What a day! As I left this morning the fire was still smoldering. I stopped my car on the way down the driveway and tried to put out two of the smoldering areas. First I tried smothering them with a rock. Then I tried sweeping the hot spot apart with a piece of bamboo. Bad idea. It just spread the problem. I finally scooped up dirt with my hands and covered the smoky spots but that didn't work either. When I pulled the car ahead I saw there were more even larger areas smoking. There was even a tree stump still on fire with flames.
In daylight the damage to the property was a lot more than I expected. Last time trees didn't burn. This time there isn't much left in some areas except black dirt. As I was trying to stomp out and smother the fires, people would drive by and stop their cars to look. Fires are common in this season, so I was surprised people were so interested. Turned out my neighbors, who are also related to my landlords but live on several adjacent properties on the way toward El Hatillo, got it as badly as we did.
I was not comfortable leaving the house that with so much smoldering so I called my neighbor who lives on the same property. I know from last year that it is very normal to leave fires smoldering for days, but I wondered if anyone was still on the property since the stump was on fire. Only my landlord's 89 year old mother was at home. I wished I could stay with her. They said she is pretty scared. But I still have a horrible cough. (Last night was the first time I slept through the night without coughing in a week and 1/2.) I can not give this cough to "la abuela" as we call her. (Grandmother) She stayed home alone until my neighbors got out of work.
Last night the wind picked up until it was one of the strongest winds I have ever experienced. There are some dead trees around from last year's fire. Lots of branches fell and the wind whistled through the windows. It is still gusting today. Until the wind calms down we really won't be able to put out the fires. It sure cooled down a lot. It has been in the mid to high 80's for a few weeks. Today it was only in the low 60's.
I went to the church this morning reeking of smoke and a little concerned. As I was saying good morning to Eunice I looked out the window. There was little Jose, walking down the hill to come to the church. He paused right outside Eunice's window, turned his back to the street so he was facing the window, and began to pee on the side of the road. Tomorrow I am going to count how many people I see urinating in public. I am guessing it is at least four people per day. I still am not accustomed to public urination. Eunice laughed and continued on with her work.
The kids are learning a lot about Semana Santa (Holy Week). I called some of the tutors into the classroom and had each of the kids share what they learned today. It was interesting to hear what they remembered. Most of the tutors have children in my class, so they were happy the kids are learning so much.
I sent out picture postcards today. I am hoping they will bring in some more donations. I am really lacking in funding. Can't go home in June this year. Normally my brother, his family and I go to Telluride Bluegrass Festival together. I love camping for 10 days with the friends we have made over the years. I started going in 2000 and have a long history there. I'll be sad not to go.
This afternoon I finally went back to the gym. It has been about 2 weeks since I last worked out. First the groups were visiting and then I got this cough. Today felt good though. Way better than I expected. One of the trainers taught me a bunch of arm stuff. He is so nice. A while ago he taught me some leg exercises to specifically target what I wanted to achieve. A few weeks ago he taught me some stomach stuff. Today I did the arm things until I couldn't lift my arms any more. Never knew how much arm strength it takes to drive home.
On the way home many of the telephone poles had people from the electric company working on them. Lots of wires were down. I kept wondering what I was going to eat for dinner if there was no electricity due to the high winds. But I came home to electricity and cable! Amazing. I need to remember to keep something in the house that does not need to be heated up so I have something to eat on days when there is no electricity.
I'm in a new discipleship group and very excited about it. It is made up of single, professional ladies. This will be a nice change for me. I haven't had any discipleship since I got here and have been waiting eagerly. I don't know any of the ladies in the group, so maybe I will also make new friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment