After the Storm

So I've survived my first official hurricane here in Houston, Hurricane Ike. It really wasn't that bad--at least not where I live. There was no significant damage to my apartment building (a few tiles are still loose but that's about it) and though a tree did fall down, it got caught on a power line instead of taking any houses out. Thank goodness.

If anything, things are really annoying right now because power still has not been restored to most people's homes in this city. At home I have water and that's it. No lights and no ways to cook as my stove is electric. Fortunately they are feeding us free dinners until the electricity gets up and running. Still, it's annoying and I had to clean out the fridge, but it still stinks. I didn't realize how much I took just having power for granted. They're saying it could take until the end of this week for everything to be up and running.

Rice has power which is where I come every day to mooch for my computer and cell phone. During the storm I stayed with another first year grad student Heather as my apartments were mandatorily evacuated. The storm hit early Saturday morning and howled from about midnight until 6 am. I barely got any sleep, but by Saturday afternoon Ike had moved on. We took a walk to see the damage. It wasn't major, but man the canal near Heather's apartment was raging with water and there were trees and branches everywhere. I've also seen pictures of Galveston and it seems that they got hit so much harder than we did. I can't imagine.

Classes were cancelled on Monday (it's really hard and not all that romantic to read by candlelight I've discovered) and yesterday my only class was not held as a tree fell on my professor's house. Yikes. I suspect it'll be about a week before things are back to normal. Until then I'm trying to get as much work as I can done so that when power comes back on and supplies are in abundance at stores again I can run around and do errands.

It is annoying and inconvenient, but all things considered, things could have been a lot worse. I am glad to be safe and have access to everything I need. Thanks so much guys for your prayers and thoughts!

Take care!

Houston, The Eagle Has Landed

Sorry guys, I couldn't resist the title, especially after Liz's brilliant one below.

At any rate, I've made it safe and sound to Houston and Rice University. The drive from Phoenix to Houston was long and flat which nearly drove me insane. However it was only a day and a half as opposed to three days for the trip from AZ to South Bend. The graduate apartments are extremely nice--I have my own bedroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet. They also provided me with a three shelf bookcase, a huge desk, a full-sized bed, wardrobe, and nightstand. It's so nice and though I still live under the shadows of rules and RA's, it's much better than the dorms. Also, it's just a short (free) shuttle ride and/or walk to campus.

This week has been one of orientations. You guys know the drill; they talked at us and fed us free food. They forced a little bit of mingling with people I'm sure I'll never see again and showed us the graduate bar--appropriately named Valhalla. It's a nice little campus surrounded by pretty river oaks. It has been raining here which has been a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it's cooler when it rains, but when it rains it pours. When the sun is out it's so humid I feel like I'm swimming when I walk around campus. So far I've been mostly in the English building of course, but I plan to explore other departments at random.

The library is nice, although of course not as grand as the Hesburgh. Still, it'll be a great area to study in. Classes start Monday and I've already met with my advisory committee to try to figure what the heck they're going to do with me. I haven't explored the city much other than food shopping for myself (for the first time in my life) but they tell me there are plenty of restaurants, bookstores, and free museums around.

Of course I still miss home and Notre Dame a lot more than I thought I would. I miss you guys of course, as I do all my friends. Still, I remain excited about what I'm doing here and I think it'll be good. I hope you guys are all doing well as you wrap up the summer and move into the first fall without the golden dome.

Lots of love and take care.