Memoir

The chilly February night was filled with excitement. The band parking lot was quickly filling up with vehicles of parents. Band members had to park in the school parking lot. Band members toted large suitcases and their instruments with them inside. I grabbed my luggage and took it inside to be checked. The fruit sales, parent meetings, and practices afterschool had led up to this day. I was excited as I went to sit with my friends in the band room.
After everyone arrived, we loaded on the buses according to grade level and bus number. Students told their parents goodbye and walked toward the looming charter buses. In their hands they tried to carry their suitcase, instrument, and uniform bag without dropping anything. It was like they were about to embark on a journey. Almost everyone was hyper from the excitement, jumping around and talking. As I put my luggage under the bus I told my mom goodbye and stepped onto the bus. It was kind of like stepping away from everything I was used to, even though I was coming back in a few days.
The interior was spacious for a bus and there were TVs above every few seats. My partner, Alex, and I chose our seats and I put my bag under my feet. The air was filled with excitement and the smell of guys who had put on too much cologne. Sitting quietly, we wondered what we would see once we had made it to New Orleans. We had heard some very interesting stories from other people that had been. Our minds raced with visions of beads and giant floats.
As soon as the buses were loaded and everyone had found a seat, we started moving away from Hanna and our parents. Excited yet nervous, we watched as our parents waved to us from the sidewalk. We looked out the windows as the shapes of many parents became smaller before dissappearing into the night. Smiling happily, I relaxed for a moment. You could hear the sound of people eating or talking if you sat and just listened. It was entertaining enough to just hear people talk. A few people were on the phone with their parents, filling them in on what had happened since the buses had pulled out.
On the TV screens, we watched Saturday Night Live for about an hour. Some people quickly fell asleep only a few minues into the ride. They leaned either on a pillow or on their partner. It was dark outside, and the shades on the bus were mostly pulled down. A few people left theirs up so they could watch as cities passed by. It was pretty to watch the lights on buildings pass by as we went through major cities. I spent the time listening to music and talking to my partner, who had eaten way too much candy before we left. After a while, we reached a rest stop and most people took advantage of the opportunity to stretch their legs. It might have been big for a bus, but it was still a bus. And that meant that your legs would still be sore. After reboarding, I soon fell asleep. When I awoke, I realized it was morning. All of the girls spent a good bit of time trying to fix their hair before we had to stop to eat. We stopped at a Sonny's for breakfast before continuing the drive. I wonder how the workers felt, seeing three large buses full of people pulling into the parking lot. No matter what they felt, it was hard to find a seat in the small resturaunt.
The bus was a bit stuffy after breakfast because of the smell of perfumes and colognes that people had deemed necessary to put more of on. After driving for a while, houses came into view. They were definitely uninhabited. Most were in shambles. An abandoned Six Flags passed by our left. Not much remained other than a few tall poles and parts of the bigger rides. You could still see the destruction of Katrina two years later. All of us knew how devastating it had been, but now we were able to see how bad it was in person.
As we got closer to New Orleans, we had to cross the very wide Mississippi river. The wide river, going on for miles on each side of us, was somewhat oceanlike in the fact that it was so big. Most of the people were awake now and were looking out the windows at the wide expanse of water on each side of us.
As soon as the city came into view, everyone's excitement increased. We were almost there!
Driving past the outskirts we saw the spray-painted markers where rescuers had searched the houses, weeks after the original floods had lowered. The neon paint showed when they had been searched, by whom, and what they found inside. Some of the houses had been fixed up and you could tell that people were living in them.
We drove by the French Quarter and saw balconies that would later be filled with people celebrating. Decorations were everywhere, and the predominate colors were gold, green, and purple. We were finally there. After driving more than ten hours, we had reached New Orleans, and with it, Mardi Gras.