Beautiful Biloxi

Here is the view just steps outside where we're staying... Through the week after exhausting days on the work sites, it's been a terrific sanctuary to come back to our home base here on the Biloxi beach.  There's been some beach volleyball tournaments, some frisbee on the lawn, and a lot of sitting on the balconies enjoying the view and feeling like we've all earned the relaxation after a week of hard work!

Pics from evening walks along the beach. . . 

Friday, May 24th

Nadia:
Today was our last day of working with Hope CDA. We started our morning a little earlier than we have the rest of the week, so we were really determined to finish earlier this afternoon. We spent most of the day working with Mr. Stanley and helping to move huge planks of wood and other materials from their old warehouse to their new warehouse.  The drill was always the same: load up the van with students and Stan's trailer and truck with materials, drive to the new warehouse, unload the materials and organize them in the new warehouse. Although there was a lot of things to move today, our group worked harder than any other day. Everyone was really determined to get the work done as quick as possible. Luckily, we finished early! After treating Mr. Stan to some lunch, we all packed into Ms. Chehak's van and got lunch at Sonic as our reward. The rest of the day included
relaxing at the beach, catching up on sleep, and just hanging out. I have had a great and long week here in Biloxi, and I am very excited about all of the work we got done.

                                      The Hope group having a well-deserved warehouse break.




Kendall:
After a long week of working hard, it was great to have a half day of work. At Habitat, we continued to work on weatherization projects, which mostly focused on fixing insulation, caulking windows, vents, light switches and electric sockets. We also had a chance to take care of the owner's neglected, but adorable puppy which was  fun! We went to another site that we have been working at for the past few days to fix the insulation underneath the house. It was great to see the
progression of our work under the house. For lunch, we went to a small
Vietnamese café, that served bubble tea, smoothies, and the Vietnamese
twist on a Po Boy sandwich.  I really enjoyed the time we spent in Biloxi. It was great to meet the owners of the homes we worked at because it made me feel like I was making a difference in someone's life. I went out of my comfort zone
and had an overall rewarding experience.

Kendall removing light plates to insulate them from behind.  

Danny Nielsen and Joe replacing vents after caulking for greater insulation.

Mitch changing out all light bulbs in the house to energy-efficient ones.

The boys getting dirty under the water heater.  (But does it beat being up in the attic in piles of insulation?)

Maris: 

We started off our day by going to a house and were assigned into 3 groups. My group of 4 were asked to replaced and cover the light switches and outlets to make sure that air could not escape the house through the holes we were to fill. We then went into the backyard and found a playful little puppy in a cage. After talking with the home owners I was allowed to take the puppy out and play with it. Gradually
everyone started to come outside to play with the dog. After sadly leaving the puppy at the work site, we stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant that was suggested by the Habitat workers. Then we returned home and went to the beach to end the day later with dinner at a BBQ restaurant. 

As you can see, the pit bull puppy was a major day's highlight....

Mitch:

It has been a long week and we've been working hard.  I had a great time working at our last house today.  I met a little puppy and psent some time playing with her before we left.  After all our work was done, a bunch of the guys plus Ms. Heninger went to Raising Cane's to eat lunch.  The rest of the day we spent playing beach volleyball and we are now on our way to dinner at an authentic Mississippi barbecue place that the locals recommended.  This trip has given me a new perspective on helping others and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to be here.

 Today the Habitat Crew finally finished work hammering water-resistant paper to the entire underside of this house -- a project we worked on for a couple hours each day we were here!

The Hope group celebrated the last day of work at Sonic; half of the Habitat crew went for Po' Boys with Vietnamese flair, and the other Habitat half celebrated with some southern friend chicken at Raisin' Cane's.  

After spending the afternoon hittin' the beach, we all gathered up for a farewell meal at "The Shed" - a unique restaurant that's been featured on several Food Network shows.  We ate out by the bayou - a perfect location to watch the sun (literally!) set on our time in Mississippi.

(One of the many unique license plates nailed up all around the restaurant.)

After dark, we headed back to the beach with a trash can of wood, a shovel, and a bag of S'mores in tow to make a Grand Finale Beach Bonfire.

 Thank you, Mississippi!

Thursday, May 23rd

Dexter:
On Thursday the Hope group continued our work cleaning a warehouse full of various charity items by transferring what was usable to the new warehouse and trashing unusable materials.  After working we went bowling which was fun...

