HELLO AND FIRST ENTRY
Dear friends and visitors,
This is Nicole Pugh. I live on Dauphine Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Like manyothers, my fiance' and his family as well as myself evacuated from the city on August 28th, 2005. We packed three outfits, a couple of pairs of shoes, some books and a couple of picture albums and hit the road- thinking that we would be back by the end of the week. That was almost a month ago. And like so many others, now we watch the news like fanatics and practice our patience (sometimes we are better at it than others). We are learning not to plan too much for the long term and are grateful that for now, we are settled- albeit on opposite ends of the country. We have food, housing and those infamous FEMA checks in our wallets that will get us by for a little while. Lafayette has been kind to Jeremy and I. I am teaching Kindergarten in Youngsville. He will be starting a job in mental health next week. Although we still don't have permanent housing, we have a place where we can stay for a little while, a tiny room with a family in Kaplan where we can close the door and retreat from the world rushing around us at the end of the night, and hold each other safely in each other's arms.
Our realities are like a home that had been submersed in flood waters. The structure looks sound, the walls intact. Yet on the inside, it is an upside down world of broken boards, mud and indeciferable objects that could topple at any moment. In these weeks after the evacuation, we pick up the pieces of our lives and attempt to start over- kind of. That is, start over as best we can as unanswered questions swirl around us. When will we be able to return? Will it be safe healthwise when we do? Can the city rebuild? Will the government on all levels aid New Orleans in the recovery? And even closer to the immediate future- what will this weekend bring to New Orleans and the rest of the gulf, as Hurricane Rita churns herself into a Category 5 and heads in our general direction? In these uncertain times, one thing is constant for us. This is New Orleans herself- the marrow and raw energy of her, the rthyme, pain and celebration of her. Never have I lived in a city with such a pulse and a heartbeat, never have a lived in a city so alive, even as she oozes and bleeds, heaves and coughs. New Orleans remains in our dreams and in our hearts. Our little casita on Dauphine, which we have yet to revisit, whispers softly to us in those rare quiet times- in early mornings as we wake up and stumble around our host family's house like ghosts, not quite sure where we are. During our respective days of teaching and talking and driving- suddenly, we remember a smell or a taste- fried rice from the Frenchman Deli, the smell of manure on Royal, the pulse of manic music on Bourbon Street in the summertime. Things that we took for granted and sometimes cursed in the sweltering days before Katrina. These things bring tears and smiles- and a desire to return to her breast. For me, to go back will be to give back- to say thank you for all of the lessons she has offered and what I have learned from what she had to teach.
To sum up, this blog is being created in order to document one family's odyssey within the storm, to pose questions, tell stories and to communicate. I truly believe we are living in historic times and no one really knows where this road will lead. What I strive to achieve in the midst of it is to simply be present with it, and to be a witness in my own way, every step of the way.
With love and smiles,
Nicole :)
Dear friends and visitors,
This is Nicole Pugh. I live on Dauphine Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Like manyothers, my fiance' and his family as well as myself evacuated from the city on August 28th, 2005. We packed three outfits, a couple of pairs of shoes, some books and a couple of picture albums and hit the road- thinking that we would be back by the end of the week. That was almost a month ago. And like so many others, now we watch the news like fanatics and practice our patience (sometimes we are better at it than others). We are learning not to plan too much for the long term and are grateful that for now, we are settled- albeit on opposite ends of the country. We have food, housing and those infamous FEMA checks in our wallets that will get us by for a little while. Lafayette has been kind to Jeremy and I. I am teaching Kindergarten in Youngsville. He will be starting a job in mental health next week. Although we still don't have permanent housing, we have a place where we can stay for a little while, a tiny room with a family in Kaplan where we can close the door and retreat from the world rushing around us at the end of the night, and hold each other safely in each other's arms.
Our realities are like a home that had been submersed in flood waters. The structure looks sound, the walls intact. Yet on the inside, it is an upside down world of broken boards, mud and indeciferable objects that could topple at any moment. In these weeks after the evacuation, we pick up the pieces of our lives and attempt to start over- kind of. That is, start over as best we can as unanswered questions swirl around us. When will we be able to return? Will it be safe healthwise when we do? Can the city rebuild? Will the government on all levels aid New Orleans in the recovery? And even closer to the immediate future- what will this weekend bring to New Orleans and the rest of the gulf, as Hurricane Rita churns herself into a Category 5 and heads in our general direction? In these uncertain times, one thing is constant for us. This is New Orleans herself- the marrow and raw energy of her, the rthyme, pain and celebration of her. Never have I lived in a city with such a pulse and a heartbeat, never have a lived in a city so alive, even as she oozes and bleeds, heaves and coughs. New Orleans remains in our dreams and in our hearts. Our little casita on Dauphine, which we have yet to revisit, whispers softly to us in those rare quiet times- in early mornings as we wake up and stumble around our host family's house like ghosts, not quite sure where we are. During our respective days of teaching and talking and driving- suddenly, we remember a smell or a taste- fried rice from the Frenchman Deli, the smell of manure on Royal, the pulse of manic music on Bourbon Street in the summertime. Things that we took for granted and sometimes cursed in the sweltering days before Katrina. These things bring tears and smiles- and a desire to return to her breast. For me, to go back will be to give back- to say thank you for all of the lessons she has offered and what I have learned from what she had to teach.
To sum up, this blog is being created in order to document one family's odyssey within the storm, to pose questions, tell stories and to communicate. I truly believe we are living in historic times and no one really knows where this road will lead. What I strive to achieve in the midst of it is to simply be present with it, and to be a witness in my own way, every step of the way.
With love and smiles,
Nicole :)
posted by Nikki Lyn Pugh | 2:27 PM
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