Back on the Chain Gang

Well, I've been back working at my site since Monday, and today was the first time a majority of my students showed up. Not that I'm surprised or upset by this: driving is still pretty difficult, what with the number of intersections that don't even have stoplights left, even if they do have electricity. Plus a lot of folks got a lot more damage than I did, and I think that should take priority.

Over the weekend, we worked a few distribution sites, handing out food or ice or water to seniors or low-income folks. Presumably a lot of my comrades still are; a number of their sites will not be open again until next week, particularly the sites in the Palm Beach school system. One site actually will not be opening again, as the building has been condemned. The AmeriCorps worker was only there for half the day, and she still has another site she can go to, but I don't know if she'll become half-time, or what. I'm just glad that my site was unharmed, and opened as early as it did.

We had a Halloween party last in our apartment last Saturday -- we couldn't go anywhere, since there is still a 9:00 PM curfew, although the police are evidently not as strict about it as they were in the days right after the storm. I dressed up in my suit, and drank more than I have since I came down here. The girls all drink something called a redbeer -- a beer with tomato juice. It's actually not that bad. They kept giving me them, and I kept drinking them. I wasn't as drunk as most of them -- these kids occasionally worry me in this regard -- but I was drunk enough to whip off my coat and start dancing spastically when "Hey Ya" came on the stereo. I had a good time, although there was a bit of drama with the Trio. Didn't include me, so I pay it no mind. I was just glad the womyn didn't try to drag me to another awful pick-up joint.

Spotty electricity in the area means I haven't been able to get money from the bank in a couple weeks. I also haven't been able to find anything refrigerated except for a half-gallon of skim milk I bought at the drug store yesterday. Hopefully the nearby Publix will recover its power soon.

We finally got the upstairs windows replaced, which is good, since we all paid our rents in a timely manner yesterday.

Hope everyone's doing well.