We're home now. Satisfied. Tired, but renewed. The excitement of helping restore hope as well as the energy of Mardi Gras parades will long linger within us.

Thank you for your prayers. They kept us going strong. Keep the City of New Orleans and it's people in your continuing prayers.

Until our next trip - October 5-11, 2008 - "Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez" and "God Bless."



Our final Team Blogger is Will Hart:

It is Saturday but, I don’t want it to be, this week went by too fast. I already want to come back. What is really weird is that I have this image of New Orleans in my head; what I want it to be, what I want is to be able to have this city be complete and be back to what is was before. But I don’t know what it was before, and I don’t know if New Orleans would be the way it is without Katrina. The mark it left on this city is a scar but I think I would look at it differently if Katrina hadn’t happened.

We woke up later than usual (minus Morning Watch) and began our day by going to Café Du Monde eating delicious and sugary beignets. Then we traveled through the French Market and picked up some souvenirs, I got a really fantastic hooded sweatshirt that is extremely warm some sunglasses and a great hat, which I bartered for a lower price. We also saw the Imax movie Hurricane on the Bayou that still puts an odd feeling in your stomach after watching, personally I didn’t really like the film except for its music, but it was eye opening.

Right now we’re watching Fight Club and getting ready to go out to some Smiley restaurant. I really don’t know.

The week in retrospect was awesome. We completed what will be the base of the house and then some. When we first arrived there was nothing on these pieces of cement that would support the house, and yesterday the house we worked on primarily was ready for flooring. With some teamwork, muscles, and sunburn we got a lot of work done. I came to New Orleans with this idea, this image. What I wanted New Orleans to be, but, after the tour and hearing the stories of everyone we met, New Orleans hasn’t really changed the way I thought it would be. Everything is almost like we left it last year except for the houses we made last year. Its baby steps, but it's progress.

Our Thursday Team Bloggers are Rachael Naumann & Stacey Rupolo

The day started normally… at 6 o’clock we dragged our worn out bodies out of bed and down to the cafeteria for breakfast, then shipped out to the work site for our final contribution to Ferry Place. Work went by quickly. We completed the foundation, which we have been working on since Tuesday, and before we knew it we were saying goodbye to the Rhino staff, site managers, and Canadians. As a farewell parting, we had a national anthem face off. Needless to say, the Americans, with five patriotic anthems to choose from, schooled the Canadian forces.










Next stop, the hotel, to get ready for Le Krewe d’état (a political satire parade, which is a play on words of le coup d’état). We stopped at the church to grab some snacks, which consisted of single servings of chips and cookies for some to party sized chip bags for others. After a laborious walk to the parade ground, our group found an acceptable spot to sit and wait for the parade to begin. As it grew darker and darker, the anticipation for the first floats to appear grew more noticeable. Within the hour, horses, banners, police cars, and torch wielding men began to congregate throughout the street. And the parade began.

It was a phenomenal spectacle that opened our eyes to what the spirit of New Orleans really meant. People were shouting, jumping, throwing beads, and thoroughly enjoying themselves amidst the chaos and commotion. As more and more floats went by, the enthusiasm and excitement of collecting beads was rampant among the group members and many were practically fighting for them. By the end of the night each person had racked up enough beads to match their body weight. Once the magic of the parade had faded and our hunger and coldness took over, we made our way to an amazing pizza parlor called Reginelli’s.





This Matt Van Houten who was on last year's team and is now at Tulane.






We stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the many locals who were enjoying their dinner, but it was well worth it. The food was delicious, and the day could not have ended on a better note.

6 a.m. seemed earlier today.

Like every day, we began with our Morning Watch – our personal devotion and reflection time.





Then it was off to the cafeteria and on to the work site

Team Header made short order of the remaining ones and then moved on to “cripples.” Cripples are the short 2x4 pieces above the header. They line up where the studs would be if the window or door opening wasn’t there. Each window had 4 or 5, so there were A LOT of cripples to be cut, positioned and nailed in.










Lunch time had the look of exhaustion today.







But then it was back to work.












Today’s Team Bloggers are Sam Simpson, Alex Kamenetzky and Alec Sottosanti. . .

Thursday has come and gone and it was without a doubt the hardest and longest day we have seen. Once again we began bright and early, arriving before the swarm of Canadians. After getting the best of the hammers, we immediately continued where we left off, building headers (the top of the window and door frame), and installing a floor system into one of the new houses. Soon enough, each group got into a groove, and was doing their job swiftly to say the least.

After a long but rewarding work day, we headed back to the hotel for a quick break (which turned into a sleep session for most), we headed to dinner. This time, Scott Crabtree, the CEO at a local retirement center, hosted our meal. Scott and some of his employees stayed behind during Katrina, and thus had a lot of pictures to show us before we ate. They brought us up to the penthouse sweet, where we continued the night by eating a fantastic meal. Chicken with pineapple, tasty salmon, savory green beans, and cones we think to be imported from Garden Catering. After parting ways with the Crabtrees, we made our way back to the hotel in preparation for our last workday.







Thank you for your prayers!