MOBILE ALABAMA
Hey you all! We had an early start in the morning, waking up at a crisp 6 AM
to literally puddles of dew. We thought that it must have rained during the
night because it was so wet. We proceeded to eat breakfast and were on our way
to the work site. We happened to miss a turn going there, and had to pull an
emergency two-point turn onto a gravel road. Unfortunately, the bus happened
to have a meltdown, and stalled, blocking all lanes of traffic. Another
adventure for us! Luckily, we got the bus started right away, and then,
instead of heading to the site, went to the closest car rental agency, which
happened to be enterprise. We rented a 15 passenger van, but rode in the bus
to the work site. Finally there, only about an hour late, we met Gary and
Marcia, the two Habitat workers that were to be our supervisors. After a brief
(not so brief) check on safety, rules and guidelines, we finally started work.
As soon as we started, sweat began dripping off all points on our face (at
least for me), due to the fact that it was 30 degrees C, sunny, and with a
humidity that made it feel like around 87 . Add to that the acute lack of any
type of wind or breeze and you've got yourself a slow cooker, especially since
we all packed into the houses. The houses that we worked on are all
foreclosure houses, and are aimed at low income people, or people with poor
credit, here in Mobile. Though not directly affected by Katrina, or the BP oil
spill, the economy here centers around the sea, and sea trade, and thus, when
these things happened, people in the area suffered. Almost all of the work was
entirely inside, except for an hour or two of siding. We tiled bathroom and
kitchen floors, laid laminate floors down, put windows in, hung doors, and a
few girls, who many would consider a little weeny, went inside to paint in an
indoor house with very strong air conditioning (Sara happened to be one of
them…). We had a lunch of sandwiches and snacks, and worked all day long,
until 3:00. So after a late start, we worked hard and should be proud. Now,
due to the bus being out of commission, we had to shuttle people from the site
back to Camp Christian in the newly rented van. It took a while, but it worked
well. Thanks to Joan for driving back and forth and back and forth and back
and forth. We had our devotions on Shadrach, Meshac and Abednego, and wrote in
our journals. We had a super supper of tacos and nachos, once again, thanks to
Joan for cooking. Now, the treat of the day! Mary, the camp director, hired a
lifeguard for the evening, and we had a wonderful time full of splashing,
football, volleyball and chicken fights. Who knew Darryl had such good
hands…Now, I guess we have to head to bed because it happens to be another
extremely early morning! Goodnight you all!
A comprehensive blog by:
Ryan, Sara and Michael
PS. I have to mention the guy that talked to us from Americorp. His name was
Jack and he liked to talk to all the girls. He also liked to run by all the
girls with his shirt off. The girls also liked to stare at him as he went by,
and were very sad when they had to leave. At least he is "working" with us
tomorrow. We'll see…
