a letter from somewhere

Yep, I'm feeling better--well enough for a day of drywalling yesterday (yay!!!) and well enough to go to Pensacola and hang out with Emily for the weekend.

Highlights so far? Seeing incredible lightening over several hours last night, getting to meet one of Emily's friends, and off-roading at Eglin AFB.

We're headed out to the beach now. I have lots of photos from yesterday (a 6 year old "stole" my camera (with permission, usually) and took LOTS of pictures...down the storm drain, of random cars, kids, some worker at another construction site, and so many of me. you likely don't want to see them all!), maybe I'll post a few later after I get my fill of sun and sand and ocean-smelling air (ahhh, how lovely :) ).

Posted by KRISTEN at 2:11 PM | 5 comments    

I'm still feeling weird today, so I'm hanging out at camp trying to get rid of this dizziness-and-yellow-icky-stuff thing. (sorry for being gross.)

It's funny how much your perspective can change in less than 2 weeks...

TEMPERATURE
-Two weeks ago, 60 felt warm, 70 felt awesome, and 80 felt hot.
-Now, 60 feels quite cold (yes, I wear a sweatshirt most evenings here), 70 is chilly, 80 feels nice, and only temperatures above 92 or so feel hot.

WAKE UP TIME
-Two weeks ago, getting up early was rising before 10. Sleeping in meant staying in bed til whenever I woke up.
-Now, getting up on time is 6:30. Sleeping in is til 7:30. Today (because of being sick) I didn't get up til 10. Oh. My. Goodness. That seems absurdly late.*

ALARM CLOCK
-Two weeks ago, my "alarm clock" was Kiwi gently (or sometimes loudly) rubbing against my door to tell me he wanted attention.
-Now, my alarm clock is my phone's "Xylophone" ring (first alarm) and then "Marimba" (a few minutes later).

MILK
-Two weeks ago, I had to kind of be forced to drink my milk at dinner. I always longed for sweet tea.
-Now, I crave milk--white, chocolate, whatever. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE sweet tea but I rarely get milk down here so when I do, it's glorious.

EVENING ACTIVITY
-Two weeks ago, I tried to watch Idol every time it was on and would usually take a walk with Mom or do something else with her or Dad or Gret.
-Now, DOMINOES!

BEDTIME
-Two weeks ago, I'd sit up in my room til whenever at night on the computer or finishing up stuff from the day. (Honestly, just over two weeks ago, I'd spend every night up til at least midnight finishing my last 8 papers of the semester. Thanks goodness that's over!) Then, I'd eventually go to sleep.
-Now, 9:30 rolls around and I'm ready to go bed. I usually don't actually go to bed then (the company of friends and our games of dominoes win nearly every time), but I strongly consider it every night. Some nights, sleepiness comes on closer to 8:30! How long ago was it that I wanted to go to bed at 8:30???!?

I'll have to keep thinking of other things. I'm sure there are more. Any times this has happened for you?

Posted by KRISTEN at 1:38 PM | 2 comments    
Labels: mississippi, summer, travel

(remember, I am in southern Mississippi, so the "boatload" title IS VERY appropriate)

To catch up on photos from the past week:

At the Mississippi River in New Orleans. It was windy and VERY sunny and therefore became very hot that day (think 95, much humidity, and being in a city)
















Almost immediately upon getting into the city, we were hungry. Good thing we found this poboy shop! I opted for fried catfish and Cassandra had fried chicken salad. This was the beginning of our "All Fried, All Day Long" day....
















On the way home, we stopped in Waveland and Bay St. Louis.
















This is one thing that always haunts me whenever I see it: steps to nothing. Makes me wonder about the family that used to climb these steps to get into their house. Where are they now? How is their life? What is their story?
















On Sunday morning between the two church services, we went to the beach. "Hey everyone, let's get a picture. This will be so fun!" And yes, it was fun. And yes, the picture did actually turn out okay! Yay for having perfected this "take-it-yourself" technique in Hawaii last summer. Guess we MUST go back to the islands so I can become a better photographer. ;)
















So then, after church and lunch we headed to Biloxi Beach. Not the prettiest water ever (picture poopy colored brown--this became our joke all day) but it sure was fun to swim for hours with two of my favorite people. But before we jumped into the Gulf, Emily of course wanted pictures.































After swimming, we found this squashed turtle on the side of the road. After crying for its too short life, what else would three 20ish girls do? Take a picture, of course. (can you guess whose toes are whose??)






















