Welp, I guess I'll type up some stuff about New Orleans while I have the chance, huh?

This time I wrote everything down in a journal, so I won't forget anything (well, I may omit some things I wrote in there, but only because it's public...la la la.)

March 11th--
The ten of us left around 3:30 and stopped for dinner at Brent's house in Harrisburg, PA. and we started to watch the start of the Georgetown v. SU basketball game. It was exciting stuff, except we were losing!! But while we were in the car (and listening on the radio, of course) GMAC pulled it off in the last couple seconds and then we were going to the Big East Championship against Pittsburgh. It was exciting. We spent the night in Virginia at an old St. Thomas More Board of Director's house named Mark. He was very nice.

March 12th--
We couldn't get the SU champsionship game in Mississippi, but we stopped near the pickled pig lips stop which is really sketchy and makes me dislike Mississippi. For the last leg we were calling friends and relatives for Big East scores and just as we were pulling into the city--there was so much major damage--but it was dark and the game was close. SU became the Big East Champions as we passed the SuperDome. The emotions were crazy. We pulled into Cresent House around 10:30 and played Mafia until bed. It really felt like we had just been there. We woke up early the next morning and had breakfast and orientation with the 10 kids from Wisconsin who were staying there as well.

We had to say something positive about the people we just met because Sandra wanted us to be positive in the mist of all the negativity we were about to encounter. Then Laura took us on a tour of the devestation. Chris and I were with Father Tim in Laura's car. It was supposed to be a silent tour, but we were so happy to see our old digs we ended up discussing the progress. It was a whirlwind tour around Midcity, Lakeview, and the 9th Ward. When we got to the 9th right near the break, we got out and walked around. I was okay up until that point because I knew what to expect but once we were around that 17th Canal St. Levee break...it was so bad. Six months later and it's still so bad. And they're still finding bodies.

Sunday about 2:30 p.m., a group of students, who were volunteering their spring break to help clean debris from homes, noticed what looked like human remains in a pile of debris where a house once stood in the 2400 block of Tupelo, Glynn said.

yikes. That wasn't us...but it could have been. We were right there. OH, I don't know what I would have done.

And so many people are still missing all over the country and around there. Laura was saying how there's a morgue 2 hours north where a lot of bodies are unidentified and a lady who we'd lady learn to know and love (Lori)'s father was just identified. It's so sad. There were so many volunteer vans around. That's great. I was really worried that we wouldn't be working as hard as last time because, for instance, we didn't work on the first day and the Wisconsin kids had three days off, which is all fun and good, but we were there to work, so that worried me.

We had a little Mass and then lunch, and then we went to see Billy Graham talk?? Which I'll talk about in a second.

I was just reading an article about how graves had been shook up and bodies sent everywhere and a guy who's trying to get this cemetary back together and he said this, and I really like it.

In New Orleans, Mardi Gras resumes today after a three-day break. Mr Mudge is as interested in joining in as he was in accepting an invitation to have dinner with President Bush when he visited his parish in October. “The White House said, ‘Are you coming?’ and I said, ‘Look, I’ve got a coffin on the back of my truck, I’ve got two urns of ashes on my back seat and I’m just going to pick up two more. Tell the President we had a hurricane here — and we’re still treading water.”

I feel like the government has no idea what's going on. This trip we got to meet and talk with a lot of the people down there, which was different, but a very fulfilling experience, and all of them talked about the government letting them down. FEMA denying them money. No one giving them help. It's ridiculous.

Yeah more later.

Ok, I have to give a Witness Talk tomorrow morning, and the theme is "How I experienced God in my Life" so I'm going to try to write about it here and then we'll see where that takes us, okay?

I believe that God is visable and presents Himself to people in every day situations in every person you come across, it's just more visable sometimes and in some people then in others. There are some people whose lives are dedicated to God, and His love shines right through them through interactions and their actions.

