Mike's graduation was great. I got to see my family and friends, briefly. I beat Walker in poker at Eric and Spina's place. Shawn's gotten great at pool. He nearly ran the table on me a few times. I do believe he won most of the games too. I had lunch with my dad, hung out with Joe D., watched the UFC3 season finale. Good times.

On my way back home my flight was canceled. The airline put me in a hotel in Charolette, NC and scheduled me for the next available flight. Monday! I missed a day at work.

Today started off horribly. I got a call on my cell from one of the guys from work. "Dwayne, where are you, it's 20 after 7?" I had to be at work by 7am. So I drove to the worksite and took a few wrong turns. The guy I was working with wasn't too happy. Then I worked my butt off. We had to clear a path to see the next position for the theodolite. I chopped my butt off, figuratively. I got so tired and dehydrated all of a sudden. I nearly passed out a few times. I couldn't walk without staggering. And when we stopped for somereason I had to lay down because I could barely stand. Then something weird happened. My face started tingling. My lips and my nose and my forehead. It was so strange I told my co-worker. He said it was a symptom of heat stroke, same for the lack of energy. Maybe it was those berries I ate.

The missionary team to India is leaving tomorrow. I will miss all of them. I will not see some of them anymore, b/c a few are going away after the mission trip is over. I had dinner with them last night. It made me sad to have to say goodbye. I wanted to get to know them alot more than I had. But Mark is right, I would not have met some of them if it weren't for the missions trip. They came to Atlanta for training. And now training is over and they are leaving.

So yeah, things are great now that I'm back in Atlanta. At least I beat Walker at poker.

I've been experiencing alot of different foods lately. Since I've been going to JCA and fellowshipping with them I've tried Greek, Korean, and Indian food. They like to dine-out alot. It's fun to try new foods. And for the most part I liked them all. My favorite would have to be Korean BBQ.

I had the day off from work (again) and I joined the JCA Missions Team for training. They are leaving for India at the end of June. I joined them to prepare for New Orleans/Mississippi. We prayed for awhile. Then they usually go running (about 3 miles) and do other exercises. But instead we blessed a couple of the church members by cleaning their apartments for them (it was a suprise). After that we went to a vegeterian indian restaurant. My guess is that they are getting aquainted with indian food now so it won't be such a suprise later.

Yesturday I joined JCA for prayer. They have prayer meetings every Thursday. I've been going for a few weeks now. Someone asked me if there was a difference between my first time praying with them and last night. Ironically, I noticed I was opening up more in prayer. The first time I was quietly praying and not sure how to talk to God (it had been awhile). But last night I felt compelled to press into God's presence. It was easier to pray and praise.

Tonight we are having an arts and crafts night. People are coming over my apartment for Sloppy Joe's and games before we get artsy.

Last Saturday we went white water rafting. We had to wear helmets. I've never had to do that before. We went over some class-4 rapids and alot of class-3's. It was great. Our guide was fun. We did really well and no one fell in. Our guide decided to tip the raft and most of us fell in on the last rapid. There was one rapid called Butt-Crack-Rock. The rock there is shaped round like a butt sticking out of the water and has a huge split down the center that makes it look very much like a butt-crack. Our guide said that last summer a log got wedged into Butt-Crack Rock.

So yeah, I've been hanging out with JCA alot lately. I'm getting everything there. Church services, fellowship, prayer meetings, praise and worship services, missions training, exposure to numerous cultures. I like it there. I hope I find a good church in Mississippi. TCC and JCA proved to me that going to church is key in maintaining a healthy Christian lifestyle.

Good news! I'm coming to Albany for a few weeks in August. I plan on being there August 12th. I told my boss about going home for a few weeks and he said it was fine. But he put me down for August 15th as my last day. I hope to change that so I can chill with Walker a few times before he gets married.

My Trip to New Orl....Mississippi

The trip to the New Orleans area was good. We didn't actually go to New Orleans though. I guess it just shows how one area gets all the attention and the other areas get bypassed. We spend most of our time in Boluxi, Miss. and Gulfport, Miss.. There were many many areas completely destroyed by Katrina that never got noticed. This is one reason why recovering is so hard for them. Who's going to send you help if they don't know your in need? The day I arrived we set up camp in our pods, which weren't that bad. Then we just waitied for everyone else to arrive. I was one of the first three to arrive. I did get to help put the food away, set up tables, try fixing the AC on the pods.

Monday we visited the volunteer villages where we might stay and work, depending on what job we select. There are several sites set up where 100-150 volunteers can stay at one time. Some of the villages are located on-site where the work is done. Some others are located close enough for a quick drive in a car.

We drove along the Gulf of Mexico itself and got to see how vast the affected area is. The whole Mississippi coast was hit, along with Louisiana. Someone mentioned over 100 miles of coastline in Miss. alone were completely obliterated. Any time we drove anywhere there was destruction. Even when we drove miles inland, we still saw more destruction. Ok, maybe you're like, "Enough with all this Katrina talk already. It's been almost a year now. Things are getting better." Well, after seeing the vastness or it all. I realize that even though this is now the largest volunteer effort ever to occur in the history of the U.S., it's still going to take a decade or two to finish the work. I just can't get over it.

Anyway, the next day they presented the needs they had for specific tasks that needed to be completed. Most of their volunteers stayed for a couple months at the most and there was a constant change of leadership. There was alot of time lost in training new people every so often to complete the same job that had not been finished yet. So we were there to interview for a job that we will hold for at least a year. That way we can make some headway and get into a good flow of work. It sucks to have to change from person to person and have to constantly adjust to different leadership. This way we hope to set up a routine/schedule that new leaders can follow. Hopefully it will allow for continuity and improved productivity.

