NOLA Post #1

Sunday 1/17

            After an extremely long van ride, we have finally made it to New Orleans! The ride went pretty smooth, but I think everyone can agree they were ready to be out of those vans.  We moved our stuff into The United Saints Recovery building and claimed the beds that would be ours for the next week. Sunday morning the chaperones took us onto a tour of the wreckage of New Orleans. The stuff we saw is something that one can only fully appreciate seeing it in person. I have always heard about the stories of how bad hurricane Katrina was and the wreckage that it caused, but seeing it in person really gave me a better feel for the damage that it really caused. I was amazed that 10 years after the storm, you still drive down the street and see one house fully rebuilt next to one that still is boarded up and has complete walls of the house missing. I cannot imagine how bad it must have looked 10 years ago if this is still how it looks now. I was also amazed when seeing the levees that broke, these things were massive and for there to be enough water for them to break absolutely amazes me. These huge concrete blocks must have had to have such an extreme amount of pressure for them to break. I can see how houses must have been just wiped out when the water flew through because of how much that they hold back. The tour that we got really showed me how affected the entire city was. Afterwards, to lighten the  mood we did a scavenger hunt in the French Quarter, which I really enjoyed, and even though we came in second (we should’ve really won) I really had fun with my team and exploring the city. I am excited to start building tomorrow and can't wait for what the rest of this week has in store!