Growing up, I was always Daddy's little girl. My father was my hero, and he meant the world to me. I went through a lot my senior year of high school, but my daddy was there through all of it. He would always tell me that God loved me and that everything would be okay because of it. I was so lucky that my father would always tell me how much he loved me and how proud of me he is. He told me every day, and I really knew and believed it. I believe God would speak through my father and comforted me. Ten days after my 18th birthday, my father passed away suddenly. The last thing he told me was to "pray". My father wasn't perfect, but I'm positive that he's in Heaven right now and looking down on me. I was so Blessed to have such a wonderful man as my father, and sometimes I think things and I think it must be my father--whether it's telling me to sing louder in church (he would always yell at me for singing too quietly, because he wanted to hear my voice) or even when I see the Buffalo Bills win a football game and my first instinct is to call him and tell him.

Losing my dad was really hard on me, but I never lost my faith. I work really hard to make him proud, and I do everything I can so that someday I can see him again.

My brother was taking a nap the entire evening that my father suddenly had to go to the hospital. We woke him up and rushed to the hospital, but it was too late. He didn't get to say goodbye. My brother isn't as...spiritual...as I am, and I think it really hurt him that he didn't get to say goodbye. There were two things that my father used to wear everyday--his wedding band, which always comforts me when I feel sad--and his watch. The watch stopped when he entered the hospital, but my brother wore it to the funeral anyway. My brother and a few of my cousins were the pallbearers at the well attended ceremony that happened to be on what would have been my father's 56th birthday. When it ended, the watch my brother was wearing started working again, and what's more, told the right time. I thank God every day for that, because I think it's the only thing that could have restored my brothers spirit. My little brother loved my father as much as I did, and I think he now understands that even if my father isn't living in our house anymore, he's always with him. My brother has since grown in his faith, and I proudly stood up for him as his Confirmation Sponsor last October.

Last week I returned from New Orleans for the second time, and when I was there, I met some of the most amazing people. One of these women, Lori, (who I know was already mentioned at Mass last week, but she's just so amazing, I wanted to mention her again!) really inspired me. The light of God really shone through Lori, even though she's had the hardest time of anyone I've ever met. Her entire house and all of her belongings were ruined in the flooding, and worst of all, her father drowned when his boat headed towards the SuperDome (which you can see from his house)overturned--and his body was only identified two weeks before we saw her. He was only 60...only 3 years older than my father would have been. And yet when you saw her, you'd never imagine how hard a time she was having. She spent all her time doing things for others--making sure we were comfortable, well fed, and happy. We cleared her backyard of debris and painted her dad's house, which she had moved into. She had hired a man to paint her house before us, but he had taken $4000 from her, and not done anything. I was shocked and her only response was "It's not for me to judge him--he will be judged". I was amazed by her faith. She said she could technically take him to court, but she "doesn't have any fight left in her". Her faith, and the faith of all the people I've met in New Orleans in the midst of all that devestation and destruction really give me hope.

And I believe that hope, especially the hope you find in other people when they're at their worst moments--Lori's kindness in the midst of all her troubles. My fathers last words of faith, rather than pain...that's when God shines through.

I'm so fortunate to have the people and opportunities in my life that I have, and I thank God every day for them, and for the experiences in Him I share.

Thank you.

So today we're leaving for New Orleans.
I'm pretty excited. My throat hurts, I'm alittle sick, but this is going to be good.

There are only 10 of us going now- Patrick, Father Tim, Greg, Paul, Ken, Diana, this kid Mike, Brent, Chris & me. John got sick and Zack has papers to write. I am about $18 short (after all those extra shifts!) but my mom will spot me until Wednesday when I get another pay check.

I really hope my DIPA application gets done. I really hope I can go to France in the fall. Really badly. Everything's in but Madames letters...

Midterms are over, and it's spring break. So that's a nice feeling. I'm so relieved.

Plus, SU beat #1 ranked Conneticut in the Big East Tournament. It was beautiful. I was really excited. We're playing Georgetown today, and that sucks, but come on for awhile we were SLAUGHTERING UCONN for quite awhile. Sweet.

I'm psyched up for New Orleans. Whoo!

We're spending tonight in Virginia then arriving tomorrow. I don't know what we're doing all week, but we're leaving next Friday, spending Friday night (St. Patty's Day!) in Virginia again and we'll be back next Saturday. Whoo!

I'll write more then :)