providing therapy?

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I'm taking a class this semester called Disaster Impacts on Society: Hurricane Katrina. It's a fascinating course, so far, that goes along with the HRT trips to New Orleans. Professors from all different backgrounds give presentations to the class about various aspects of the impacts that the storms had on the Gulf. The first week we watched a National Geographic video about Katrina to get familiar with the details/sequence of events. The next week we had presentations on the geology/geography/environmental implications -- a lot about levees and rivers and deltas etc. -- and on the meteorology of storms and global warming.

All very fascinating stuff.

Tonight we had a short presentation about the impacts of disasters on ecosystems.

And then Debbie Stieffel gave a personal testimony. She currently works at Susquehanna but worked at Loyola University in New Orleans both before and after the storm. She gave a presentation that was first about the experience of being in New Orleans during and after the storm, and then she focused on how the university dealt with that year after the storm.

At the end, she said, "It's good for me to talk about it sometimes, so thanks for being my therapists."

Two things. First, it makes me feel really good to be able to provide that to someone. From the reading I've been doing since I've been back -- a lot of Chris Rose's stuff, but that's not all -- a lot of people who lived through it really do find comfort in telling their stories. That's something I noticed when I was in New Orleans, as well.

Second, I know that I need that therapy sometimes, too. In general, we all like to have someone to talk to, but I guess this blog is kind of my outlet for my feelings about New Orleans. A Rose column that I read in his book "One Dead in Attic" mentioned the fact that people who have volunteered in the Gulf have come away feeling like they don't want to leave or like they want to do more. And that's absolutely how I feel. I'm trying my hardest to stay connected to the city through the newspaper and through nonprofits' Web sites, and we'll see where I end up after I graduate.

I'll post tomorrow with my analysis of "No Reservations New Orleans!"