Bay Saint Louis - Habitat

Day 4 Well, well, well our first day of actual work proved to be an eventful one. Some members of our group woke up at 6:15 for a brisk run along the beach, whilst the sane members of our group slept until 7ish. As a collective we strolled to the dining hall at 7:15 and came to a delicious (somewhat innutritious) southern breakfast smorgasbord! We feasted on eggs, sausage, grits, bananas, mammoth oranges that make our friend Kim want to vomit, biscuits slathered with butter, and cereal (for the unadventurous members of the group.) After engulfing mass amounts of lard dosed food we hobbled back to our dormitory in order to change for our workday. We were lucky that we had a late meeting time today since the route to the work site proved to be rather difficult for our caravan. In our group's minivan we managed to follow the wrong car (even though it was a different type, color, and size than the correct car) and go the wrong way back across to the school. After going around in a giant circle we managed to get back and drive through what seemed to be more people's backyards in order to get to Holly's House, our work destination. Upon arriving we had a quick summary of our weeks work from one our foremen and split up into two warring tribes. By warring tribes, I mean two groups with two tasks on two different terrains, one being some house touch up work and the other a mystery mission. Our group, being the intelligent one, decided to stay at the house where our tasks were clear and explained to us. The other group went out on their own to an unknown spot, only to meet their doom. Our group's work began with two people painting shutters, two people touching up walls in the house, and two people putting hinges on cabinetry and hanging it up throughout. I was left with the arduous and rewarding task of assembling the cabinetry. My colleague Amy and I sat on the driveway and screwed individual hinges onto a group of 15 plus cabinet doors. In the cool spring breeze the task proved to be rather enjoyable, with lovely conversation and delightful country music lilting from inside the house, we had an incredible time! Our friends also enjoyed themselves paint coat after coat of moss green paint onto shingles. Our other perfectionist peers had a jolly time correcting nicks and paint mishaps inside the house. After an hour and a half of putting hinges on cabinet doors, Amy and I had the task of hanging up doors one by one inside the house. I learned today that hinged doors are indeed a privilege, not a right. The task of screwing doors into place correctly, without falling off or smashing into each other proved to be difficult. But, we accomplished our tasks. We completed all of the kitchen cabinetry as well as the laundry and bath rooms. Our friends managed to sand and paint all of the shingles as well as paint the ceiling. As a team we congratulated our hard work with sweeping! We swept out the house and took up all of the cardboard off the floors. We also tore off every inch of painter's tape in sight. By the time we finished, we were so glad to be able to see all of our progress, and that the house was really beginning to look like a home. For the other group's experience, the house they worked on was round, just like a circle! The owners of the home lost their house to Katrina, only to rebuild their house in an odd manner as to avoid speeding winds. After their home was destroyed, they put Chinese dry wall into their home which was cheap and ineffective. The dry wall was acidic and corroded pipes and other aspects of the house's structure. Also, just the other week their house was struck by lightning and caught on fire. These folks do not have the best luck. The group pulled weeds, had a great time mowing the lawn on a riding mower, cleaned the mulching pit, painted the pipes in the ceiling, cleaned out their attic, and had near death experiences almost falling off scaffolding. The female owner of the house was clearly having a very difficult time dealing with the damage that had been done to her house. It was very touching to see the husband comforting his distressed wife. The group had a lovely time fighting with paint! They slathered each other whilst painting shutters. Kim and Mary had a great adventure going to the paint store with Steven, the sexy foreman that Mary and Kim are extremely attracted to. They had a great day working with the sweetest people. Another plus was getting invited to a legitimate crawfish dinner by some locals! We are all excited for that experience. After getting off of work, we met back up at our dormitory on St. Stanislav's campus. There we all rinsed ourselves of sweat and sawdust, and put ourselves together for dinner. We scarfed down southern beans and rice, sausage, stew, and an assortment of treats. I ate so much food that one of the cooks felt the need to call me "Husky." Afterwards, I immediately texted my therapist. Traumatic experiences aside, dinner was fantastic and we had a great time hanging out together after our long day of separation. Post-dinner, we came up with our game plan for the night. We decided that we wanted to take the trek across the bridge to the other side of the bay to see if the sand was truly softer on the other side. We all had a tremendous time jumping, skipping, and dancing along the beach. Many of us crossed making a message in a bottle off of our lists. We basked in the glow of the orange sunset and carved our twitter handle into the sand (proving that we indeed are the most media savvy group.) We walked back and forth across the beach, dragging our feet in the sand, and upon nightfall decided to split up. One group stayed on the beach to have a picturesque night stroll, while the rest of us went on a rollicking adventure! After leaving the beach we ran into a police check point, upon arriving we all suddenly thought that we were convicted criminals and collectively feared for our lives. After passing the point with flying colors, since none of us are criminals, we decided that ice cream was the only remedy for our trauma. We went to a local café that was closed. We then went to Wendy's as a second choice, but there was no frosty mix. We screamed in agony. But, a gleaming beacon of hope had shown across the highway. Indeed the golden arches saved us again. We all enjoyed delicious McDonald's shakes, frosties, and nuggets that I swear came from Mt. Olympus. The other group saw glowing crabs and people screwing on the beach. Now we are in the present! What a lovely journey today was, I am glad you were here to enjoy it with us. Tomorrow we paint an entire house! We promise we will remember sunscreen this time.