Our Digs [Update 1/4]

FINALLY, some time to update this junk.  I've got some time before I head to bed, so I'm going to try and knock out the four updates that I am slacking on here...

As mentioned, we are crashin' at Adullam Christian Center [ACC].  It was formerly a supermarket, and is now used as a place of worship, but also as a host site for volunteers.

When we first came in, we met Pastor Randy, who runs the center.  Wow, what a guy.  Before we unpacked or even saw where we were staying, Pastor Randy made a point to welcome us with what he called an "orientation" session.  He kept it lite and humorous, telling the girls "now ladies, if somebody calls you darlin, suga pie, sweet thing, baby, honey, sweetheart; you need not worry, because you are not being hit on.  For this week, you are all southern belles."  After all the laughs, and basic housekeeping issues, he then very solemnly said, "Imagine that you were staying in a hotel room in New Orleans, and you go to bed after hearing about how there is a hurricane warning - then you wake up the next morning, you look out your window, and you just see the city under water."  Pastor Randy went on to tell us the details of Katrina and how it severely impacted the region.  The ACC is located in what is called "St. Bernard Parish," which initially makes you think of a church parish, but down here in NOLA, a "Parish" is equivalent to a district or county.

Pastor Randy then took myself and the other two trip leaders on a tour of the building and filled us in on some important local info, as well as housekeeping rules...this is when you really got to see who this guy was.  At one point he asked if we could help set up our own dinner tables, because he would usually have members of his congregation do it, but they are a little busy...are you kidding me?? of course we will set up our own dinner tables!  Not to mention, this guy told us how he lost 98% of his congregation after Katrina...unbelievable.  Then as if you couldn't grow to respect the man anymore, he was showing us around the kitchen and had these industrial sized freezers.  I asked him what he used them for, and he opened them up to reveal frozen food that he described so naturally as, "oh that's for when I see homeless people walking outside on the road."  What an amazing man, an amazing story and an amazing spirit.

As for the rooms themselves, we have two sections of the building.  One for the ladies, of which there are 14 in our group; and then the gentlemen (all 4 of us) are on the other side of the building in bunk beds with some pretty grimy mattresses.  On the girls side of the building there are showers, but wow, they were nasty.  After the first night of showering; myself, Alec, Kat, and Gaby decided to go to town with Scrubbing Bubbles disinfectant and Clorox bleach.  After trying to clean meticulously, I just opened up the bleach and dumped it in the showers and on the tiles leading up to them (I know, so safe, right?)...this followed with heavy coughing and chest pains, but it hurt so good =P  It was definitely worth it to have it clean.  So now we have clean showers, I bought an elastic sheet for my mattress, and I officially took all the "roughing it" out of this trip.  I think I can live with that.

Our minivan fleet - the white KIA is my baby.

Pretty cool kitchen...could use a mop job though.

This is where I sleep, prior to my Wal-Mart combo of sheet/sleeping bag

Alec is in disgust after one wipe of the tiles outside the showers

Alec, Gaby, and me...after scrubbing my bleach bombing.

Bleach makes you do crazy things.