First Day of Work (Wednesday)

Today we woke up at six a.m. to the sound of Father Michael’s recorder. The tent was surprisingly cool. After a breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy, a mixture of potatoes and eggs, and bacon and sausage, we were split into two groups and headed off to a worksite on the Gulf Coast, one block away from the ocean.
A third of our group worked at the house of an old woman named Mae. Mae’s house appeared to have been protected by the houses around her and she only received about three inches of rain. At her house, ten youth painted her deck and railing, as well as stained a table. Mae’s friend Charlie Mullins showed the group photos he had taken after the hurricane, and told many stories. Mae was so appreciative of our work that she baked us brownies and gave everyone kisses and hugs when we left and threatened to hound us for all eternity if she ever finds out we came back to Biloxi and didn’t stay in her spare room.
Across the street, the rest of our team helped Bob and Michelin reorganize bricks and cinderblocks so that they could repair a wall which spared their house from major disaster. Bob remained in the house throughout the storm, and when Michelin came to the house to find Bob, she found him asleep under a blanket of mud, a dead squirrel, a pinecone and a six-pack of Heinekin. Bob gave the group some wisdom gained from his experience: everything is temporary. Taylor Burt rescued many baby geckos at Bob’s house.
After breaking for lunch, we were relocated to another part of town in which we began tilling a front lawn. Halfway through our work, the RotoTiller broke and we had to continue by hand until the work day ended at four thirty p.m..
Upon returning to camp, everyone rushed to the showers and ate dinner of chicken n’ things...

Rob Orton’s small group’s highlights of the day:
Rob- Watching Richard show us how to brush our tongues
Sammy- Paint fight and serving dinner for everyone in Tent City
Justin DeYoung- Hearing the locals’ accents
Luke- Surviving a fall off his chair and hitting his head (he’s fine mom!)
Alissa- Having God Talk with Tierney and Michael Carney AND taking a shower
Taylor B- Having a random woman working in the kitchen tell her about the new house that was being built for her AND saving the geckos