LEAH, HANNAH, RACHEL AND LIZA'S FINAL BLOG!!!!!

hey guys, we have had a super dooper time here. Today we met a lady that had an adorable doggy with her, she almost bit me... but thats okay! As we got talking to her, she told us all about how her mother's house was rebuilt by volunteers like us! She thanked us for all that we have done this past week and that she really appreciates the work that organizations like ours does. Then yesterday we met Lonnie!!! He was an amazing guy that passed by and told us that jesus loves us! He was very dehydrated and diabetic and almost passed out. So we called the ambulance and they gave him a pill for his diabetes. Once he took his pill he got up and walked away with Mr. Paulson and Mrs. Russell back to his house; right down the street. Also today we painted almost the whole first floor of the house and a picture of the sun rising with the words faith in the cloud. It was pretty amazing! We hung the sign outside so everything could see, and help brighten up the neighborhood. The sign also looked complete with the flowers we had bought and planted out front earlier in the week. There was a point where we went to this big store, called The Bayou Country General Store. This place had so much stuff! They had t-shirts and cookies called Palines. They have peacans in them! Also, even though people already talked about the swamp tour we wanted to bring it up again. It was AMAZINGG!!! The gators came right up next to us when they recognized that our boat wasn't going to hurt them. The captain put hot dogs on a stick and fed them to the gators right along side. They literally JUMPED out of the water to get them! We got some great action shots! On the third day we visited the other worksite and man was there such a difference. On our street, we could walk into it and dance around in the middle if we wanted too. But on theirs, they couldn't walk off the porch without people trying to make comments about their work. It was just such a different scene. Their street felt and looked so unsafe and unwelcoming that we were extremely happy with where we worked. For working it was all sanding and spackling and really looking at what we had to do. But we had a plan for the house so thats what we looked forward to during the week. For day one, we went to the FRENCH QUARTER!!!! This is a place in downtown New Orleans, where there are all sorts of shops and restauraunts right on the Mississippi river! At one famous place, Cafe Du Monde, we all got their world famous Beignets. They're these fried dough pieces CAKED in powder sugar. Talk about yummy! Earlier that day, we went to a church service. We called it a "hallelujah church." It was just like in the movies! There was all sorts of singing and really preaching towards god. It was just an incredible experience. They had us for lunch after, which they served gumbo and chicken! Talk about a great meal!

Well that really sums up the week. Right now we're packing up to head home tomorrow morning. This entire week has gone by so quickly ): we wish that it didn't have to end so soon! We'll miss this place and we'll always remember the times we've shared here as a group and family.