a burden lifted
Last night our headmistress posted a letter on our website that assured faculty that the September payroll is up and running and that we will remain on health insurance. I found out around 11pm last night and the relief, however minor, was such that I did the one thing that I hadn't been able to do for a week-- I went to sleep like a normal human being.
So what now? More waiting, truthfully. Now that I know I'm still on the payroll, I'm at the school's beck and call. The news answered one question, but raised more. No matter how generous the school is, it's hardly rolling in money. If we're to open in January like Tulane and Loyola and only teach one semester, the school can't afford to pay us for a full year. Will we cobble together some sort of crazy school year that begins in January and ends in August? Will willing faculty be asked to relocate to schools that have taken in our girls?
The independent school response has been phenomenal. Schools as far away as CT and NH have offered to take our girls free of charge, many even donating uniforms and books. The Hocakday School in Texas alone has probably taken in fifty girls.
Anyway, this good news potentially frees me up a bit. Unless school calls upon me in some way, I can return to New Orleans when it is safe to help in whatever way I can. And if the best option is to settle elsewhere for a while, I can do so knowing that I won't have to flip burgers.
I say it again: I am so lucky. There is probably only a tiny, tiny fraction of those displaced who are as lucky as I am. All of my loved ones are safe. I have no property to worry about. I took those things that I truly care for. I am still employed. I have been staying with friends who have treated me in the kindest way possible. I have people coming out of the woodwork with offers of help.
Even on the day that we evacuated, it seemed as the gods were with us. Despite the fact that we took a wrong turn that cost us three hours, we were only on the road for 13. As we listened to the radio we were aghast at how many times we heard that we had just narrowly escaped something that would have made the evacuation difficult or impossible. First we heard that a bridge in Miss. had been closed, just a half hour after we passed over it. Then, as we drove through Ala, we heard tornado warnings for the counties we'd just passed through, tornadoes that passed right over the road on which we'd just been driving. Then the tunnel in Mobile became backed up with an hour long wait, around a half hour after we'd zoomed through it-- then it closed. Then a highway in Fl closed just after we'd driven through that area.
I can't believe it has only been a week.
So what now? More waiting, truthfully. Now that I know I'm still on the payroll, I'm at the school's beck and call. The news answered one question, but raised more. No matter how generous the school is, it's hardly rolling in money. If we're to open in January like Tulane and Loyola and only teach one semester, the school can't afford to pay us for a full year. Will we cobble together some sort of crazy school year that begins in January and ends in August? Will willing faculty be asked to relocate to schools that have taken in our girls?
The independent school response has been phenomenal. Schools as far away as CT and NH have offered to take our girls free of charge, many even donating uniforms and books. The Hocakday School in Texas alone has probably taken in fifty girls.
Anyway, this good news potentially frees me up a bit. Unless school calls upon me in some way, I can return to New Orleans when it is safe to help in whatever way I can. And if the best option is to settle elsewhere for a while, I can do so knowing that I won't have to flip burgers.
I say it again: I am so lucky. There is probably only a tiny, tiny fraction of those displaced who are as lucky as I am. All of my loved ones are safe. I have no property to worry about. I took those things that I truly care for. I am still employed. I have been staying with friends who have treated me in the kindest way possible. I have people coming out of the woodwork with offers of help.
Even on the day that we evacuated, it seemed as the gods were with us. Despite the fact that we took a wrong turn that cost us three hours, we were only on the road for 13. As we listened to the radio we were aghast at how many times we heard that we had just narrowly escaped something that would have made the evacuation difficult or impossible. First we heard that a bridge in Miss. had been closed, just a half hour after we passed over it. Then, as we drove through Ala, we heard tornado warnings for the counties we'd just passed through, tornadoes that passed right over the road on which we'd just been driving. Then the tunnel in Mobile became backed up with an hour long wait, around a half hour after we'd zoomed through it-- then it closed. Then a highway in Fl closed just after we'd driven through that area.
I can't believe it has only been a week.
posted by M at 6:33 AM
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