Allison:
We helped out the Hope crew by moving things from their old warehouse
into their new warehouse. We took multiple trips and worked as a team
in order to bring doors, windows, and much more. We even built a shelf
in the new warehouse and learned how to use nail guns! At night we went bowling, and had a lot of fun.

Danny Nielsen:

Today was far and away the most intense day of work. After a decent night of sleep (albeit one slightly disturbed by the presence of cockroaches in our room), the Habitat crew piled into our two minivans and got on the road.  After a thirty minute drive we arrived at the construction site, which, much to my elation, was a legitimate construction site, not a house we needed to weatherize. After listening to a safety talk, we strapped on our helmets and got to work. Jai, Lauren, and I volunteered to go to the roof.  Because I have the best balance (or perhaps just the least regard for my personal comfort and safety) I volunteered to climb the wall and walk balance-beam style on 2x4's, nailing loose boards down. After about 5
hours of working, we got back into the vans and went home. We immediately had to go and listen to an incredibly opinionated speaker, which i'd say was the low point of the day. After she finished speaking we ate a spaghetti dinner, then went to the bowling alley for an intense night of bowling. I won my lane all three times, and we enjoyed pizza and other snacks. We went home, and some of us went to the beach, and made art in the sand. It was easily my favorite day of the trip.

The Habitat group putting up a roof!

 

Definitely a big teamwork test - those beams were heavy!

 Josh doing his best Bob the Builder impression.

Jai:
Reporting from the Habitat Crew, we had to leave earlier than usual as our new build site was a significantly greater distance than our previous ones, however when we arrived it was easy to see what our tasks would be.  The site consisted of an unfinished house with scaffolding surrounding the vast majority of it, and large pieces of what would soon become part of the roof. Before we could get the roof on the house, we needed to finish the scaffolding, as we would need a lot of room to bring up the roof. When we finished the scaffolding, a few of us (Lauren, Josh, Mr.
McCarron, and I) helped push the roof across the top of the house, while Danny and Nolan (a Habitat worker) bravely stood on the top of the house and pulled across the trusses (parts of the roof) After a grueling time in the hot sun, we all took a break and drove to a local beach park, where Ms. Heninger and the Americorps workers surprised us with Corndogs from Sonic. While at the park, Zoe and
Maris took a walk along the boardwalk and witnessed a shark getting
caught. When we returned to the site, we finished the day by securing the
screws on the main floor and wrapping the house in Tyvek.

 Lauren getting experience with power tools.

Danny Copeland, Kyle and George man the saw.

Could they pass for real construction workers?

Danny Nielsen, our resident acrobat (he's on a 2nd story roof here!)

Can't beat 50-cent Corndogs from Sonic! 

Zoe holding a freshly-caught shark!

Maris and a shark having an eventful lunch break on the pier.

A Katrina memorial in the park where we ate lunch.  The waves mark the water level at the time.

Everybody ended our day with a pizza and bowling night out at Island Strikz!

 Turns out McCarron is a bowling best - with a score in the 190s!  Close runner up - Mitch Goldberg with a 188.

Phil pumped up on the lanes...

Amy-Rose celebrating the switch to glow in the dark bowl at 9pm.

Bulldogs bowling

Wednesday, May 22nd

Nick F:

Today was a great day. The Hope group got a lot of work done and it was a successful productive day!!! To start off, both Hope groups split up - one went to the first house from yesterday and one went to the house which we sledgehammered yesterday. Although a rain delay hurt our progress in the morning, in the afternoon we regained momentum and successfully organized the warehouse with help from our boy Stanley (Hope site manager). Overall, a great day.

Kyle:
 Today we had another great but tiring day. It rained and stormed pretty hard but it did not stop the Habitat team. We kept caulking windows, light plates, pipes in the attic, showers, and on and on, and making houses more energy efficient. However, I would have to say the highlight of my day was being with everyone at the movies and seeing Iron Man 3.

.

Caption by George: "the boys doin' work" 

Dexter and Jai about to go see Iron Man, the most popular choice.  Ms. Gogerty, Chehak and Heninger saw "The Great Gatsby" (LOVED it), and other students saw "Mud" and "$42: The Jackie Robinson Story."

Bulldogs at the D'Iberville Grand Theater