EXHAUSTED
I am SO TIRED...why, you ask? Let us count the reasons:
1. I have spent the bulk of 2 out of the past 5 days in a 15-passenger van between North Carolina and Mississippi with a bunch of undergrads, sometimes driving, sometimes attempting to sleep or read. The return trip also included a puppy (!) and some inordinately loud rap music. (The puppy aspect was actually surprisingly unproblematic...thankfully!)
2. The other 3 days were spent cleaning mold out of hurricane-damaged houses (an incredibly sweaty task!--2 days) and planting shrubs, clearing brush, and picking up broken glass at two parks (a great muscle workout--1 day). Hot pics (literally!) of my teammates and me in Tyvek suits and respirators are forthcoming.
3. I like people in general a whole lot and can usually sleep anywhere, but sharing a huge room with hundreds of other people (the last 3 nights) and sleeping in the toolshed/laundry room (the first night) have tested both of those abilities! I am loving the idea of an actual bed tonight.
4. After some of our teammates witnessed a drug deal in broad daylight in Biloxi, Elizabeth and I got our own dose of Durham sketchiness when we returned the vans tonight. A taxi pulled into the lot while we were clearing them out, and the driver just sat there in his car watching us as we moved the last of our stuff. We were weirded out enough to jump in her car and take a ride before returning the keys. When we drove past again, we saw that the taxi was still there, but the driver was gone! We kept driving for a few more minutes and watched from a nearby parking lot as he finally reappeared, pulled his car around and s-l-o-w-l-y eased back into the street. We ended up returning the keys with no problem, but spent much of the ride home speculating about what the driver had been up to and exclaiming over the weirdness of it all.
Despite the inevitable exhaustion, it was a good trip. I will post more detailed impressions later. For now, I can say that once again, I believe that the most enduring story of Hurricane Katrina is not the storm itself. The destruction is mind-boggling, but I believe that the greater story is that of people looking after people, of sacrifice and commitment, of lives laid down on behalf of strangers. I am proud to say that in many ways, my generation is leading the way to recovery on the Gulf Coast, demonstrating these virtues in beautiful and powerful ways. I challenge everyone who can to make a trip to participate in the recovery effort--I guarantee that you will return inspired!
1. I have spent the bulk of 2 out of the past 5 days in a 15-passenger van between North Carolina and Mississippi with a bunch of undergrads, sometimes driving, sometimes attempting to sleep or read. The return trip also included a puppy (!) and some inordinately loud rap music. (The puppy aspect was actually surprisingly unproblematic...thankfully!)
2. The other 3 days were spent cleaning mold out of hurricane-damaged houses (an incredibly sweaty task!--2 days) and planting shrubs, clearing brush, and picking up broken glass at two parks (a great muscle workout--1 day). Hot pics (literally!) of my teammates and me in Tyvek suits and respirators are forthcoming.
3. I like people in general a whole lot and can usually sleep anywhere, but sharing a huge room with hundreds of other people (the last 3 nights) and sleeping in the toolshed/laundry room (the first night) have tested both of those abilities! I am loving the idea of an actual bed tonight.
4. After some of our teammates witnessed a drug deal in broad daylight in Biloxi, Elizabeth and I got our own dose of Durham sketchiness when we returned the vans tonight. A taxi pulled into the lot while we were clearing them out, and the driver just sat there in his car watching us as we moved the last of our stuff. We were weirded out enough to jump in her car and take a ride before returning the keys. When we drove past again, we saw that the taxi was still there, but the driver was gone! We kept driving for a few more minutes and watched from a nearby parking lot as he finally reappeared, pulled his car around and s-l-o-w-l-y eased back into the street. We ended up returning the keys with no problem, but spent much of the ride home speculating about what the driver had been up to and exclaiming over the weirdness of it all.
Despite the inevitable exhaustion, it was a good trip. I will post more detailed impressions later. For now, I can say that once again, I believe that the most enduring story of Hurricane Katrina is not the storm itself. The destruction is mind-boggling, but I believe that the greater story is that of people looking after people, of sacrifice and commitment, of lives laid down on behalf of strangers. I am proud to say that in many ways, my generation is leading the way to recovery on the Gulf Coast, demonstrating these virtues in beautiful and powerful ways. I challenge everyone who can to make a trip to participate in the recovery effort--I guarantee that you will return inspired!
posted by Leah at
11:25 PM
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