We made it!

We pulled into New Orleans a bit early, around 3pm. Everyone got settled in various housing locations then we all met up at St. Maurice's Parish for dinner and a final briefing before people start their job placements tomorrow.

The rest of the bus ride was tough, but we managed to stay in good spirits. Breakfast split us up between Waffle House and Cracker Barrell. We got our new bus driver, T-Bone, at 4:30 am and quickly discovered that it was his birthday, so we got him a little present and card at Cracker Barrell.

We drove into New Orleans from the east, so we were able to see some of the areas hit by Katrina. Many huge apartment complexes were destroyed and deserted. As we looked down the streets of neighborhoods you could see gutted houses with trailers parked outside. It seems as though many people are living in trailers in the driveways of their homes. It was a somber arrival to NOLA, which reminded us of why we came.

Half of our group is staying at St. Maurice's Parish, which is located in the Lower 9th Ward. It is amazing to be living right in the middle of the area that was hardest hit. The whole neighborhood is eerily quiet and empty. A few of the residents came to say hello and seemed interested in what was going on and happy to see us (imagine a crew of HUSL students arriving in a deserted neighborhood).

After dinner most people went out to discover a bit of the French Quarter. I came back to the hotel early to finally sleep.

I'm going to add a few pics of us loading up the bus. Tomorrow we all scatter to various worksites. I will try to get other people to report on their experiences.