know, Donna, that I'm reading and very much enjoying your NOLA blogging! Go team! See you soon. XOXO Maureen

How did it get to be Thursday?

It's amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun. OK, so it's not all fun, but this is a wonderful group of people with whom to work. Today was pretty much like every other day. The weather was much less humid and we are completing many tasks.

Sally and the Library Floor Team sealed the floor and buffed it. Done. Most of Mary's house has been painted and it looks great. Two toilets work. Two sinks work.Most of the doors are in. The kitchen looks like a kitchen. The cabinets are up and painted.

It is fun to work elbow to elbow with each other and the family members.

Gotta cut this short - headed to Bourbon Street!

Godzilla Meets Fried Green Tomatoes

Go find a pencil and write this down. If you ever find yourself in New Orleans, you MUST eat at Jacques-Imos. Write it down, etch it to memory. Put it on your bucket list. One of our team members referred to her scallop dish as "orgasmic." Polly also had the scallops, and I have been told that after every bite, she made that Mmmmm--mmm sound and a smile came to her face. So, let me suggest, when you go to Jacques-Imos,try the scallops! They have a great menu that ranges from several different types of fish, shrimp, duck, quail, alligator...and there was a steak dish. I had a local fish called drum. It was encrusted in potato and had an amazing white sauce with capers. The cooks excel in delicate sauces. My favorite appetizer was alligator/shrimp sausage cheesecake. It sounds weird, but was incredibly delicious. The waiters brought desserts for both tables. They have 2 dessert items: bread pudding and creme brulee. Both beyond delicious.

A few people ordered a signature dish called: Godzilla Meets Fried Green Tomatoes." It was a layered dish. Fried soft shell crab, fried green tomatoes, crabmeat stuffing, fried green tomatoes, fried soft shell crab. To keep everything in place, a knife was stabbed through the top. No dainty little toothpicks for this meal!

It was Quo Vadis's birthday, so we invited her and her husband, Raymond. Also, Jyphia and her husband Eric Paul. We all had a grand time.

A word of note: Unless Marco Kaltofen can pull a few strings for you...be prepared to wait in a long line to get into Jacques-Imos.

Wow. It's after 5 and I am still the only one up. That is rare. It was a late night by our crazy work standards.

I think that the humidity is sapping the energy from most of us, but once we hit a stride, the momentum keeps us going.

For those who have done work like this, you know that you get back a lot more than you give. I saw the Vaughn family on Saturday afternoon and they were very apprehensive about who all these strangers were going to be and how we would judge them. Now, she is praising Jesus for bringing her all these angels! She told me that she felt blessed that we came to help. I told her that there were more than the 27 of us who are helping. The members and friends of UUAC and Follen Church are all helping. We are the ones who are blessed.

Did I say it was hot yesterday?

I thought it was hot yesterday. Today made yesterday look meek. There wasn't a dry shirt in the crowd today. In spite of the heat and humidity, we made great progress again today. The Vaughn family was working just as hard as yesterday. They are an inspiration! They are happy, always smiling and very appreciative of the help.

I learned something from Quo Vadis that I was able to share with the family. Our work is solidarity, not charity.

Thank you all for supporting us in this ministry.

Today, we went through 10 gallons of exterior paint and 2 gallons of trim. Cabinets are hung,countertops are in, there is a 2nd working toilet. More doors were hung. Some floors are done.

I sit in awe of those who worked harder than they should.

Oh! Funny word of note: The house across the street from the Vaughn's has 4 flags in front. American flag, Saints flag, Celtics flag and a Red Sox flag! We haven't been able to meet him, yet.

I'll cut this short because I have a load of laundry to do and get ready for dinner.

Bleary-eyed and bushy-tailed

Good morning, all. Everyone looks a bit more tired today, after a full day working in the heat, but once we get moving (and enough coffee), we will hit our stride and become a semi-well-oiled machine! I think that there will still be some work being done on the library floor today and the rest will be headed to the Vaughn home.

I forgot to tell you that Molly's brother Bill and his wife Lynn joined us to fill in the gaps by two people who left. Who left? David Rabinowicz had to go back to work and Karen Khan (from Follen) had to go to Pakistan after the sudden death of her mother-in-law.

We also learned of the death of Rev. Mary Harrington who has been a driving force in making changes in New Orleans and the world. She was very close to many of those here in the volunteer community.

We are also celebrating the birthday of Quo Vadis Breaux! We hope she will join us for dinner at Jacques-Imo's tonight. Marco Kaltofen was able to call in a favor for us. It helps to have friends in Louisiana. Marco is not with this group, but he has spent so much time in the gulf, he has made many friends.

It's 6:30. Time to get to work! We love and miss you, but we have a great support system in each other.

Hot, Humid, tired

Holy Guacamole! It was HOT! HOT! HOT! today. Hot, I tell you. It was so hot that even the homeowner agreed that it was hot. A few of us stayed at FUUNO to grout the library floor, while the rest of us went to Mary Vaughn's house. What a parade we were walking down the street. We were greeted by Mary and about 8 family members who worked along with us. Scraping paint off the exterior walls ,hanging doors, laying flooring. Dwight spent most of the day in the Jacuzzi today! OK - he was really trying to install the Jacuzzi.

At the end of the day, everyone was sweaty, dirty, tired, and feeling accomplished. Amazing day.

