Friday, January 25, 2013

did this actually happen?

I got out of class yesterday at 11:30 to be told that the campus was shutting down in an hour. 

Mercyhurst has never had a snow day, ever, and the campus hasn't been closed in more than ten years. 

It snowed like crazy on Monday (see previous post) and has been snowing gently off and on since then so right now the city of Erie is covered in 6-8 inches of snow which is a normal occurrence in Erie. 

However, a main water pipe froze and burst so the campus has no water which means they also have no heat, food or working bathrooms. 

The whole campus was evacuated and hopefully school will start again on Monday, but no one knows anything until the pipe is found (under 6-8 inches of snow) and repaired. 

I went from trying to remember all of the things I had to accomplish/complete before the day was over to suddenly being temporarily free from those obligations and suddenly needing to pack up my life and remove myself from the only place I really knew in Erie.

Thankfully, many people graciously offered to host students who were too far away to go home. Currently, Kathryn and I are staying with one of our ballet teachers (the one for which we both babysit). The director of the Dance Department and her husband offered to host all of the freshman in their basement which is so kind of them. Also, the pastor of the church I attend in Erie offered his house as well if Kathryn and I are in need of it. 

Once we found out we were staying with our ballet teacher (and her husband and baby daughter), Kathryn and I went to our apartment to pack up as much as we could in as little space as possible. We also had to take everything off the floors in our apartment because our heaters are water based. If the city of Erie has to shut down all of the water temporarily to make the repair, then our apartments could flood. 

This all seems surreal . . . However, today I've been sitting in a beautiful, warm living room, reading a book, drinking tea, talking with a wonderful couple about anything and everything and playing with an adorable little baby. So I guess getting evacuated isn't so bad in this case :)                          

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