I’m paying ten cents a minute to be on the internet right now, so I’ll be brief. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about a lot lately:As the work has been wearing on, some days–especially the comparitively more boring days where I spend five hours wiping studs with Pine-Sol to remove the mold–I’ve been feeling down once in a while. This happens when I get overwhelmed by the enormity of the devestation in this city, the problems that existed even before Katrina hit, and how much remains to be done. Some days it’s hard for me to be convinced that my soggy rag is doing very much. And there are parts of the city, like the lower ninth ward, where houses have collapsed and people have died and there’s nothing an untrained laborer like me can do.

Those kinds of days are hard. And they’re made worse by my guilt: we vegetarians may bitch about being fed rice and peas for dinner, but the city is full of the homeless and starving and suffering. And so on and so on. Anything and everything can remind me of what bad shape this city is in.

So I’ve thought a lot about what’s keeping me going here. And as cheesy as this may sound, it’s really the people I’ve been working with and for that keep me motivated and inspired. It’s watching my fellow volunteers hold dance parties to the radio in their Tyvek suits. It’s applause. It’s sharing waterbottles and showers and toothpaste. It’s seeing so many other people wanting to make a difference.

It’s the people here: the woman at breakfast in the Salvation Army who makes sure you eat your pancakes so the hurricaines don’t blow you away. It’s the homeowner you work with all week who brings you all the animal crackers she has (and eats them with you.) It’s every single citizen who thanks you when you explain that you’re a volunteer here.

I think being here brings out the best cheeziness in me.