LOVE BUGS also known as march fly, honeymoon fly, telephone bug, kissybug and double-headed bug

So if no one has heard of LOVE BUGS before, here is a brief synopsis:

I'm not sure if they were genetically created to fight off mosquitoes or if they just appeared in the Gulf coast years ago, because now I'm reading that it's a myth they came from a lab...I'm still researching though. So, anyways, these little black bugs don't bite, don't sting or anything, but there are SO MANY OF THEM and I swear yesterday at work I swapped one away or off of me every minute. It was driving me crazy! The funny thing is that they mate the entire time while flying around and they never stop! Apparently they only feed off of decaying plant material while larva and live two days while adults, mate all 48 hrs long, lay their babies and die. I even ate one today by accident. I was quenching a thirst and opened up my water bottle not realizing that there were bugs in my drink, took a swig, and then coughed them out...in addition I noticed another pair of "honey-mooners" sun-bathing in my water bottle! As I sit here Jelly is making fun of me and calling me Dr. Lovebug because I am obsessing about not having the right databases to do my research! I miss Wooster's databases. I'm going on a tangent now.

Today I led about 20ish Canadian volunteers decking. It was more exhausting for me mentally just having to make sure they all knew what they were doing and doing it right. In addition, today was my third day on the project, (second full day) and I basically led off my knowledge of the hour of decking I did last Friday...crazy! But I am up for the challenge. For those of you who aren't familiar with construction, decking are the floor boards that you lay down on top of the joists (wood nailed together) in the beginning foundation process of a home. After decking, you begin chalk lining where the walls will ago according to the floor plan. Yesterday, I did most of that type of work by nailing two long 2 by 4 floor boards together, which resemble the bottom and top of the walls we will eventually build during the Blitz. Now that I have this right, I can explain the Blitz a little better. The Blitz with Habitat NOLA is two weeks from this week and we will be putting up 7 houses in a week. INTENSE WORK. So hopefully I'll get to meet a former president, Jimmy Carter, and some other celebrities!

This weekend is the second weekend of Jazz fest and I can't wait to see you girls: Marah, Nell, Marge, Reg and Nelly's Bro and Dad.

P.S. For anyone who reads this blog notice if you click the "comment" at the bottom of every post, you can write a comment to me and post it...

Goldstar Diner and Balderdash

All I have to say is Balderdash....it's the name of a game that a bunch of us played tonight and we all laughed our asses off! EVERYONE GET IT! I also went to the diner right next to Camp Hope tonight for some sweet potato fries that I've been craving ever since we got here! So much has happened and I'm sorry it is so hard to keep up with it all. By the end of the day, I'm usually so tired that I don't even have the energy to blog, but here is worth a brief attempt of bloggin..today work was a bit slow, but I guess because we are just preparing the seven houses for the Blitz build that takes place in less than two weeks. Today I nailed boards together and marked the joints and layed out where the walls will be built during the Blitz.

Random but Frank (family friend of my parents) sent me this link in an email and I think you all should check this out....


http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=7

It's almost midnight and I have to wake up in six hours for work, off to bed I go..I"ll write more later

Miss and love you all!

The beginning of Round 2/Habitat for Humanity in New Orlean's Parish.....

Blast from the Past....Water 4 on our first day together...2 months ago!
Hey all!

I'm back from transition in Jackson, MS. It was cool to see my friends from other teams, but besides that we just prepared for our debriefing and briefing of our projects, ate gross buffet hotel food, and lounged around in our big beds.

Since I've been back to Camp Hope, I have had orientation with our head construction supervisors, Dwane. He is a character, let me tell you. He gave us an 8 hr speech in the span of 2 hours. Basically the next few weeks are going to be crazy because we are preparing for the Jimmy Carter build.

Yesterday we had a half day of work and then we went to Jazz fest! We walked around for the first two hours, then did some ISP by selling t-shirts. The Dad from "That 70s Show" bought a t-shirt from our booth..I didn't sell it too him, but one of the Jazz Fest Staff did...It down-poured like crazy! We had to close our t-shirt booth down early because the rain was so bad. I was able to see a bit of Billy Joel and most of OAR, but I was soaked! It was kind of cool though, because every time the song got more intense, the rain got more intense! So here I am jamming out to OAR, standing in a puddle up to my ankles, and completely drenched from the rain! It was lots of fun until we were freezing and trying to find a shuttle to bus us back to our team van. Luckily, one of the Perry Point TLs came by to pick us up, otherwise we would have been stranded.

