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Sep022005
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Talladega |
I woke up sometime around nine this morning. I obviously have yet to master the art of sleeping on sofas. When I wasn’t watching the news, I was probably in front of the computer or doing something similarly unproductive. I did spend a good bit of time fooling with Jim’s laptop, which needed some work just some garden-variety fixes to get it running faster. I don’t remember any earth-shattering news regarding the hurricane. The mayor had a short, profanity-laced tirade and President Bush did a small walking tour of Kenner. Most of the news related to the deteriorating conditions in the city. A lot of the awful circumstances resemble the sort of things that take place in third-world countries. I took some pictures of the house and surrounding area and posted them on the website. A great deal of food came through the house today. Although oddly enough, I ended up eating pork chops and macaroni and cheese twice. A good number of people including Dad and Andrew went to a high school football game this evening. Whoever they were rooting for lost. Later in the evening I talked to Khadijah on the phone for a little while. Between the middle of nowhere and the mess caused by the storm, it’s pretty hard to get a call out. It worked alright if you stand outside though. I received a call from Jeff while I was talking to her so Mom and Dad got to speak to him this evening. I was up pretty late, I think I got to bed, or the sofa rather, around one.
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Sep012005
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On To Alabama |
I woke up about eight o’clock this morning, got dressed and went to the lobby for some breakfast. We saw this morning that rescue efforts had been temporarily suspended because of gunfire. I can’t even begin to imagine what’s going through the minds of people who would fire upon their rescuers. It was also reported that sniper fire prevented the evacuation of critically ill patients from Charity Hospital by helicopter. The news and reports we heard grew more disgusting and incomprehensible as the day went on. I talked to Kristopher Francisco online this morning. He’s currently as LSU with his brother Kristian. He told me several of his family members remained in New Orleans. We checked out of the hotel this morning and drove to Childersburg, Alabama. Mr. Cotney (my dad’s step-grandfather, Aunt Dionne’s grandfather), and his second wife live there in the house he built himself in his spare time over eight years. Grandma Janet showed up soon after we arrived. We last visited there a couple years ago during a vacation. We visited with them for a couple hours. Ms. Lou got us some dinner. Aunt Dionne, Uncle Larry and my cousin Brandon arrived at the house not too long after we finished eating. After a little while, my family and my aunt’s family drove out to Talladega, where Jim and Beth’s house is. These are extended family member I believe. Aunt Mimi, Aunt Doris and Uncle Joe were already there. I’ll update this when I figure out exactly who they are. Anyway, these lovely people were so nice as to temporarily move out of their beautiful home and allow the eleven of us to stay here for a while. I must say I was pretty floored by their generosity. My parents and I spend the evening between the computer, the TV and just talking to all the family members we have here. I didn’t get to bed until after two.
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