First two days!!

Hello! This is our first blog post from NEW ORLEANS!! We just arrived this afternoon, after seventeen hours on the road!

Yesterday, we left campus around 9:45 am from Stamp and began our drive to Knoxville, Tennessee. After a few pit stops at random gas stations—one of which had jarred pigs’ feet (yum)—we made it to Concord United Methodist Church. We were amazed at how nice and welcoming everyone was to us in the south. Jane, our greeter at the church, offered us four tickets to the University of Tennessee vs. Ole Miss game, which we distributed by picking names from a hat. Courtney speedily drove Sarah, Ashley and Matt in the van and we all had a great time even though the Vols lost. 

While the other members of our group were away at the basketball game, Terrence, Lea, Leo, Jen, Tom, Kenneth, Anna, Veronique and Michiko had a very in-depth conversation about the little things in life.  This included discussions about llamas vs. alpacas, favorite TV show, movies, and—interestingly enough—Chinese child-birthing policies.  A few games of Bananagrams were played. We also ended the night by briefing the layout of our nightly reflections for the week. Everyone had a nice night’s sleep on the soft and cushioned linoleum tile floors!! (not)

Then, today before the sun came up, we were up!  We left the church in Knoxville and began our 9-hour-long ride the rest of the way to NOLA!  We had a nutritious breakfast of pre-packaged muffins and donuts from ANOTHER random gas station (yummier). We passed through Georgia, Alabama and then Mississippi before reaching Louisiana.  Halfway through Mississippi, we ran into massive storms.  We noticed how easily the roads in this part of the country flood since much of the area is incredibly flat, and we saw many car accidents along the way.  We saw a swamp. Terrence recorded unnecessary amounts of insignificant footage that will hopefully lead to a wonderful momento of our trip!

Finally, we reached our destination: a nice little pair of houses that make up the Common Ground Organization. All of the houses in this neighborhood seem to be built recently. They are really fun colors and have solar panels on the roofs. Our house is pink and there are two chickens in the backyard. Sometimes they follow us around. There is also a dog and a cat that live in the other house.   Again, everyone we’ve encountered has been really nice.  After we were settled, we began playing Bananagrams again and then Pictionary, telephone style.  Apparently, Terrence is a scientologist and Leo enjoys bathing on a beach, possibly naked.  Soon after the dinner that we cooked ourselves, the power cut off briefly.  We attempted to tell ghost stories, but the power returned before we could.  Lastly, we all convened for our first reflection.  Everyone shared their “highs” and “lows” of the day and what we noticed about the area driving into NOLA. It really got us thinking about what we’re here for. We are all excited for our first day of work tomorrow, removing invasive species from the Audobon Sanctuary.

Till tomorrow, this is Sarah and Terrence!

PS: We have to think of a group name…