Days Two and Three in New Orleans!

Day Two
Tobie flew in during breakfast (cold cereal, bagels, toast, easy stuff for our first work day) and once him and Kevin got back, we all went into the sanctuary with all of the other mission teams in New Orleans for an orientation to the work that we'll be doing, why we're here, etc. Since we have the All-Knowing Genious Kevin, we didn't have to stay for orientation and got straight to work.

We are fixing up Pastor Eunice's office this week. We started by completely emptying her desk, her bookcase, everything that we could lift off the floor, and moved it into the fellowship hall (which was just re-done and is completely GORGEOUS, FYI). Then, we discovered that the bookcase was built-in, so it had to come down piece by piece. Had a few people working on that while the others worked on pulling the floorboards out, ripping the wood paneling (SO 60's) off the walls, taking down most of the ceiling, and pulling out the carpet. The padding underneath the carpet smelled ridiculously like urine, which we can only assume is left-over from Katrina. Then we went around and pulled up all the tack strips, hammered in all of the nails sticking out of the drywall, and pulled out all of the staples left over from the padding. Very hectic day with all of us in one room, but it was a blast! We breaked after we got the paneling down for an outdoor lunch of hamburgers and brats and the wonderful Pastor Eunice went and bought sodas and a bunch of bottled water for all of us. Dinner was a delight, a New Orleans tradition of red beans & rice (for those that know me, I definitely picked out the sausage, but it was still fabulous!). After dinner we went over to meet up with the Newman group from the Catholic church across the street in Tempe (this group is lovingly known as the Catholics to us N'awlins Wesley crew).

We all got a tour of the monastery they are staying at, which was a secluded monastery for nuns from 1897-1971 (sorry if my dates are slightly off) and the nuns did not speak, did not go outside the castle-esque walls, and only communicated with each other during mass. This place is ridiculously large and slightly creepy. It has 14 courtyards, but they only have access to 12. It also has several chapels, an infirmary, five different stairwells, all sorts of stuff. It was amazing hearing the history of this place and getting some information on Catholicism at the same time. We also got to go into the tomb area where the bodies were stored until someone from the outside came and got the body and disposed of it however nuns are disposed of (please excuse my ignorance on the matter).

After the grand tour and being slightly freaked out, we all walked down to the French Quarter again. Me and the Catholics went to Cafe Du Monde again to get beignets, the older crew went their seperate way and saw an amazing band, and the younger crew went to tour the city and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I can't speak for everyone else, but I know it was a wonderful night!

We then went back to the center, some crashed while the youngsters stayed up and did what they do and regretted it in the morning when Kevin woke them up by banging pots and pans.

Day Three

Alright, so as I already said, Kevin had fun waking the late bloomers up. We had a kick-butt breakfast of french toast and sausage (pass, thanks). One group cleaned up the center's bathrooms, showers and kitchen while Rob, Kevin, Tobie and I went out to Home Depot to pick up the rest of the supplies we needed (dry wall, lemon oil, edging, and flood lights). When we got back, everyone got busy doing several different jobs.

One group started inside polishing all the brass things on the alter and then went and worked outside as the trash group and collected all the trash and put it into trash bags.

A second group was in Pastor Eunice's office helping Chad (who has just gotten in) drywall and get things moving in there.

Another group (which included myself) worked in the sanctuary to wash and polish the wood on the pews and everything on the alter, then Judith and Chris worked on cleaning up the gorgeous stained glass windows that were painted over a bit during the remodel while I stripped the paint off the trim around the alter.

Pastor Eunice made us an absolutely amazing lunch of homemade gumbo, steamed rice, cornbread (with actual corn!), and all sorts of lovely food. We also have so many leftovers that we pulled that out for anyone that wanted it.

We went back to work and finished up our odd jobs until around 4 we all showered and got ready for dinner (thanks, Jenn and Kevin!). Rob, Stacy, Craig and I all took off to Wal-Mart to gather some miscellaneous items we need for dessert (heck YEAH banana splits and rootbeer floats!) as well as for our meals the rest of the week. Came back and we all sat down to a dinner of baked chicken, biscuits and corn-on-the-cob.

After dinner the rest of us finished getting cleaned up while KP did dishes, and then we all headed back out to meet up with the Catholics again. We all went down to Bourbon Street to walk around and explore. We stopped in a gift shop and a lot of us picked up some souvenirs for people. After that we went to this jazz club with an awesome band playing, but the speakers were far too loud so most of us took off. Stacey and I went off to explore and had quite the adventure getting beads, staving off drunks, and getting our palms read. I guess one group went back to Cafe Du Monde again and loved eating more beinets. A third group stayed at the club for a little while then went over to a dance club and enjoyed themselves. I think we all had a wonderful time, definitely the best night ever for me and Stacy! :D

We all then met up at the monastery after going our seperate ways and made it back to the center just in time for curfew! We enjoyed some banana splits and root beer floats and then went our seperate ways, some going to bed, some watching TV, and me updating the blog.

Well, that is the end of our adventure so far, I hope you guys are enjoying the blog and keeping updated on what we're doing here in N'awlins. We're definitely enjoying ourselves, and now I must go to bed as we will be up in six hours to start work again.

Love and miss you all and can't wait to share our next days' adventures (and some more photos!)

written by  Joyce on March 11, 2008 from New Orleans, United States
from the travel blog: New Orleans Mission Trip
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