(Near Atlanta, GA) Here are our landmarks: increased traffic, lit-up billboards, the passing time. The things I carry: sleeping bag, a Spanish play, a memoir, wallet, pillow, sweatshirt, old jeans just bought at the Salvation Army store, t-shirts, gloves, thick rubber boots, towel, flip-flops, bathing necessities. The people I'm with: Rachel (my roommate), Rose (from Ireland), Tamara (from Cocktails, my a cappella group), Tom (my Methodist minister and a campus chaplain), and 108 (or so) other USC students neatly packed into two charter buses. We're going to Biloxi, Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina hit weeks ago, tearing Biloxi to pieces, overrunning New Orleans (and much of the Gulf Coast) with mud, muck, and water. A madhouse. We saw the images on CNN, Fox News, Time magazine, internet sites. Looting. Dying. People stranded on houses. Stuck in the Superdome.
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