Day Four

Thursday, November 18^th (Morning)

After a quick breakfast, we were asked by Sister Frances to stop by the main house to help her get Sister Jan into the car for a trip to the clinic to have her ankle examined.  (She still couldn’t put weight on her foot.)  When we got there, there was an ambulance in the driveway.  Turns out the doctor suggested that she go to Tulane University to have it x-rayed.  So Sisters Frances and Mary Ellen both accompanied her to the hospital and we proceeded to 1613 Heights.

We were greeted by our new Site Supervisor, Neiko, who hails from Santa Rosa, CA.  He’s also an Americorps worker, but in the NCCC division.  Unlike Devon, who is assigned to one place for ten month, a NCCC worker only stays in one place for about three months, before moving to another location.  For example, Nieko mentioned that he had already done stints in West Virginia and Virginia.  Another difference, NCCC’s work in teams of ten, living, cooking and traveling together. 

We are very impressed with all the Americorps workers we’ve worked with;  their dedication and values are inspiring.

Another small crew,  just the two of us and Neiko.  Joe and Zach returned for a few hours of cabinet hanging, but were then called away to another site.  We continued with our taping of trim, caulking, scraping and painting.

At about lunchtime Sisters Frances and Mary Ellen returned to 1613 to give us he update on Sister Jan.  Fortunately it was just a bad sprain.  As this was the first day that we were on our own for lunch, the five of us decided to patronize a local establishment.  We pass the Gold Star Diner on the way to work each day and decided to try it. 

As we walked in we were immediately greeted by the stares of the six of so diners.  All refinery and construction worker types – Testosterone City.  I don’t know who was more shocked, us or the diners.  The waitress, a young girl, also seem confused to see us.

Regardless, we plopped down and ordered:  Colleen loved her Red Beans and Rice.  Sister Frances and I ordered the special:  Stuffed Pepper.  Instead of meat and rice, it was filled with shrimp and bread stuffing.  (We were not overly impressed.)  Nieko was happy with his breakfast and Sister Mary Ellen loved her baked potato.

After lunch, Sister Mary Ellen joined our merry band for the rest of the day.  I had a break from my routine as Nieko and I moved outside and started on replacing the soffits of the house.  Most importantly, I was promoted to limited power tool use.  (Only under adult supervision, of course.)