First Day

Today was a good day. We can start with that. There were many heartfelt times, and a few sad things. For one, my group went tried to go to Central Congregational UCC. On our way there, we went through a neighborhood that included the church, that was a very poor area. Most of the houses there still had hurricane damage, and many of them still had the marks made by the searchers, a couple weeks after the storm. All of them had dates, many of which were 9-12 or 9-13. They also listed the body count in each building searched; thankfully, the number was zero for all of the ones I saw. But for everyone that was zero, there were some out there that aren't, and that will be a struggle once we find those. I'm excited for the work we will be able to do, but I am totally disgusted at the lack of governmental help. Its been almost two years now, and still neighborhoods all over the place are uninhabitable, because of the lack of governmental care.

The bright side of the church not being open, was that we were able to go downtown to the St. Louis Cathedral. It was an interesting service, and a whole lot different. From there we went to lunch at a classic New Orleans style restaurant. The food was delicious, and quick and great atmosphere to the place. We came back to the home base here, and chillaxed for a good while, during the time we were waiting for the rest of the groups to return. By the time everyone got back, we were ready again to head out. We all walked around the French Quarter for a while, and to be honest I was not that impressed. I was expecting a lot more, but I bet that the area has not been the same ever since Katrina, even though the area never was underwater. It was a good time, but not the total experience and atmosphere I was expecting. The highlight was when this guy came up to us as we were waiting to leave, and talked to us for a while, and sang to us. What a character.

From there everything fell together. I was on dinner committee for the night, and we made pancakes. They were awesome, especially with my secret ingredient(hehehe not telling!!!). Lee and I have a new understanding, after arguing for a few minutes, and coming to the conclusion that there was no reason to argue, cause we both wanted the same thing. It was good for a laugh. I am pumped to put in a good days work tomorrow, (and its my birthday!!), and looking forward to being able to see how much we can do in a week on the job.

That's my two cents for the evening (maybe three or four), hope everyone is having a good time back home.

Signing off from New Orleans(actually Metairie),
Sam Fischer(that dude with the best mix)