Thursday, February 23, 2006

i barely made the plane to new orleans, as the early morning subway trains run far less frequently than i had expected. when i checked my bag in the jet blue lady told me to run to the gate. she did not, however, tell me which gate i should be running to. by the time i figured that out, the door to the walkway leading to the plane had been closed. lucky for me though the hatch to the plane was still actually open.

new orleans welcomed me with the message that my luggage did not make the flight. it ended up shipping on a flight later that afternoon and i managed to pick it up that evening. post parcel pick-up, the merry members of the hurricane autonomous workers collective, who i had been working with that day, and i headed to the bayou liberty relief camp in slidell, la. the bayou liberty relief camp functions as hawc's base of operations, storing equipment like goggles, rubber boots, biohazard suits, respirators, and all sorts of construction tools, as well as shelter, food, and items for recreation like a canoe, a bayou, and a guitar.

having been living in the urban jungle that is new york city, i had forgotten that mosquitos existed. that did not prevent them from trying to literally suck the lifeblood out of me. it is humid here and they are everywhere.

this does seem to really bother most of the members of hawc, from heading out to gut houses, scrub them clean of toxic waste and mold, and help reconstruct them. it's time for the morning meeting. i'll post again about our activities at a later date.

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