Tuesday July 14th, 2009
I woke up to the sound of crickets that made their way into the sleeping quarters. We quickly ate breakfast and slapped on some SPF 70 sunscreen. A few miles down at Alvar Street and Prier Street, we met with other volunteers of Habitat for Humanity. The area was known as Musician’s Village because, well, 80 percent of the residents are musicians. The housing units were designed to be lifted in case shallow flooding occurred. In the event of a hurricane, the walls withstand 225 mile per hour winds; greater than most category 5 hurricanes. Our task for the day was simple, hammer down a few nails into two by fours to construct the walls of housing. Easy enough.
The initial task seemed easy, but the task quickly compounded in difficulty. First, we laid lumber on the ground, checked for warping, and hammered nails in. Add in 92 degree weather and 80% humidity, and bending over at the hip to a 90 degree angle and quickly standing up. Blood rushed out of my head with that motion. After three hours, I became dizzy, my lips were numb, and my body was on fire. Despite the fact that I was drinking loads of water (I drank over 4 liters that day), my body was suffering from heat exhaustion. I took a break in the shade and enjoyed the view of the construction site.
The three of us were paired up with two other volunteers: Jack and Janet. Jack was a New Orleans resident, who during his break before senior year in high school, decided to help Habitat for Humanity for a month. I wish I had that kind of stamina in this heat. A week’s all I can handle! Janet was originally from New Orleans and moved to Colorado where she works as a manager at an engineering company (I think). She had been on a sabbatical where she’d volunteer while on vacation from work. We spent the most time chatting with them and learning more intimately about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina.
As the afternoon rolled around, Marilou, Jake, and I had been exhausted from the day. We had two hours before Pastor Rustin’s family served dinner at their house. During that time, Jake slept, Marilou read, and I decided to run for three miles. Clouds covered the sky but the humidity remained. I paced slow just in case, but after a mile, everything felt surreal. My heart rate jumped and forced me to walk halfway through. I returned to the Church covered in sweat, dizzy, and stumbled indoors. I completed over 50 races throughout my life, but on that day my body felt peculiar. It was hot to the touch as if I had a fever. This would be normal if it subsided, but it stayed like that for the remainder of the day. Scary.
Tonight, we ate spaghetti at the Pastor’s house. Not exactly the southern food I was looking for, but it was great to have a warm, home cooked meal. After dinner, we were still tired and slept the night away. A well deserved rest.
http://www.patrickontherun.com
Tags: Charity, Habitat for Humanity, Musician's Village, New Orleans, Road Trip, Running, Travel, Volunteering