Last night I ran into a Wooster Alum '07 who is on a Sacramento team, James. It was funny because I recognized him at Jazz fest and then didn't realize he was staying at Camp Hope for the weekend until I got back and called out, hey didn't you go to Wooster?! I met him one time at the end of last year randomly and can't believe I ran into him! It's a small world....
This morning saying good bye to Perry Point (Jeremy, Chris, Julia and I)

You have to learn how to learn to learn -Randy

Water 4 with our sponsors Tammy, Keith, Randy and Johnny

Hi all!

So where to begin..well today was officially our last day with Hope Has a Face. For the past week we have been working in the 9th ward on a "community center" trying to turn it into a future home for other NCCC teams working with Hope Has a Face. Unfortunately, it has been a little frustrating for us all because there have been 44 of us, and not enough tools or jobs to do. I have found these past two weeks to be the most mentally tiring because I hate standing around or having to think about what to do next. The past week we have been taking down an old fence, landscaping, digging holes, and replacing the new fence. We also worked on some framing earlier this week, which I happened to really like, so I hope I get to work from the ground up with our next project. Our of our sponsors, I am going to miss Randy the most. I haven't really talked about him that much, but he sure is a character. Randy has been all over the place...military...Isreal....he was even a bum for 25 years...and probably having lots of fun in the 60s, if you know what I mean. He writes short stories, he's some sort of official for the government..? Best friends with a guy who started Chicken Soup for the Soul, the list can go on....he has given us good talks, life lessons, memorable quotes...such as "You have to learn, how to learn, to learn." A lot of this might be hard to understand from my perspective, but he has just been an all around interesting guy to know. Who knows if it's all truly real, but it has been entertaining at least.

So, since this last week was kind of draining for me, Kat and Ryan picked me up and took me in for the weekend. I got to go to their friends' daughter's first birthday party. (Stacey, Chris and Kennedy (baby)) I had so much fun playing with kids all day! The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. I re-charged my batteries, only had to work a half-day today with Perry Point, and then went out to lunch with my team downtown. I had seafood gumbo. I think I liked turtle soup better and Mannys' Mom's jambalaya more. Again, I realized a lot of my blog might be about food...Mom and Dad...but what can I say....THE FOOD IS AMAZING

love to all!

Jess' reflection (a poem) from Spike Project #1...very clever..

"I left my heart in Ocean Springs"

Introducing Water four-
For America, we do more.
We have 5 Js, 3 As, K, P, and a B,
And spent our first round in Mississippi.
Refurbishing homes for those that needed it the most,
we worked hard at our job, we did not brag or boast.

Day in and day out, Water four worked hard together,
Even in the stormy Mississippi Gulf coast weather.*
Our flea furry friend, Duke, welcomed us each day
while we sang and worked, he would always stay and lay.
We would not have gotten far without the help of Ed, Johnny, and Randy.
“TL for the Day”- it’s not always you, Andy! :)

Mudding, sanding, and flooring-
As long as we were together, it never got boring.
Our official motto became “We love caulk-ing,”
Almost as much as we like talking!
Painting, nailing, sawing -
We did it all.
In our hot, sweaty uniforms,
W4 always stood tall.

Sickness and bed bugs could not bring us down,
Even with pink eye we were the hottest in town!
Ocean Springs treated us well and we wish Camp Victor the best.
In our first round, Water 4 passed every test!

Our team outside the French Market in New Orleans
Musician's Village

City of New Orleans from a far
The new leeves
What's written on the leeves


What will soon be a home for NCCC members

Last week of Round 1..already?

I am now in St. Bernard (it's not Violet, actually) and today we met with our sponsors and drove around the 9th ward, Musician's Village, and the area where Angelina Joli and Brad Pitt built houses. We also saw the community center we will be working on and converting into a NCCC home for Hope Has a Face.

Facts I learned in videos we watched last night during Camp Hope's orientation:

-47 squared miles of St. Bernard had betwen 2 and 28 ft of water because of the levees breaking
-From June '06 to January '07 - over 2000 houses were gutted
-Camp Hope was originally called Camp Permire and it was FEMA contracted
-In August of 2007 Camp Hope moved to the middle school, where it is now and was renovated by past NCCC members
-the school had over 6 ft. of water in it

Yesterday after we packed and said our goodbyes to Camp Victor, we drove all the way to St. Bernard, unpacked, worked on our portfolio and debriefing project, and then went into the city and walked around...ate some beignets at Cafe Du Monde again! The same people that were playing in front of the Cafe I was there over spring break were there again. I talked to one of them and they said they come to that location basically everyday.... It was also Julia's 20th birthday, so we went to a Mexican type restaurant for dinner and I had portobello mushroom quesadillas. Amazing!