Top 25 Pieces of Advice for The Next AmeriCorps NCCC team in Pearlington Mississippi:
Get in the shower quickly, or the mosquito swarm will notice you
When it rains, the front yard turns into a lake
Take advantage of Beth's and Larry's kindness. They will become your saviors in no time.
Be prepared to have 2-6 dogs follow you along any run.
Las Palmas restaurant = a diamond in the rough
Complaining about the water won't change it, shower with your mouth closed*
The dock has lovely photo opportunities
Vans get stuck in mud and fresh sod
Rent free movies at the library
Watch for the sand fleas, they burrow in leg hair
Hard hats make good leak catchers
Befriend the directs.. they have cars
Bleach kills mold, FYI
Learn to love scaffolding, splinters, and no-see-ums
Week night staples include: Beth and Larry's house, Clydes on Wednesday nights, and the mocking-bird Cafe on Thursday nights
PT on the beach is absolutely worthwhile
Slidell, LA has more to offer than you might imagine
New Orleans is 40 minutes away, take advantage of that fact
Sunflower seeds are the perfect on-site snack at any time of the day
Tan lines will happen, accept them, love them
Appreciate the relatively young, strangely attractive, and amazing habitat for humanity staff
"What Would Dan Reynold's Do?" may soon become your life motto.**
Gas station pizza... give it a chance
Stephen Scott only causes harm to himself, but remain cautious
In the Americorps Olympic Games, their is only 1 winner.. and 9 losers
Green Five says goodbye to Pearlington Mississippi we will miss you!
*The water in Pearlington was totally safe and completely clean, however, it smelled of something we had all hoped to leave behind in High School science classes.. sulfur. Apparently if you drank it it would help keep the gnats away.. none of us tested that theory..
**Dan Reynolds was one of our construction supervisors in Bay St. Louis and we became his biggest fans. So much so that we made these t-shirts with his likelihood
Also pictured here from Left to Right are Tom (peeking in just barely), Ryan and Ben. In the middle next to the man himself is Stephen. They were the most fantastic staff we could have asked for, and I think we will all continue to miss them for the remainder of our year. Missing here is Chris, one of our staff members who was sick on our last day :(. If you're a fan of the Dan Reynolds t-shirts (which feature the motto "what would Dan Reynolds do?" on the back) you can purchase one online at www.cafepress.com/wwdrd. Check out the website, it's pretty hilarious!
On another note, the concert I attended last night was pretty fantastic! One of the bands that opened for Red Jumpsuit was Tickle Me Pink from Colorado and I would recommend them to anyone looking for some new music. Not only did we enjoy their music but their performance was entertaining to say the least.
On a work related note; we've been preparing sites for a string of blitz builds coming up in March. Today we staked out the perimeter of where the concrete slab will be poured. The area we're building in is called Rosewood and is land that was donated to Habitat because it was no longer able to be farmed for sugar cane. The entire subdivision is made up of Habitat homes and we'll be building on 5 empty lots. Today while eating lunch one of my team mates looked over the sites and remarked about how strange it is that in just a few months these empty patches of grass will be the site of a family's home. It was one of those moments that made me realize what we're doing here and made me really appreciate the work that my team has done and will continue to do. Although construction is tiring and we're all going to be ready for a change of pace come our next project in April, it is most certainly one of the more rewarding and visible types of work we could be doing.
Peace, love and no more sulfur water,
Walker
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