Time ticks by

(Caroline & Liz)

Sitting in the airport, watching as the time ticks by toward our arrival home, I realize how much I miss about home, and how much I will miss about New Orleans. I will miss working to mend this broken-hearted diva of a city, and the unique feeling that comes along with being covered in a layer of sweat beneath a layer of dirt beneath a layer of paint. But perhaps more even than that, I will miss the people, the community that I have grown so accustomed to waking up and working and singing and laughing and crying with for ten long days.

I spent yesterday winding down, trying to organize my suitcase and my thoughts so that I could bring it all back and tell our story. We have done so much, and it has all affected each of us differently. There is so much to tell, and it would take hours of talking to even scratch the surface of this entire experience.

For most of this trip, we have been treated like adults, and given the same work as the intern volunteers who are assisting us. Being on the Flow Team (a group of three youth and two adults that made decisions while we were on the trip) forced me to think about the consequences of my decisions and take some responsibility. But now, sitting in the airport and waiting for the plane, I feel like a child again, a chid who misses her family. And her bed.

Liz Powers