A room full of cots and snoring...

We finally arrived in Ocean Spring's, Mississippi last night and we are staying at a place called Camp Victor. They house many volunteers for different things. Our Americorps group is staying in the food distribution room and are sleeping on cots all together. I am less than two feet from my neighbor, so this is a good example of what it would be like if we were working in a disaster situation. Lights are out by 10pm. Today we did community mapping/service learning and drove along the coast of Mississippi as well as in the 7th and 9th ward of New Orleans. I really had no idea how abandoned the 9th ward was. Even driving on the coast of Mississippi; tons of palm trees were slanted, the base of houses left in place, many dead trees, you could even still see sand on the roads and in the grass. Some people have moved back to the 9th ward, but overall, it is pretty deserted. I didn't have a chance to take pictures because we were just driving around briefly to help us recognize what our purpose is here in the Gulf. A couple of my teammates have gone on alternative spring breaks before and pointed out streets to us where they helped rebuild a house last year. We also had a fun PT today. Everyone but Julie and I ran to the beach, which is less than a mile away to play games in the sand, etc. Julie didn't go because she has been feeling sick with a cold. I of course busted out a bunch of my silly camp games. Tomorrow we are meeting back up with our sponsor to orientate us about the program we are working for: 100 homes in 100 days (Hope Has a Face).