As I listened to the different jobs available and the skills they required I realized that they weren't what I expected. I thought I would be doing more physical labor and hands-on work. But what's needed are leadership positions. They have plenty of volunteers flowing in and people to do the work. What they needed was people to organize the resources and workers and get things flowing smoothly. At first I resisted too. I even got defensive in writing my initial responce (They asked us to respond to their discussions with us on flash cards). But I realized that God wanted me to be available to anything. Whatever need they had I was there to fill it. And when it came time for the actual interviewing to determine my abilities and qualities and match them with a specific job, that's what I told them. I am available to do whatever they ask.

They told me they thought I would do well as a Work Site Assignment Manager. I accepted the position immediately. (I'll explain the job more later. I got to get to a prayer meeting.)

These are only a few pictures I took. But the affect of Katrina is obvious. Alot of debris has been removed but some places are still untouched and most are empty shells still waiting to be rebuilt. The big building is a church that's right on the Gulf of Mexico. You can see the other buildings straight through it. The red stairs used to lead to a church too. We saw alot of concrete steps that lead to nothing or columns that used to have buildings on them. That boat used to be in the river way behind it. And walmart is just a mart and no walls.

The temporary volunteers stay from 1 week up to several weeks. They stay in the pods. Which are arranged in what are called volunteer villages. They have sinks, showers, kitchens, porter potties. They remind me of M*A*S*H* The volunteers come from all over. This village set up a pole to show where people were from, how far they came, and even points toward home.

We visited several areas within Boluxi, Miss. These are from Pennington or Pendleton (iI can't remember). The water in this town was deep. I took a picture that shows the water line on the back of a backboard in their school gym. The school can no longer be used because it is now within the flood plian, because it flooded and is now deemed unsafe. Schools are required to be built outside flood limits because the are used for emergancy shelters. This one was under 9ft of water. They converted the gym into a food pantry. Military meals, water donated by Budwiser (which I heard tastes horrible), and anything else can had been donated is distributed here to the town. They have to ration toilet paper here to 2 rolls per family per week because they don't have enough for the whole town.

Here's some photos of the pods we stayed in. They were actually not that bad. In fact, they had air conditioning, and we were usually too cold. The only building is part of a church, where the pods were next to. I couldn't fit all of it in the shot.

Jocks and Jills (sports bar) moved their free holdem tourney to Wednesdays. That's ok, I guess. The other place I play is on Wed. too. I just have to pick one. Well, I went to Jocks and Jills. Because of the new day there were way less people, 11. No prob, the #'s will pick up. It lasted until 11:00pm. Started at 7:30 like normal. I got 2nd. Despite me best finish yet I'm upset that I didn't win. I played great for awhile. But I started playing sloppy. I think this guy got pissed and kept raising because I called his outrageous bluff.

So, I picked up a pair of aces on the flop. I played it safe and we checked to the river. There were three connecting cards for a straight chance for someone. I only had my aces. After the river he bet 15,000. A huge bet considering we checked the whole time. I thought about the straight chance but the way he checked made me think it was a bluff. I've played this guy before and he'll bet as soon as he can. If he had caught that straight he would have bet already. So I called, beat his high-card, and took over as chip leader. But I kept loosing hands after that. His constant raises and my bad hands got me down to 30,000. I went all-in with A-10 non-suited. He asked how much I had looked me over. And he then called. He had K-K. His hand came up alot all night. It was usually on an all-in too. And it kept getting beat. Until I played his K-K. All low-mid cards. Oh well. I got a $25 gift-card. And more points towards the big tourney. In the past five times I've played in a tourney I placed (in this order) 3rd, 4th, 7th, out within 15 minutes, and 2nd. I know if I cleaned up my game I could get 1st, alot.

I don't have to work for a week. My boss gave us today off (unpaid). I also will leave on Sunday for Mississippi. It's part of the training for New Orleans. The flight is paid for. I just printed an email explaining what to bring, sleeping arrangements, what will go on, etc... I feel like typing out parts of it for you, so you can have an idea what I'm in for. The email reads partially as follows:

"First, when you arrive in the airport, please pick up your bags and stay in the baggage claim area. Someone from the leadership team will meet you there." (BTW, I don't know these people yet. I'm going to be meeting a person I've never seen, at an airport and place I've never been.)

"Our living arrangements will be in Pods, which are corrogated plastic tents. (I couldn't help but laugh as I first read that.) They are somewhat climate controlled and we will have cots to sleep on. However, please be prepared for very warm conditions, including inside the Pods." (Translated, we sleep in plastic ovens...I mean "Pods".)

"...will be provided with a detailed schedule...arrive in Gulfport.Sunday evening...mostly for settling in. Monday...tour of the area and informational sessions. Tuesday...include interview and service activity. This service activity...physical work...outside...humid." (I hope people assumed they'd be doing physical labor. This is disaster relief work. Come on! I'm not as stupid as I look.)

I read that just before I started this blog. I don't know what to think about the "Pods". And duh, I'm expecting physical activity. I'm thinking I'm not the only one flying down there from Atlanta. So hopefully someone with me will know the person I'm meeting. But who knows, I may alone. There was a list of things to bring. Man, it makes you feel like your in youth group again.

Things to bring (not the actual list):
Clothes
Underwear
Deoterant
Durable shoes/boots ( There will be "phy-sci-cal act-iv-ity".)