Lots of little changes this week. We moved twice, first to a church, and then to a high school outside of town. Our new digs are pretty nice. We’re still on cots in one big room, but we have wi-fi, cable, and a gym to use. Also we have a kitchen, so we’ve started eating real food. Up until now, we haven’t done any grocery shopping, instead relying on donated food and whatever people on the street are giving out. That means hot dogs. We were eating 3- 6 hot dogs a day, so the kitchen at the high school is a great change. I was beginning to forget what vegetables looked like.
I’ve been hearing stories of the looting more and more lately. One woman I met yesterday told me that the storm killed her husband. When she walked outside for help and saw what had happened to her house and neighborhood, she started to vomit and had a heart attack. She was rushed to the hospital, and spent two days recovering. During those two days, looters raided her house and took everything that the storm had left behind. Fucking hyenas. Now that we’re three weeks past the storm, looting isn’t as rampant, but every day we come across metal scavengers. The volunteers we lead move metal to the curb, and people drive the streets picking pieces of copper and steel from those piles to sell. It’s not illegal, but it makes me grind my teeth all the same.
On a less acidic note, it has been great this week to see more grass. The storm covered yards and parks with shingles, sheetrock and insulation. One woman called it shitty-maché. As you can kinda see from this satellite photo, the whole debris field was a big beige mess.
As the cleanup has progressed, we are starting to see more and more of what was buried beneath; green instead of brown. Working in such a huge debris field can feel a little inconsequential, so its great to feel like we’re getting closer.
Happy birthday mom! Happy (early) birthday dad!
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