Stephanie Sapp and Jenna Memmalo
Ms. Grossman and Mr. Bray
Period: End of year trip
2/6/11
Blog entry
The heat hit us like a block as we walked out of the hotel. Some students succumbed to the heat and some fought through it. Katie Glockner, feeling poorly, was unable to stand in the morning and had to remain on bed rest for a large majority of the day. Just kidding; she was fine by noon. The rest of us trudged through the blazing humidity to the van and drove to the worksite. Upon arriving at the work site, all of the students doing carpentry got to work setting up the tools and materials needed for the day. The other group grabbed their buckets of eggshell paint and began to cover the interior surface of the house with neutral tones.
The carpenters, Jenna, Colin, Stephanie, and Ms. Grossman, took up their nail guns, coping saws, and tape measures and meticulously lined the walls with base boarding. Bryan, the man responsible for transforming the entire PRS group into an efficient team of workers, continued to run around giving additional advice and guidance. Under his watch, the team worked smoothly, striving with determination through stifling heat and the constant threat of weariness. At times, tape measures failed and nail guns ran out of ammo, but by lunchtime, the group had completed two additional rooms and begun cutting wood for the hallways and living rooms of the house.
Meanwhile, the painting group, consisting of Basil, Kevin, Katie, Rachel, Alexa, and Andrea, removed the boards from the windows of the house, utilizing ladders and pliers to open up the house to the outside world. After taping all the edges to prep for painting, the group took up their paintbrushes and got to work. It was great to see the house coming close to a finishing product, having seen the appreciative faces of house recipients at the house dedication yesterday.
At lunch, Mr. Bray declared the workday to be over [note – the cumulative effect of the heat finally became too much. If we’d continued working we wouldn’t have done anything else for the rest of the trip] and everyone returned to the hotel to discover Katie Glockner to have just woken up, having slept in to cure her illness. We were all extremely jealous. J We had an hour to jump in the pool, nap, shower, or hang out before we set out into the searing heat once again. With all of our passengers we drove down to the French quarter to indulge in the local treat: the muffuletta. It’s a gorgeous sandwich with Italian salami, ham, cheese and olives all stacked between two slices of scrumptious bread. We scarfed down those sandwiches, and some took olive mix home to relive the epic sandwich.
As we overcame our muffuletta comas we decided to brush up on some AP US history, and went down to the National WWII museum. Enjoying the air conditioning, we walked through the exhibits, examining model airplanes and personal story snippets. After our fill of exhibits we watched “Beyond All Boundaries” which gave a great depiction of the global conflicts and timeline of the war. It included great graphics and wonderful audio from Tom Hanks. I enjoyed learning about the amphibian boats used on D-day, which were invented by a native New Orleans. We then headed home for some chilling out and ate dinner at the Rum House and chowed down on some delicious guacamole, tacos, and even hot and spicy cowboys! Yummmm.
Hoping Cali is cooler than New Orleans because it is HOT! PEACE. J
More pictures...
A cool water tower we pass on our way to work each morning
Lightning over Bourbon Streew
One of the Mardi Gras floats
Constructing a prop for Mardi Gras
Looking back at the port while on the Natchez steam ship.
The girls keeping the wall from falling over...
The trees and other plants here take over everything around them. The roots will grow over the concrete and swallow whatever they touch.
Mr. Bray built that railing.
There's a lot of painting to do. And, whenever we get a chance to work in the shade, we take it!
Jenna and Stephanie built that doorway - the hung the door and trimmed it all out.
Our cafeteria
Brian's tool trailer, with some kid we found roaming the neighborhood.
This is our mascot doggie. She comes by every day. She's very sweet.
The painting crew moving to another location
This picture shows several different things we've done: siding, painting, F-channel, soffit, and facia flashing. All of those terms will be more understandable if you come visit our travel museum...
The dedication ceremony we went to yesterday
The crew at Rock & Bowl last night
