So uh..really great day at OSBG! by Hannah

This morning there was mist and fog everywhere. Usually there is, and it goes away fast, but today it hung around for a long time. We were going to Our School at Blair Grocery, which is located in the middle of the Lower Ninth Ward. When you drive into the Lower Ninth Ward, you have to go over the Industrial Canal Bridge..There was so much fog that you couldn't see ANYTHING. We were driving over this empty, white nothingness. And as we drove into the Lower Ninth, houses started to sort of rise out of this mist. Now, these were houses that had been totally destroyed in Katrina, windows were boarded up, roofs were falling in, weeds growing in yards...they were really a mess. I've seen them all before, we've been through the Lower Ninth; but there was something very different about seeing them this morning..the mist made them look like ghost houses.. it was very symbolic.. and sad to see...

Anyway, today was the best day I've had so far.. I absolutely loved Blair Grocery. I loved that there was a total lack of total structure - I mean, they have a wonderful mission, and great volunteers, and a lot gets done, but the place seems to run in well-organized chaos. Our small group of 7 ended up digging a trench all day around the parameter of what will soon be a hoop house (greenhouse). It was especially hard because the dirt was packed really tightly (it's pretty much clay) from all the flooding, I presume, but we just worked and worked, jumping on shovels and using sledgehammers and pickaxes (and yes, I had my knee brace on) and we finished the trench, which felt really great. I had a lot of fun working on it. At one point, they brought in new green waste from wal-mart, which was pretty much produce they had thrown out, and we ended up eating oranges and grapefruits out of the dumpsters/compost pile.. (Which sounds disgusting, but was actually delicious.) (Equally delicious was our lunch, which came from a little taco cart a few blocks over. Best tacos ever.)

While we were working, we couldn't help noticing all the little kids playing in the area. Some even came over and helped us or talked with us. What was really crazy to me was their age - there were kids under 6 years old living in this totally devastated area of New Orleans. And since they were so young, this is all they really know. I'm sure none of them can really remember what things were like before Katrina..which is really sad. There were boys playing on the roof of a collapsing house (which we learned belongs to a cop), and playing hide and go seek in an abandoned house..and there was really nothing we could do about it....It was very upsetting to see. I'm glad that Blair Grocery is there to provide support for the community...

Anyway, I had a really great day and I can't wait to go back to OSBG tomorrow.

-Hannah