Life has been so busy lately!
Between morning PTs, long (but fun) days of physical labor, extra volunteering,
cooking dinner for 10, keeping the house clean, attending team events, or
simply just hanging out with my teammates, there is so little time for myself.
Even when I start to read or do yoga upstairs, fits of laughter grab my
attention and I have to go investigate.
So let me tell you a little bit about this
spike round so far. If you have been following you’ll know that Moose 4 is
currently working with Habitat for Humanity in Newburgh, NY. We have been here
for just about a month. Newburgh is a historical town located right on the
Hudson River overlooking beautiful “mountains” (as they call them here) …..but
pick a street, any street, and take a walk down the block. You will inevitably
wander past multiple rows of vacant decrepit buildings, a cracked-out
individual aimlessly walking around, or people shouting about this or that.
Newburgh was rated the 12th
worst city in the U.S. and, at one point, was home to the most teenage
pregnancies in America. Our third night, our van windows were smashed in and
items stolen out of Tubby (the 15 passenger van). And I’ve woken up to gunshots
down the street.
Talk about culture shock for
this white suburban girl.
Looking in from the outside,
we are in the “hood,” the ghetto, that bad part of town. But living here for a
month now, I’m starting to see this place in a totally different light. It may
sounds crazy, but I’m falling in love with this worn-down town. The sense of community
around these parts is so strong; most of the locals have embraced us with open
arms. We have befriended quite a number of characters including Rodni and
Chris, two old hippies who hang out by our favorite bar. Juanita, who is a
beaming light of joy and love; they call her the unofficial mayor of Newburgh.
Cerrone, who wakes up early to help facilitate some of our morning PTs. And the
list goes on.
As for our daily work with
Habitat, I feel like a certified handy-man! I’m learning the process of how to
build a home from the ground up. I’ve learned how to insulate the foundation of
a house, install hardwood flooring, build a fence, “correctly” paint, apply
sheathing, use big scary power tools, and my favorite…master the art of the
bobcat. The days fly by when you are zooming about the construction site in
your air-conditioned bobcat.
A week from Monday we are
starting the “Blitz Build.” This is the reason our team is here and what we
have been working so hard to prepare for. Talk about chaos, but we are building
two houses in five days! The foundation of the home is done and the porch will
be going on this week, but besides that every other aspect of these two houses
will be completed from June 4th through June 9th. There
are about 200 other volunteers and a handful of contractors to help us that
week. I’m so excited for this week. I will make sure to take lots of pictures
for you guys to see! Here are a few shots from Newburgh thus far.
Happy Memorial Day! A
special thanks and extra love to my Bumpa this weekend :)
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| A hike with some Moose 4 ladies |
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| Blitz Build site. This is what it looked like when we first started. |
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| Every Wednesday and Saturday we have Coffee Break at a local church. It is always a happy, hopeful crowd of Habitaters. |
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| Best part of my day :) |
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| Courtney tarring the foundation |
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| The "To-Do" list |
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| The back of the warehouse |
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| Some adorable Moose |
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| Layla and I on the train to NYC |
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| Our fearless leader, Casey |
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| Sunshine. |
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| Grand Central Station |
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| Bryant Park! All I could think about was Project Runway. It is a beautiful place though |
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| Lucas and "Courtnut" outside Central Park |
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| Movie night. Watching Garden State with the Crew. Also, a picture of our lovely home. |
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| Working on the fence and alley way at our Blitz Build houses |
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| Basement is ready for sheathing |
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| This is the start of the two houses we will be building in a week. Each door is the basement for house 45 and 47 Chambers St. |
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| Casey :) |
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| Front view of the houses |
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| Looking left ... |
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| and looking right down the street. |
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Have a wonderful long weekend!
- Liz
