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Biloxi, United States
30° 23' N 88° 53' W
May 17, 2008 23:51
Distance 125km

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Pounding Nails

Text written in: English

I'm in Biloxi, Mississippi now and am thoroughly enjoying my time here.

We work 50+ hours per week doing construction in the hot hot humid heat.  Our project sponsor's name is Peter and he is an amazing man.  A good heart, wonderfully patient, and such a trusting teacher.

I spent the first week here building a deck with Alicia.  We lucked out and while other people were doing interior jobs, the two of us were trusted to measure, cut, and install the wrap around deck for a house.  It was awesome.  (sidenote: I've really gotten close to Alicia this phase...I think a lot of it was because of that week of working with her...and she's leaving the team today to be part of a separate composite team for two months.  she will be mucho mucho missed.)

The second and third week here, we began work on Mr. Lai's house on Crawford St.  We arrived on site and nothing was there but the pilots (large poles buried 8 ft in the ground and that stand 9 ft above ground which will support the entire house).  We built scaffolding, we built the deck/box of the house, we built all the walls interior and exterior, we have begun work on the cantilever porch and the rafters.  It's incredible.  I have to say that there are several moments in each day when I want to rip my hair out.  I'm too type-A for construction...I need things to be perfect...and as only a semi-skilled laborer, I frequently make mistakes.  But in general, it is so rewarding and I'm learning so much.  A favorite time on the Crawford house for me was spending an entire afternoon up on the scaffolding working with Peter.  We were installing the joists for the whole house.  We worked quickly and efficiently and I learned a lot.  The next day I was asked to pick a partner and finish the joists…so I was trusted to do a good job (which now happens often on the worksite and on one hand feels great and on the other hand is intimidating and terrifying)…but I did…and we rocked out the nail gun and the worm saw and it was all good.  Speaking of nail gun…Ryoji shot a nail through his middle finger on his left hand on the second week of work.  He violated the 12 inch rule (keep your hand a foot away at all times) and it showed.  Thankfully, I can report that it didn’t hit a bone (miraculously) and that he is slowly regaining feeling and that he’s expected to fully recover.  But that was definitely an eerie day for all of us.

This past week we did a blitz build…where a house is built in 5 days.  It was the annual Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Work Project that happens all over the world in a different place each year and just happened to be in the gulf in 2008.  We worked in a tiny town called Diamondhead and built a beautiful house for a woman named Teena with the help of a group of volunteers from Iowa.  It was a high energy week at the worksite…we had amazing help and worked so quickly…and the days were long (leave for work at 5:30am get back no earlier than 6:00pm every day).  I am getting more and more comfortable on the worksite…feeling confident in things I can do…which is satisfying.

Our housing is great…I sleep in a comfy bed and eat lots of yummy foods (I’m vegan now if I haven’t written that yet) and take long warm showers.  Biloxi is a nice city in which to live…spend the weekends on the beach, party at casinos, enjoy the southern qualities.  Again, I adore Peter and construction, so work is great.  The sun shines almost every day and I am just really enjoying this phase.

We found out our next and final project:  Disaster Recovery in Vernonia, Oregon
This past December, they had 11 inches of rainfall within a 24 hour period and there was a great deal of flooding and erosion as a result.  We will be doing a variety of tasks including environmental erosion recovery, helping people get back into their homes, and education in local schools.  We will be an hour outside of Portland, the weather will be 80 and sunny, and it will be a fantastic way to finish this program (that will be June 16ish-July 20ish then we’ll go to Sactown for the last bit).  I am excited because I think Oregon is a beautiful state and I really wanted to spend more time on the West coast, but I’m not thinking much more about it.  I very much love being here and am going to soak it up as much as possible.

So that’s my life right now.  Sorry I haven’t updated in forever.  I get overwhelmed by responsibilities and somehow convinced myself that this was something I had to do, not something I wanted to do.  Whatever…crazy Meagan.

That about does it for now.  I have pictures which I’ll try and get up here one day…but if nothing else, you’ll see them when I get back (which is going to be so soon…time is flying right now).  I don’t yet know what I want to do when I finish this program…but I am thinking that I will want to spend some time living in Louisville and catching up with everyone before I worry too much about the next step…we’ll see.

 

Alright…there’s a Bay Bridge Festival to go to…I’ve got to apply some sunscreen and head out.  Miss and love all of y’all.  Hope your days are satisfying and that you are laughing a lot…I know that’s what’s keeping me going.

 

Hearts.