Things I’ve Learned This Week

I showed up at orientation Monday morning. They asked me, “what construction skills do you have?” I admitted, “I can hang pictures.” (I didn’t tell them that it usually takes me all day because I obsess over “1 inch up or down”…) I also told them that, “I’m pretty good at PowerPoint should you need a presentation of the week’s obstacles, findings, outcomes and next steps…”

And I was assigned to sand. Turns out sanding doesn’t require much skill.

So after 5 days working with the St Bernard Project and living at Camp Hope I’ve learned a lot. Let me share:

1. Mudding is hard. And not a task for a perfectionist. I could spend hours obsessively mudding as I attempt to get a corner even. Literally hours. My site supervisor finally took the mudding knife from me Wed night and made me leave. It was traumatic.
2. Mudding is not a substitute for rebuilding a wall. If you aren’t careful, you’ll soon find yourself (myself) mudding an entire 3 foot by 3 foot area in an attempt to get the wall smooth. I am told, however, that this is not a construction “best practice”.
3. Regarding mudding, if you mud too much, then you have to sand (a lot) to get it smooth.
4. Sanding is hard. Really hard, if you have to do it for eight hours. And if you sand too much…you have to mud again. (Reference #1, 2 and 3.)
5. Sanding and mudding are rather circular. By Friday I learned to shut my eyes and walk away.
6. I’d rather be dirty than take cold showers.
7. There is a statue of limitations on being dirty when doing construction. After 2 days, I could no longer be dirty. I had to shower.
8. If faced with the necessary trauma of a cold shower, you can shower yourself in parts. First your hair. Then your arm. Then the other arm. Then a leg… All while standing outside the shower.
9. While we are on the subject of showers, I’ve learned that some deeply subconscious part of me must feel like I am in a developing country because I find myself pursing my lips tightly while showering (the few times I’ve fully submersed myself) – as if the water is full of dangerous contaminants, like Malawi or Ethiopia. This may or many not have been reinforced when I found out that post-Katrina the water was contaminated with sewage, disturbed cemeteries and an oil spill. [Yes, Garrett, an appropriate observation: Camp Hope is remarkably similar to a prison minus the license plates.]
10. I have about a 10 minute period of time in which I can appreciate either the (a) NOLA classic rock station and/or (b) NOLA hip hop station. After that point, I have to begin practicing the art of "active ignoring" in order to preserve my sanity. This can be difficult when either of these stations are the stations of choice for an entire afternoon/morning.
11. I cannot do the “skanky leg” but I do appreciate it. My site supervisor, who is an incredibly bright, articulate, endearing supervisor at the ripe old age of 18.75 (what was I doing at 18.75 years of age?!), demonstrated:
    
    
    When I leave, I can only hope to shake even half a leg as well as she does.