BUGS

Today was the most interesting day yet in Louisiana. We packed in the van and drove an hour and 20 minute to where Louisiana borders Texas. The house we were working on was the last house in the area with electricity. Anything beyond the house was swamp (with gators!). We pulled up to the house and it basically looked like a junk yard with a tiny bungalow in the middle. The woman are helping is Maryanne. She is 82 and lives alone. She has guns (“for the pill head boys who hop her fence”). She had tin surrounding her whole property which is probably an acre. She spoke in a Creole accent and yelled instead of speaking normally. The tin said told us was there in case a fire came, it would protect her house. I cannot express how much junk was in her yard. She said she didn’t want to get rid of it because it was the only memories she had of her dead husband who she had buried in the front yard 5 years earlier. Is this not illegal? Oh and she had 12 cats.
We were basically clearing debris that she would let us out of her yard and into a dumpster. We’ve cleared debris before so it seemed like no biggy. I am not exaggerating when I tell you once we lifted up one piece of scrap about 200 bugs came out. ALL different kinds of bugs. Roaches the size of your pinky, termites, giant ants, baby ants, red ants, centipedes, and we actually found a scorpion! I have never seen a scorpion before in my life and it was outrageous. After this happen I decided to help John (one of our sponsors) clean out his trailer instead. He did however say I did an exceptional job and have great organizational skills. I had fitting into the stereotype of girls hating bugs but it's pretty much the only thing Im afraid of. This was my favorite and most authentic experience of Louisiana so far. Pictures will come shortly. Love you all!