baton rouge-katrina

you know,

since katrina hit new orleans.... baton rouge (only an hour away) has doubled in it's population over night.... 2 weeks ago, there were over 3500 houses on the market for sale... now there are only 500 left.... all the apartments are filled.... even the hotels are all booked up...

it used to take my parents anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes to get to the Bahai center.... now it's an average of 35 to 40 minutes.....

all the stores are packed, traffic is always there, crime is up.... this little lazy town has been shaken up.... but of course the people are understanding and adapting to the change... for the most part, they want to be there for their new orleans family.... it's really interesting -- the change that's occurring there....

funny side note.... my parents have opened their home to the media.... since the reporters have nowhere to stay, they have been sleeping at our house in baton rouge.... we are all holding out to see if christiane amanpour stays over.... if she does, my parents will flip out... she almost did come wednesday night, but ended up staying on the new orleans side, to cover more in that area..... we'll see......