Monday night

Hello friends and family! What a day! The anthill was buzzing like crazy. We were able to finish many of our projects around FUUNO. The tiles were laid in the library. Amazing job buy a couple of our Follen friends (Zehra and Tim). Walls were scraped, repaired, painted. Bamboo flooring is covering most of a classroom (it will be completed by the end of our stay). Major changes were made and little changes were made. It's all good. Our crew has been resourseful in finding items within the church to reuse as needed. The storage room had been piled high with stuff that "we might need someday." After clearing and organizing that area, we were able to find those things.

I posted quite a few pictures on my Facebook Page (Donna Allen - the profile picture is my cat). Please friend me if you want to see them. I will accept your friend requests as soon as I can.

I will try to publish them on the Sherborn UU facebook, but it took me 20 minutes to download them already. I am not sure I am up for waiting that long again!

I will look into downloading some onto this blog, but I don't think that the blog will take the whole album.

We had our circle time tonight, then ate jambalaya, collard greens, and succotash. The food was incredibly delicious! Diva Chef "Phia outdid herself tonight.

Tomorrow,we will march down the street to Mary Vaughn's house and fill the place with our team. Terry spoke with her today and she has cleared out the rooms where we will be working.
We will be elbow to elbow, but we are anxious to do it.

The heat and humidity is quite high (93 % humidity today). The Vaughn home is about 3 blocks from FUUNO, so we will be able to come "home" to use bathrooms and gather tools and supplies.

Off to party with the rest of the crew. Good night!

Monday morning

Rested and raring to go! The first group of people haven arisen, eaten breakfast, and are getting ready to start working (it's just after 6 AM). Terry is already on his way to Home Depot. The joint is jumpin'. A new day is dawning and we will soon be buzzing around here like a nest of ants.

There is so much room at FUUNO, but we still manage to bump into each other. Working at Mary's house will be a challenge because there will be 26 of us working in 4 rooms. We will work it out.

Signing off to get some work done. I will try to post some photos.

Working at FUUNO

We weren't able to start on our projects until church services were over, so we had a casual morning. Three vans went out on the self-guided tour which had been created by a UU minister from the area.

It is interesting to see how many new homes have been built, and amazing to see how many homes are still blighted. There are still many homes with the search team "Xs" or those with vegetation growing out of the windows and roofs.

A few members of the team went to the church service and came out energized.

As soon as coffee hour was cleared out, we all went into action. Clearing/organizing tool rooms and storage areas, hanging doors, laying tiles, grouting other tiles, laying a wood floor, scraping, hammering, scrubbing, cleaning, raking, cutting brush...and many other chores that I didn't see being done.

It is wonderful to be able to help those who have been working so hard for all these years to try to get their lives back together.

Tonight was Orientation and a dinner of red beans and rice.

Once again, I sit at this keyboard and can't believe how discombobulated my thoughts are. So much activity and conversation and thoughts of tomorrow's tasks...

We will be working hard to try to get as many projects done as we can.

Arctic chill

There is something new at FUUNO......air conditioning! While the locals are enjoying the cool temps (81 degrees), we are running the a/c. I can't believe that I had to actually use a blanket last night! Someone must have turned the a/c down to "New England" temps.

My batteries are recharged. I was up at 4:30 and made the coffee. It's just after 6 AM,now and people are trickling in.

After looking around, there is so much to do in this building. There is so much to do in this city. There is so much to do in this world. We can only do a little bit at a time, but it will make a difference in someone's life. Especially ours.

Everyone has arrived at FUUNO

It took many hours and a delayed flight to gather all 27 of us (20 UUAC, 7 Follen) today. Earliest arrival was 9 AM and the last 7 appeared around 7 PM. We spent the day get acclimated to the heat and humidity, new policies and procedures as well as getting organized.

I was able to go with the team to visit with the homeowner. Mary Vaughn and a few members of her lovely family. They lost everything they owned during Hurricane Katrina. The house is solid, and the walls are all painted. There is more work than we can do in a few days, but we will do as much as we can.

Tomorrow and Monday will be spent working on projects at FUUNO. Tuesday through Friday will be spent at the Vaughn's home.

I am so tired tonight that I can't think straight - you know how you can't sleep the night before a trip because you are afraid you'll sleep through your alarm and miss your flight? I sure do!

We have a project!

According to Papa Terry most of us will be working at FUUNO (First Unitarian Universalist New Orleans) on Sunday and Monday. He will bring a small team to the home project on Saturday to assess damage, make a materials list and identify projects for each of us. Current plan is to start a small team at the home on Sunday or Monday with the rest of us joining on Tuesday.

According to Terry: The home is within walking distance to FUUNO! 6 or 7 people live there but might not be sleeping there while we work. Some of the residents may be working with us during the week. The house does not have a working kitchen; master bathroom and other bathroom need extensive work; needs interior doors throughout the house; siding damaged and missing in many areas; painting needed; some areas of the floor - able to see through to the ground.

We are ready!

The NOLA 8 journey begins

Roger and Sally are on the road. The rest of us will be shipping out on Saturday. 17 of us will be arriving on 8 different flights and Molly has been busy making sure everyone has transportation to FUUNO from the airport. The Peters will be coming in from Phoenix and George's buddy Dave is joining us again. Rumor has it that he is driving. We have five "newbies" with us for this trip, including a couple of friends of Kathy Copplestone and a friend of Nancy Levy will be arriving from Philly. This is also Don and Judy Peters' first trip. We will be joined by 8-9 people from the Follen Church in Lexington. Personally, I can't wait to get there! Donna

Getting ready for NOLA 8!

Hello. I wanted to make a dry run on the blog to make sure that we could still post.
Hopefully, we will still have wireless access from the dining room at FUUNO so we can keep you posted. I will also be adding comments in facebook.