random tangents

how to begin....wow how things have changed over the last week. this is my personal little therapy session so here goes:

i had 4 friends from tulane evacuate at the last minute to dfw. they've been here for about 5 days and left today to go back home to nyc & tri-state area. most of my friends got out okay, but i've heard recently that a couple of of the other grad students with family homes in mississippi and the effected area are in the process of helping their families, and are PERSONALLY dealing with the rebuilding and evacuation efforts.
as much as i probably could, i can not complain, i feel guilty when i do as the news stations never cease to show me how good i really do have it, and yet....it's just really hard right now to deal with the crazy whirlwind of emotions that i have presently.

all of what i currently have with me in dfw(that i can take with me when i have to move to another school) is what i could fit into a duffel bag, backpack, and a purse.
no car--at nola airport, my keys are with my roommate in ft. lauderdale--but hey if bush can land there then i have hope for my car, no computer--all files unaccessible, all arch books and supplies worth thousands of dollars....BUT, i do have my life, and food in my stomach and water to drink--though dallas might be in a drought soon--still hot here.

another issue that i, and the other students, have had to deal with is the misinformation factor. let me paint you a scenario:
8am: watch cnn/msnbc/weatherchannel/20/20/dateline and others for over 6 hours a day: waiting to catch a looped clip of your neighborhood[by the 3rd hour we figured if they DON'T show your neighborhood you're probably doing okay, and MAYBE your house wasn't too trashed or even looted, but again WHO KNOWS!!] on the phone almost every 10 min. calling people and checking location and life status...

holy shit dude, i'm just 25, i'm not mature enough to deal with REAL issues like this--THAT is why i went back to college--to live in an idealistic nebulous state where my parents could still get phone calls at 2am if something bad happened. where classes are DESIGNED to sheild out the real world and focus on whatever book or issue that was going on...a place where we could still dream of saving the world...a rant has begun to form and i'll end it here...

6pm:drink ourselves into retardation at night to ease the tension and try to stay positive--4 am was our bedtime as after too many drinks we would go back and discuss what had happened and then what could/would/ and of course SHOULD happen over the next couple of days...drinking is of course supposed to keep the new orleans spirit alive...so much for that fucking voodoo

8:30am: first phone call of the day where my grandmother reads to me from the paper what they said about the city and especially tulane the day before, i love her dearly for watching out for me but it always ends in her expecting me to LEAP out of bed at that INSTANT and be on the phone for the next hour trying to get on whatever list or website or whatever....very rarely happened as i have been hung over every morning for the last 5-6 days.

9:30am: phone call from my uncle, repeating everything my grandmother told me an hour before--again reading straight from the paper--but changing it slightly...

then back to watching hours of tv with information coming out of my ears, to have both my mom and dad come home and repeat everything they saw on the news(they mostly wanted to talk about tulane and what they KNEW was going to happen, and what i should do that very instant--again i love them dearly, but the last time i checked my ID told me i wasn't getting any younger...could have fooled them. we'll always be our parents children though, right---in SOOO many ways that is a double edged sword.

CURRENT STATUS: tulane is closed for the semester(duh). the students are being expected to contact schools in their home state for emergency enrollment to programs all over the nation. no school is expected to provide housing or dining expenses, but will only charge tulane tuition prices for the students, who will only be attending said school for 5-6 months.

i'm looking at upenn, carnegie mellon univ. and univ. of texas...last two options are looking slim as u-t has already had over 100 requests for entrance as of 2 days ago, and carnegie mellon-though listed as a school that is accepting effected students--has not responded to emails and has NOTHING posted on their homepage or links available.

myself and 2 other arch students are trying to stick together and go to the same school--preferably close to a friend/relative. it's just been such a traumatic week, watching things change so quickly, having to hurry up and act on information that may or maynot be fact, then wait for anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days for a response. personally i'm run kind of ragged right now, so if i've snapped at anyone, been rude, caulous, or dismissive....I am trully and utterly sorry, and my apology is a sincere one. for all of us from nola it's like we've had a family member die. our memories of the city itself, before even the memories of people that are still there, are almost completely shattered...i know it will rebuild, but man...

FINALLY....i will give a THANK YOU to everyone that has called me, emailed me, whatever(8:30 am-4am) i really, really appreciate your concern...these are the times when friends are the most valuable things in life to have, and damn am i wealthy. thank you. to everyone that has donated money, time, heartache, whatever....THANK YOU.

i'll stop now, because i am getting kind of sappy...I LOVE YOU MAN!! NO I REALLY DO MAN!!!

posted by ekeith @ 11:21 PM