Second dead animal in half an hour: a horseshoe crab. Again, a brilliant photo op. (Special thanks to some random dude on the beach for taking the picture.) Also notable, Emily's and my "beating sticks." You know, she HAS taken land survival courses so she should know a good beating stick when she sees one!!!

















On the way home, we saw this license plate. Again, Emily is awesome and (without missing a beat) knew what this was. "It's the Spanish version of James Bond!"













The next morning, we headed out to the home of the "apostles" (all their names are from Jesus's 12) and did some caulking.





















Monday afternoon, Emily and I went to a drywall site.

















The classic evening activity:





















Tuesday morning: roofing!! I got kinda pink even though I kept reapplying SPF 30 every hour. :( But still, it was fun and I'd never been on a roof.
































By the afternoon, I was even using a nail gun and putting on shingles! So much for being afraid of power tools. Power saws and screw guns last summer, nail guns this summer. Goodness!





















Wednesday morning, Cassandra and I joined Tom, Ann, and Manny from the Lend A Hand crew to paint James and Tara's house. James used to be a Harrison Country deputy and he and Tara come over almost every night. Tara just learned how to play dominoes maybe 10 days ago now, but she's hooked :) and very good at it too!! She's awesome and I love having her come hang out. I'll really miss her when I leave. Here's me painting one of the bedrooms. (Another awesome thing about Tara is that she likes the same colors I do! Greens and browns fill her house and they're beautiful. :) )
















Here's the painting crew I got to work with both on James and Tara's house and on Miss Abby's house later in the week: top is Tom and Ann, bottom is Manny and Cassandra)





















Ann and Cassandra... the paint belongs on the WALLS!!!

















This pole is filled with signs made by everyone who has come to camp. It's pretty neat to see how so many people have come and come and come from all over.























On Tuesday night, we found out that Ella had NEVER BEEN TO CHICK-FIL-A!!!!! Can you believe it?? I mean, sure she's from Boston, but she's lived in the South for more than a year now and in Key West some time before that. And still no Chick-fil-A! But you know what's worse? I knew Ella for a week before I found out that she'd never been to CFA and decided to take her there! And then on Wednesday morning I found out that Diane had never been to CFA either!!! She's from Canada so I can understand her lack of tasting the best chikin ever a little better, but still. Oh my goodness. OF COURSE WE HAD TO GO! What a tragedy to live without some Christian chikin in your life. My life is better because of the chikin. My the health of my heart? Wellllllll......maybe not so much better. But certainly my taste buds are happier with the greatness of CFA.

So on Wednesday, Cassandra, Diane, and I met Ella in Gulfport for lunch.

















They're fans now!!!





















And then, the saddest moment of my trip so far. Cassandra had to leave. Here, she's getting ready to go through security and she looks pretty happy to be getting away from me. ummmm......























So, I think I've picked up some kind of Mississippi germs or something. I've felt fairly crummy today. I'm drinking water like crazy and am not going to put on the heat in my tent tonight even though it's gonna get cold. (Yes, I do think 60 is cold now.) Hopefully, this thing will go away quickly so I can be useful for work tomorrow. I'm thinking I'll either be drywalling or painting at James and Tara's.

I've taken more than 600 pictures so far, which means I have enough for another "boatload" later. Maybe tomorrow it will be an "oceanload." haha

Posted by KRISTEN at 10:04 PM | 3 comments    
Labels: mississippi, pictures, summer, travel

Oops, no time (or energy when I DO have time) for blogging these past few days! But now, we're all stuck in the concession stand (which is a concrete block building) because there's a big thunderstorm coming...












Ooooo, doesn't THAT look nice??!!?! ummm....

Anyway... So now that I have some unexpected time, here's what's been going on:

Sunday: church twice; going to the beach in between the services; Emily came!!!!!!!; had lunch; went to the beach at Biloxi; swam for 3 hours; searched for cheap jet skis to rent (no luck--maybe in Pensacola next weekend?); laughed way too much to be allowed; found a horseshoe crab, a pelican skull, and a squashed turtle on the beach; grabbed a quick dinner at Taco Bell; came back for orientation; showered; played cards; and finally went to bed. It was cold that night (oh, probably about 60 but it felt cold) and so we shouldn't have left the AC on in the tent. But we did, and it was SLIGHTLY reminiscent of my trip here in January.

