Rounding third and heading for home. . .
I'm sorry its been a day since we blogged but we had a little key fiasco - which will probably be funny in about 10 years or so. I already posted the pictures from our Honey Island Swamp Tour, but I thought you'd want to know a little more. We worked a half day and then ate lunch, showered and boarded the bus. We drove about fifty minutes away to the swamp (which was near and around Slidell). There were three boats waiting for us and our wonderful teens. Captain Melvin Cousins was one of our great captains. They all gave info about the swamp as we floated and powered along on the river, discussing the animals we saw, explaining the history and general tour guide banter. He tossed marshmallows at the alligators to get them closer to the boat. (while the teens LOVED this they could have stayed further away if you ask me!) Beyond Marshmallows, Captain Cousins placed a hot dog on a stick, so the alligator would perform acrobatics, jumping out of the water for his snack. It was fantastic! (Though I kept my eyes closed for that part (jk!)!) They are huge creatures and very fast... But we didn't loose any fingers or teens. After our tour, we went to Schaeffers Restaurant. They had lost our reservations so we had to wait for the room (the kids were so good and patient; the chaperones were very proud) After we were seated, things went a little better. The food was delicious - The teens and I tried alligator sausage (spicy!) catfish, shrimp, gumbo, Po boys, crab, clam, crawfish among other things. The portions were HUGE! Elsewhere in the restaurant, locals asked who we were, what we were doing there, and when they found out they took up a collection (without us knowing) and presented it to us to use for dinner, dessert or whatever we saw fit. The teens told me to donate it to St. Gabes Parish! Father Doug and Sister Kathleen were very touched! We got back to St. Gabes, had evening prayer and went to bed. (Well, the teens did anyways. I came here, to Loyola, to blog. Hence why you only got pictures that night!) The teens are exhausted at the end of the day. They truly are working their tails off!! On Friday we went back to our full work day (though witout Pete and his daugheter Liz who had to make it home for a fiftieth Wedding anniversery party, flying out of New Orleans about 6:40) While the adult contingent went to do some sight seeing around town, capping off with a dinner cruise. (Anna will blog about that soon.) Since all of the adults except the chaperones were gone from the end of lunch on, we had a few changes in our schedule. I got to drive everybody from site to site in the twelve person van. The Crazy Oats (or Oatmeal Rasins to some of us (thank you Buttercups)) stayed back to make dinner for the rest of us. (The kitchen crew was allowed to get out of the kithcen but just for one meal - JK) We had a picnic dinner of cheeseburgers, hot dogs and beans, complete with a wild water balloon fight in the slightly muggy evening air. It was a lot of fun to watch the kids winging cold water at each other in a mad dash to knock out the other team. A few finally decided to ignore the rules, cross the center line (despite being disqualified) with a bucket of water and go in for the kill. Smart kids! Club time went well and you could see the teens becoming one unit instead of three individual parishes. God is Great! Finally, it was Saturday, our very last work day. Everyone was exahuasted but willing to do anything it took to get the houses done before the end of the day. The heat that had been unbearable at the beginning of the week cooled off a little as the days went by. So today was hot, but not boiling our water. (Of course by cooled off I do mean the lower 90's) The teens really brought it today! Knocking down walls, sweeping up blown insulation, cranking nails out of studs, hard work in the New Orleans weather. We knocked off around 3:30 and came back to shower and prepare for mass. We were all excited to join Father Doug and Sister Kathleen, as well as the parishinors whose homes we worked on for mass tonight. The music was great, performed by Eric the parish pianist. (He even stayed a little later that evening to rock out with the kids who gathered around him to sing songs while he played) He asked people to join his choir for mass, and our teens sounded great! It was so touching to see all of the parishes together in celebration here so many miles from home. The homily was wonderful, Father did an interactive question and answer session where he asked for our thoughts about the weeks experiences. He followed that by asking what we would take home from this mission trip to Cincinnati. Finally he allowed his parishioners to share their personal comments and feelings on the week, and let me tell you the praise for our teens flowed like water over a dam. The comments made were about how greatful they were for us to be down here, and tears flowed, on both sides. We have truly made some great new friends over this week. After communion, Father Doug presented all of us with prayer cards and all three parishes (St. Michaels, Sacred Heart, and St. Columban) with a statue of St. Gabriel to take home with us. Jim and Sally presented Father with a statue of St. Michael, Anna gave them fundraising money (over $14, 000!!) and I got to give the parishoners whose homes we had worked on, a card with a Lowes Gift Card in it. (Insert more tears here) After mass, we got to enjoy a pot luck dinner with the parishioners and their families. (My cousin Judy, who lives in Baton Rouge, came down with four dozen brownies to share at lunch! It was so great to see her. . .and the brownies were awesome too!) For our potluck contribution, we provided the age old Cincinatie standby Skyline Chili. Following dinner, the teens were served ice cream by their adult chaperones, much cleaner than anticipated. Finally, we ended it with clean up, Club time, a beautiful commissioning service led by Christine, and off to bed! I left with Aaron to come blog, but the adult chaperones will probably have their hands full getting them to go to sleep. They were wound up with it being their last night and all! (Thanks Christine, Nancy, Marianne, Andrew, Chip, & Chuck!) We leave bright and early tomorrow morning, so I'm going to go for now. Keep checking the blog though, we have more to come! (The adult contingent will tell you more about the 9th ward, and we'll let you know about the bus ride home!) Please pray for our safe return! God's blessings on your day!