You know that feeling when. you don’t want to wake up but responsibility and having to adult takes over? Well that’s how most of my morning went even with the delicious breakfast set up for us. I really didn’t have much motivation as we pulled up to the project site and dragged ourselves into the house but somehow, in the midst of the music provided by adri and “the white girl” (zack) as well as the constant drilling noise coming from the other room where Seiver was handling the drill like it was her trade, I found the energy to play in mud lol. Well technically not playing; it’s called mudding. From discussing last night’s “catch phrase” connections to talking about our lives before college, the house was bustling with energy and noise. And I have to admit winning the water fight between Adriana and myself was very satisfactory, we are lunch on the side of the road enjoying the beautiful day New Orleans offered us and discussed minorities as compared to armpits( I swear our conversations could not get weirder). by the end of the project day, we felt both accomplished with what small role we played in helping the people of the city but also sorrow from having to say good bye to one of our supervisors, Jay aka Jason aka Jay-Z??
I really didn’t feel like it when I suggested it but doing Shaun T’s ainsanity fast and furious out in the grass with Zack,Kofi and Steve felt amazing and added another item to our list of accomplishments of the week. After we had showered, all of us headed out to the French Market and what a gorgeous place it is. What surprised me the most was how similar it was to what I experienced markets to be in Pakistan not only the ambience but also the objects being sold (some things were even from Pakistan). We toured through Bourban Street like the touriss we were trying not to be but it was a unique experience of having bead necklaces being thrown at us by the residents from above.
The most important day for all of us though was the reflections led by Charlotte and Hannah. Filled with laughter and embarrassment (sorry Kofi and yari) as well as a nice conversation about what were trying to accomplish here as well as the hurdles people all over the world face with oppression, inequality and gentrification. It ended with us being much closer that we were and developed a stronger bond which i hope continues to grow.
Highlight of the night though: Jasmine thinks Tim was sent from Russia as a spy. I’ll post future updates as we discover Tim’s identity.