My Snowy Morning in New Orleans

Metarie, Louisiana -- Today, when I woke up around 6:30 a.m. to get ready and go to school, it was just the beginning of a usual day. It had been cold the night before, and getting up was hard, as usual. I got ready and departed with my two siblings, dropping them off at their high school around 7.

Listening to the radio on the way to the University of New Orleans, I listened idly to the weather. It was always the section of the news I paid the least attention to. As I got closer to my school on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, I decided to head over to Burger King to finish my breakfast as I had only eaten a few bites at home. I ordered my orange juice and a Hamlette sans ham; and then ate breakfast and listened to generic restaurant music.

After finishing up and washing my hands, I set out. Right before exiting I was startled to see what looked like fluffy, slow rain coming down. An old woman was sitting near the window and was looking out. "Is it snowing?" I asked. It was snowing. I walked outside and held my hands out, verifying for myself that it was indeed snowing. At that point though it was just very light, and I was confident it would die down soon.

A man walking into Burger King as I walked toward my car said, "You don't see that down here." I drove to campus, and while walking I noticed everyone else talking about it. As I quickly walked to the library people were gathered near the door, and everyone was surprised at the snowfall.

I had intended on studying, but I was admittedly distracted by the snow. So I sat in the first floor's computer lab, which is lined with windows that face the lake. I was born in New Orleans and have lived here all but two of my 23 years, and this was clearly the biggest snowfall I had ever witnessed.

Instead of dying down, the snow became thicker, and by 9 a.m. people were getting excited. The grass in the library quad was starting to turn white, and people were starting to pull out their cell phones and snap pictures. A few guys were rolling up a big chunk of snow in the quad outside, and a few snowballs were starting to fly around.

"I can't believe it's snowing," I remarked to a woman standing outside. She laughed about how she came down from up north and never expected to see this here. I heard a woman say she had an exam and was supposed to be studying.

Even all the library staff came outside and looked at the amazing scene. It was undoubtedly exciting for most of the resident New Orleanians.

One tall student kept rolling up ice balls and throwing them at people in the library quad. I watched him smoke a cigarette with no hands as he kept rolling up snowballs. I asked him "How can your hands stand that? I feel like I'm going to get frostbite!" He joked and said something about going to "Vietnam" and then later conceded that he lived up north before.

While I was on the computer in the lab he even through a snowball right at the window where a custodian was standing, making a loud thud. I laughed and went outside again. It must have looked laughable to students from the north. UNO does have a diverse student body, however, and I noticed that many students from Central and South America were outside and snapping many pictures. It must be a new experience for them, also, I thought. The Spanish-speaking countries are mostly in the torrid climate zone.

Around 9:45 I took a short break to buy a coffee because I thought I was going to get frostbite. I saw an English teacher I had taken a course with just last summer, and I said to him, "I can't believe this." He said "I know" and then talked about how administrators were in a tough position and the event was like a "jigsaw puzzle" piece - meaning they couldn't cancel the day easily (today final exams were scheduled). The schedule had already been compromised because of Gustav and Ike.

The ball of snow that was rolling around in the grass got large, and then was abandoned for a while. I joked to a student next to me that it was becoming a new UNO monument. Soon the effort was started again and more students joined in. I looked at my empty coffee cup and decided I could help out the effort. I went outside and went to the center of the field where a big group of students had gathered around the big chunk of ice. It now had a midsection plopped on top of it. About 15 of us started working on the snowman, and I used my cup to fill up since my hands easily get numb. Another ball was forming quickly nearby, and before I knew it was picked up high and carefully placed on top to make the snowman. Someone donated their scarf and coffee cup lids were used for the eyes. Someone stuck a coffee cup into its face to make a nose. It was free advertising for Java City.

Then we all reinforced the snowman with more ice and it was a funny looking sight with a big head and somewhat muddy bottom. But it was a real snowman, and it was in New Orleans. A few students took a big group picture with all of us, and after that there were individual photo shoots with the UNO snowman. I helped two students take pictures - it's amazing how many of us carry around cameras now.

It's almost 2 p.m. now and the snowman has been beheaded by some prankster. The field isn't covered with the white frosty snow anymore, just a few chunks of ice here and there. It will be interesting to see how the rest of this month unfolds, and whether or not this was a fluke event. One things for sure: it was a fun morning for me and my peers down here in the Crescent City.