Monday: caulked a porch in the morning, learned how to drive quickly around D'Iberville in search of some people and trying to out-race others (haha ;) ), and then Emily and I went over to a different site to hang drywall in the afternoon (Cassandra went roofing), all 3 of us went to Sonic for a snack, then came back to camp for the evening.

Tuesday: spent the day on the roof ripping off old shingles, laying tar paper, and finally nailing new shingles. I'd never done this before (actually, I hadn't ever been on a roof before!) and learned a lot. It was fun and I didn't even mind the heat, but I did get kinda sunburned even though I put on SPF 30 literally every hour.

Wednesday: spent this morning painting the deputy's house, took Cassandra to the airport in the afternoon, helped Diane with dinner, and then headed out to help install a microwave with Jody and Leroy. Cool guys who know tons about how to do everything.

Okay, the storm warning is pretty much over (until the next round comes in from TX/LA) so I'm going to bed. I have tons of pictures to post sometime. Stay tuned for those! :)

Posted by KRISTEN at 10:49 PM | 2 comments    

These t-shirts in New Orleans made me laugh.... I suppose trying to laugh about the levee failure is probably a healthy thing, though I don't think the first picture is what Don McLean had in mind for his song..... And perhaps there's some interesting political commentary in the second one?

And the last one?? Well, I dunno. I just thought it was silly. Makes me laugh every time.

Posted by KRISTEN at 11:07 PM | 2 comments    
Labels: mississippi, new orleans, pictures, summer, travel

Yesterday and this morning we worked at Mr. Gilbert's house. He has Asperger's Syndrome and has a difficult time relating to people well, especially females. So at times, working for him was very tough and uncomfortable. But he really loved having us there and we were able to paint the inside of his garage. Before the storm he'd lived right near Biloxi Bay. In Katrina, he took 6-8 feet of rushing water (moving at about 14 meters per second) through his home . He decided to rebuild several miles inland near family. He'll be able to move into his new house by July. Right now, he lives in MEMA cottage that's a lot like this one:






These are much better than the FEMA trailers, but still they're not like living in a real house. So of course Mr. Gil's excited to move in and claims that his new house will be "second to none!"

Cassandra and I've become known as "The Painting Crew" (not exactly sure why other than we're willing to do it) and therefore were assigned to another painting job after we finished at Mr. Gil's. Actually, we're a great painting team cause she likes to do the parts I don't like (painting trim) and I like the parts that she doesn't (taping and rolling walls). After a most delicious shrimp poboy at Rusty's store, we drove around a little to see the rebuilding progress. There's still a lot to be done especially along the coast at Biloxi but there are definite signs of recovery!

For instance, this apartment building in Biloxi is right on the Gulf and looked like this one year ago (May 2007):
















Today, they're rebuilding:



















Also, there's less "Katrina blue" than there was the first time that I came here. I haven't been to Bay St. Louis and Waveland yet on this trip, but we're headed there tomorrow to visit and go to an art festival. We're also hopefully going to Mayfest in Ocean Springs tomorrow evening. AND, tomorrow's the day to go to New Orleans! Busy day! Then, Emily's coming over to hang out for a couple days and I'm super excited to see her.

I always meet some really incredible people on mission trips. Emily's one--I met her on my first trip here and we've kept up over the past year and gotten to visit each other and hang out lots of times. :) Maybe it's cause people who come do these kinds of things are just neat. Anyway, a group from Boone, NC left this morning and even though I'd only gotten to know them for a couple days, it was hard to see them go. It was a group of middle-aged and retired guys and they were just fun and incredibly willing to serve. This is the group that is Ed and Irene's first response team, which means that if another storm is ever headed for this area, the Boone group will leave NC even before the storm hits so they can be here within hours after the storm blows by. Some of them have made more than 20 trips to D'Iberville in the past 2 1/2 years and know so many of the residents very well. I was sad to not get to hang out with them more.

Diane is here again, too. I met her on my first trip to D'Iberville last March. She's from Canada and she and her husband come here for months at a time. I'd gotten to know her only a little bit before, but I'm getting to talk to her so much more this trip. Last night at dinner I found out that she lived in Africa for five years and taught at a boarding school for missionary kids. One of her daughters is still serving there! Diane's also awesome at dominoes, an incredible cook, and I'm excited to get to know her more over the next few weeks, you know? ;)

Before I left home I was so excited to come on this trip but also kind of nervous at times because I knew I'd be "by myself" (no friends from home here with me) for most of the trip. But God's been so incredible. He's been very evident to me through the people here and in the peace I've felt since I've arrived. The long term folks here have just been so welcoming and wonderful. Before I left Indy I figured they'd be great, but I was still nervous about how I'd fit in or survive the loneliness I felt would surely come because I didn't have anyone from home here. But I've really felt okay about being here for the rest of the month. I will certainly miss Cassandra when she leaves and I certainly miss everyone back home, but I feel so much better about being here "alone." Another cool thing: the first morning I woke up, it really hit me that'd I'd be here for so long. But when I climbed out of my tent, there was such a beautiful sunrise. I think it was God saying to me that yes, this was His plan and that'd He'd always be here taking care of me. It was really, really awesome. Isn't He incredible?!


(Click the picture to see it bigger-aren't the rays of light amazing??)

Guess what! We found tiny kittens under a FEMA trailer at Mr. Andrews's house (our 2nd painting job) this afternoon! Aren't they cute??? Mama, can I bring one home? ;)

































So tomorrow, it's off to NOLA to get beignets, see the French Quarter, Tulane, the 9th ward, the eastern neighborhoods, and avoid Bourbon Street. Then, we'll catch the art fest on the way to Mayfest and then dominoes and/or movies with Emily back at camp. Maybe I should go to bed soon...

But before that, a few pictures:

At the fruit stand in Florida selling California-grown strawberries:

















First CFA stop of the trip!

















Cassandra at Pensacola Beach: (look, she's standing in the water in early May and not freezing!!!!!)






















Caulking at Mr. Andrews's house this afternoon:

Posted by KRISTEN at 10:40 PM | 3 comments    
Labels: mississippi, pictures, summer, travel

So we did safely make it to D'Iberville yesterday by dinnertime. We took a detour on the way to Pensacola Beach so Cassandra could see my kind of beach :) (a warm climate beach). She's in love! haha Okay, maybe it wasn't THAT awesome for her, but she did really, really like it. And I did too.

A couple of things from the past 30 hours:

1-We stopped for gas at a gas station just south of Birmingham that smelled like flowers. Much better than smelling like gas, and I just couldn't get over the fact that a gas station smelled so strongly like lovely flowers! I even made Cassandra get out of the car to take in the aroma. "Hey Cassandra, get out and smell this gas station!!!" I'm sure I sounded crazy. Gas stations usually aren't that good smelling. But I guess south Birmingham is different. (or maybe it's the fact that it's spring???)

2-Apparently, we looked pretty great driving down I-65....or at least that's what two twenty-something year old guys in a beat up dark blue pickup thought....

3-Just so you know, strawberries bought at a roadside stand in Florida aren't necessarily locally grown...Even when the sign reads "Fresh!!"

4-Chick-fil-A in Westfield is the BEST Chick-fil-A I've ever found. BEST.

5-Sara Bareilles's "Love Song" is played on every station, everywhere, all the time. (We've heard it at least 6 times in 3 days in 5 states, and we've only listened to the radio for a few hours.)

6-Rap is fun to listen to really loudly when you're sick of driving and can't find any station other than country. (And by the way, Cassandra has sweet rap moves. Ask her about them.)

7-The South still has fire ants. I'm teaching Cassandra to avoid them at all costs. ewww. I hate those things.

8-It is VERY windy on the Gulf Coast in May!! Very warm and very windy.

9-Dominos has been good. There are lots of "dominos regulars" here and so both nights we've played for a long time. :)

10-Ed and Irene are leaving for a few days next weekend and I'm going to be running the food prep and office!!

11-We painted the inside of a garage this morning, and for the record it is very hard to see where you've painted paint on a ceiling that already has primer on it and the light isn't good. You end up missing lots of spots. So yep, we'll be back there tomorrow finishing up that job and catching the areas we couldn't tell we missed.

12-Bed time now. I've taken a few (hundred) pictures so far. Hopefully I can post some tomorrow!

I'm having a great time so far and am incredibly glad Cassandra's here to experience everything with me. It's been so great to have her here to talk to, laugh with, and everything else. Yay!! :) Okay, I'm signing off so she can have some internet time too. Good night!

Posted by KRISTEN at 10:14 PM | 2 comments    
Labels: mississippi, summer, travel

We got on the road yesterday at 8, after Cassandra got to vote and I said goodbye to my family. I will miss you all!! (and already do)

It's a beautiful morning!
















This trip is full of "firsts" for Cassandra. Here is the first first:

A stop at the Bass Pro Shops!!



If I'm not allowed to enter the restrooms, how can I use them???? haha












I'd never been in the "Big Game" section. It was scary... What does she see??

















We found "cheap" gas in middle Kentucky, filled up, and headed to Nashville. I wanted to take Cassandra to this little taco place near Vanderbilt that I had been to several years ago. Fortunately, I had taken 2 campus tours and kinda knew my way around. But we parked on the other side of campus, and even though I was a little turned around, we still made it to the San Antonio Taco Co. Mmmmm, my first cup of Southern sweet tea! Cassandra did like the food (yay!) but I think she even more liked the sign that read (in really bad handwriting) "We ain't dialin' 911" and had a (fake) gun hanging from it. I know that SOUNDS weird, but believe me it was really pretty funny. So lunch was good, the tea was good, and the signage was good. The walk back to the car (which I had gotten to park next to another Prius, so of course I was happy) was good--a little round-about way of getting there--and we got to see the Vandy medical center on the way!



















Then, it was off to downtown Music City.

Welcome to country music central!!




















This is for you, Suzanne:
















I kept having to remember "This IS Nashville," especially as I heard country music blaring all across the city.... even from speakers in electrical boxes.
















She was happy!





















We walked all around to the Ryman, to Rocketown, to the Country Music Hall of Fame (still can't believe that the TWO OF US (who don't like country music) went there!), to the Gaylord Center, to the Nashborough Fort, and to the SA Taco Co. downtown.

We crossed the bridge over to where the Titans stadium is and got this neat skyline shot:
















Then, we headed back to the West End area and drove through music row. I have no aspirations at all of becoming a recording artist, but it was cool to drive through anyway! To see the buildings of all the recording companies that I've heard of was pretty sweet!

Across West End to the Centennial Park where we found some really cute geese and the Parthenon!!
















By now, it was almost evening so we headed down to Franklin to a historic site that I wanted to show Cassandra. We finally found the Carter house after missing a sign ("hmmm, no, I don't think the "Carter House" is where we want to go"), missed the right street, missed another street ("no, I don't think this looks like the right area..."), called Dad for the name of the site ("Okay, I guess the Carter House IS where we want to go!"), plugged the address into the gps in the Prius, followed her directions and missed the entrance to the parking lot, and then finally, finally made it there. The museum was closed but we still walked around a little bit and I called Dad for directions to a pizza place in Alabama while Cassandra was studious and read all the historical plaques and took pictures.
















After that it was a quick stop at Starbucks (and they need to fix their bathroom door) and then off to Alabama! There was a "huge, explosively awesome" surprise that I told her "could take her thoughts to far away places" coming up ahead. (Thanks Dad for this idea that the thing is a surprise for visitors :) ) She said I probably enjoyed taunting her with the "surprise" even though I kept giving her clues as to what it was. At the Alabama border there was a "Rest stop: 2 miles" sign and I said "ok, get ready... 2 miles til your suprise!!!" She surely hoped that this super exciting surprise wasn't a rest stop. But nope, it wasn't a rest stop, it was a........



ROCKET!!!!


















Now it's the next morning and we're off to catch some breakfast and get to Mississippi!!! yay! We should be there by at least 4 pm (central).

Lowest gas price of yesterday?? $3.35 in Columbia, Tennessee (too bad we didn't need gas then).

Signing off from Alabama!! Next stop? Camp in D'Iberville!! :)

Posted by KRISTEN at 8:40 AM | 5 comments    
Labels: mississippi, travel

I'm packing and wearing the most appropriate shirt for the occasion:



"Cajun Yard Dog"

:)

35 hours left at home....






What should I remember to not forget???

Posted by KRISTEN at 8:27 PM | 1 comments    
Labels: mississippi

I filled two of these today. Never done that before! Two! Yep, I filled two blue books writing two essays. Two hours, two essays, two blue books.

One more exam to go.

Come 10 am on Monday morning, I will be free from homework for 4 months and free to move about the country. ;)

That's lovely.

I'm about to go file away papers from this semester. I usually keep most of my notes and such in case I ever need them again (because you never know when you might need to know all about globalization of fruit in Chile, or something else like that...). Don't know where I'm going to put the more-than-a-ream-of-documents (literally) that I had to print out for Latin America. So much for saving the Amazon from deforestation!! haha

(And-I-don't-know-why-I've-been-writing-with-hypens-a-lot-recently.-hmmmmm)

It's good to be (nearly) done. I think I need to get packing soon.

Posted by KRISTEN at 5:27 PM | 0 comments