Feels Like Hail

I grew up in a mid-sized Midwestern town where weather is a main event. As soon as the loud, monotone beep and furrowed-brow of our friendly weatherman cut into Heathcliff Huxtable's latest dispensing of fatherly wisdom, my family would toss down our corn-on-the-cob and run out to the back porch (as opposed to the basement where we had been instructed to hunker down). It was exciting, let me tell you.

Hail, though, is a different story. While it's exhilarating to watch a black wall of clouds form and begin to rotate, it is not so fun to be hit on the head by golf-ball sized chunks of ice (or at least that's what mom told me when I tried to run outside). So, when hail came along, we stayed inside and continued to watch TV, though the volume had to be turned up to hear Theo's high-pitched protestations over the hail crashing down on the roof. When it was all over, we went out to survey the damage: detached roof shingles, broken windshields, dented cars. It all seemed a bit surreal.

That's a bit how I felt during last week's protests. I stayed inside all day Wednesday, but heard gun shots & helicopters, smelled burning tires, and kept at least 1 ear glued to the news to try to understand what was happening. I read a book and a half. I napped, even though I had woken up just 2 hours prior. And then, when I went out the next day, I surveyed the damage.

Glass windows and plastic signs on nearly every business and organization had been destroyed by rocks. Black circles polka-dotted the main roads where tires had been burnt. Trash was everywhere, as were kids who were home all week due to the schools closing.

Despite my neighborhood's bad reputation, it seems that I was in a better place than my fellow MCCers in Port. Some saw lootings, beatings, and who knows what else. Another was gassed (with tear-gas) in his home.

But for me, the only time I really felt stressed or in danger was the day I spent listening to a colleague at RNDDH give minute-by-minute updates of the progress of events (some of which were false, I found out). It wasn't so much that we were in danger at that point, but her exaggerated, the-sky-is-falling manner of speaking put me on edge.

Things seem back to normal for now, but no one really knows if/how long the calm will last. The Prime Minister was stripped of his position, but it's not as though world food prices have gone down or international trade (or aid!) policies have changed in the past few days. So, we'll see.

Thanks all of you who called and emailed to check in. It's nice to know I'm not forgotten. If you want more details, check out my friends' blogs (see links on right).

-L