<p>just got off the phone with Kari, no electricity at UA dorm where she is, limited electricity elsewhere.</p>
<p>She is scheduled to go to on the Alabama Action Costa Rica trip May 8 - 18 with AJ ( MomRead’s son). . .does anyone know if the trip is still on? This trip is the culmination of a class she took this semester, and Dr. Sharpe was going on this trip as well. </p>
<p>I guess, if the trip is still on, I am willing for Kari to stay another week at UA with nothing to do and no electricity. . .but if the trip is now canceled, i’d like to book her on a flight home (originally, she 's not scheduled to fly home until May 18 after the Costa Rica trip is over). Kari said many of the students who were going on the trip are OOS.</p>
<p>Also, she was planning to rent a storage unit with her roomies, and when one of the roomies called the storage unit at 4:30 pm today, there was no answer – so we dont even know if that storage unit is still in existance . . .sigh.</p>
<p>Mom of four: I spoke with my son earlier today. He said that, given the situation in T-Town, he has not know what will happen with the trip to Costa Rica. I know that John441’s daughter is also planning to go on the trip. Should he call with information, I shall pass it along to you.</p>
<p>yes, d is going on the trip if in fact it is still happening. d is currently in aniston with a friend who lives there. we will drive from nj to aniston and arrive wed. we will go to t-town very early on thursday and move her out very quickly. we are sharing a container with robotmom and have confirmed the container is still available. i do not know the name, robotmom did it all. we will drive from t-town to atlanta on thursday and get a hotel until sat. we can def fit 1 more and in a pinch squeeze 2 into the car. contact me if this is helpful to anyone. rtr</p>
<p>I am sending out this email to all of you to find out whether the Costa Rica trip is still going to go on as originally scheduled.</p>
<p>With the rest of the semester now suspended and finals canceled, obviously Kari and the rest of the Costa Rica group has nothing to do, with no electricity, for the next week – especially since many of the students going are OOS students, and therefore have no place to go besides staying on campus for a week until the Costa Rica trip starts May 8th.</p>
<p>Could you please let me know the status of the trip ASAP? If she is not going, then she will fly home to California earlier than the May 18th bham- lax flight we currently have her scheduled for.</p>
<p>Thank you so much.</p>
<p>Reply:<br>
We still don’t have power on campus tonight, so Dr. Sharpe asked that I email you back. We are still planning to continue with the trip. I am going to send out an email about the trip tonight to all of the students.</p>
<p>We believe that power will be restored to campus within the next couple of days. The students can also volunteer with relief efforts while they are in town prior to the trip. The Community Service Center will be coordinating volunteer efforts and would welcome their involvement in the those efforts next week. Even though many students will leave, we believe there will still be many in town who will be helping with relief efforts. We will be helping students who are here in town in a variety of ways.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions or concerns, please direct those to Dr. Sharpe. He is able to check email periodically.</p>
<p>any ideas . . .Kari needs to get a carry-on sized duffle bag for the trip (all she brought to UA was very large sized luggage) … and she was planning to get it sometime this week . . .but now, she doesn’t know where to get one – and if she bought one online, doesn’t know where she can send it so she can receive it.</p>
<p>Any ideas? She doesn’t even know if the closest Target is still around ( although when she went there a week or so ago,l she siad there wasn’t any). Does the Crimson Ride go to any stores besides the Publix?</p>
<p>And I am bummed!! Full Moon BBQ where I met some of you last August during the Alabama action orientation no longer exists!!! :(</p>
<p>Mom of four, I really wouldn’t count on the Crimson Ride during this period. Perhaps if Kari is staying with some locals, hopefully, away from the devastated areas, she can get to another mall. There is a large mall called Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, which has a Penney’s. I picked up a carry on bag while there back in January to transport some gifts I purchased in Birmingham.</p>
<p>If she is still in need of a ride to a mall, walmart etc etc on Thursday then let me know. I’ll be down there Thursday afternoon and can certainly give her a ride somewhere to buy a bag.</p>
<p>mom of four, Target is open (or at least was on Thursday) and as far as I can tell, is undamaged. Of course, it is difficult to get there now by car, but it is possible by foot.</p>
<p>Son is staying locally, we are headed down with some items for disaster victims. We are leaving on Tuesday and should be down Wednesday. If any of your students need a ride/food/or ANYTHING that we can help with PM me.</p>
<p>@njbama–thanks for your kind offer. . . but Kari is now going to Atlanta with johnr and will probably be gone by Thursday afternoon.</p>
<p>@Robot – I will pm you, if Kari isn’t able to get a duffle before then, I will have Kari take you up on that offer to go shopping with you on Wed so that she has a duffle/carry on in order to be ready to go with Johnr by thur.</p>
<p>@Johnr – thank you for your kindness in taking Kari along with you to Atlanta a couple of days early before the CR trip. </p>
<p>We appreciate all of you so much for your most wonderful offers to help, esp since we, Kari’s parents, are thousands of miles away.</p>
<p>mom of four: no problem at all. we have the hotel booked. i do not mind taking kari shopping, i know we will have to take caitlin for some items too and atlanta should be full of stores.</p>