Journal Entry 15 - Hand on Gulf Coast, Biloxi, Mississippi

I have to write two journal entries, one for Thursday and one for today. This is for yesterday's events. Ten, there will be another entry.

So, Thursday was more mold cleanup and gutting of the house. We drove over there, Ella and another Hands On guy joined us. Kate, Marco, and I were falling asleep in the backseat. I had to switch pens from black to purple. Anyway, Kari finally drove us to the site and we all started working right away.

Today, we had Dustin and Marco from the Purple Dolphins join us. The main jobs today were to remove ceilings in the kitchen, garage, and living room. We also had to remove the insulation that fell with the dry wall. Then, we took out nails and staples in the wood.

I worked for nearly an hour straight without much of a break. Finally, we all took a much needed break. After that first break, I started getting tired really fast. I would go fo 5 minutes and get tired again. Lots and lots of sweating. Throwing out big pieces of drywall into the trash was so tiring, especially in goggles that fogged up, ventilators, and Tyvek suits.

Some people had to take down lamps and take out the ceiling. Kate and Dustin looked pretty horrible with their aces lined with mold, dirt, and insulation.

Everyone really worked as a cohesive team, helping to stuff bags full of insulation, pulling out nails, and making sure people were taking breaks. I was so proud of the Green Team + the Purple Team adopted members.

The work was still a bit frustrating, only because we didn't get to finish the cleanup/gutting, nor did we actually get to "de-mold". We didn't finish! That was not our fault either. Ella made our car leave slow. Then, we were outside to let the rest of the team remove the ceiling, but she wanted ALAL of us to work at the same time, which made workspace really crowded. I believe we could have finished if we weren't so crowded.

Anyway, after feeling as if I was going to pass out, rain started coming. We packed up in a hurry and then, it started pouring like crazy! We all started running and screaming to get into the cars.

We left the site into our drive home. Then, the radio blessed us with the same song as we were leaving last time. Again, Leona Lewis "Bleeding Love" came on the radio! We decided again to have the party/singing van! Kyle, Kate, and I sang/belted out the song for the camera. Brittany got every second of it. It was the best ever. We obviously were THAT comfortable with each other to do that. THen, more and more songs played. "No Air' by Jordin Sparks came on, and also, Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" played! We took a small detour back to Hands on, because Kari got off the wrong exit.

We all lined up for showers. I decided to break out in songs, just to make showering more fun.

After, I had a big lunch. Then, we had "People's Choice" workshops. I went to Recruitment/Selections first while Erica attended Site Development. The workshop was good, but I was so exhausted and brain dead. I think Brittany, Kate, and Dustin were also looking a bit tired and sleepy. That workshop ended. I then went to Media Relations/Communications with Erica. We saw the WLOX interview ( Scroll down to the video box. Then, in the news video box, scroll down to find Danielle Thomas reports on volunteers with a double mission.) And, read this (http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=8573259). I think I sucked, but whatever! That was my 10 seconds of fame. After that we went inside the main building from the church to start the opportunities fair.

Different community partners were there, school info was laid out, and flyers were available. After, we had dinner. I sat at the table with Bob Woods from the Florida Trails. It seems like a cool idea for an AB trip.

There were funny conversations held with this man, such as names we would look like we would have, Acorn as a name, jobs, and other stuff. I thought it was funny that he use to work for Nike as a graphic person.

After the dinner, we had the Reorientation workshop that I believe Erica and I contributed to. Then, we did group skits that represented our entire experience. We did a huge Mafia game skit. I was a construction worker who died from too much breathing in of mold. Bianca was Sam, who died of not having her headband, her scarf too tight, and her brain fell out. Brittany was Jill, who cooked her secret concoction and died from poisoning. Lisa had a dog, but I forget how she died. Whoever played Kelly, died from no sleep. Kari died from following John's many u-turns. Oh yeah, I think Kate was Kelly. Oh, and Lisa was Marco, who braked like a dog and had to be shut up by Ali, who was Mafia. She placed tape on her mouth. I forgot how Dusty died.

After, we did reflections. We started off just talking about the overall experience as a whole. Then, we did 5 minute life maps. THen, any extra time was given to a Q&A session. The activity was funny, honest, open, intense, and everything else. It was GREAT! I love learning about everyone in the group!

After that, I went outside to talk to people, take pictures, and play two games of Mafia. Of course, I got killed early on. Every time, its always me or Dustin Mafia, us killed early, or one of us Mafia at least. Marco tried to play us all. Emma, again, played us all. She's shady! Haha!

Then, some people went inside. Then, a few of us were outside talking about whatever, and we also played Flash, but just mostly about movies. Eventually, we all headed back in to sleep at about 2:15AM.