Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Still burning

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!

Fire 2014

I've been spending more time at the church lately, where the internet connection is better and I can get prepared for swimming.  We start classes this weekend!  Thirty kids are signed up for Saturday and 15 adults are going Sundays.  I am really psyched!

Yesterday was my first day back in the classroom in ages.  Our group is back to being small again since all of the teams from North America have come and gone.  I only had 6 in preschool yesterday.  But I guess it is more relaxed that way.

We are teaching about "Semana Santa" as they call it here.  When asked on Monday why we celebrate Holy Week the kids said "to rest", "to go to the beach" and one of my preschoolers said "to fix your glasses".  Some of you can guess - that was Samuel.  But not one of them in the whole Breakfast Program could talk about Easter.  I was shocked!  They will know by the end of this week.

I am noticing a sad and strange phenomenon.  In order for the kids to swim, we would like to have a 10 minute meeting with the parents to go over the rules and have them sign a permission slip.  But very few of the parents will come.  They are all too busy, they say.  Even the homes with 2 unemployed parents say they don't have time to come and sign their kids up.  It frustrates me because I have to imagine they are the same with their children's education - can't be bothered to go to the school.  I also don't understand why these parents can't set aside 10 minutes of their time (I have said I am available 7 days/week at any hour) for such a special gift for their child.  The church pays for everything - the lessons, the bussing, the swim caps, the professional coaches, even the sun block!  Yet the parents can't be bothered to walk across the street and sign a paper.

Yesterday as I left the church I noticed I had a missed call from my landlord.  I called him back right as I noticed he had left me a text.  It is fire season here.  Everything is on fire and the smoke fills the city.  Yesterday a lady who works on the property noticed a fire down at the front gate.  She called my landlord and his brother, who also lives on the property.  They rushed home from work and together with the house cleaner they worked hard and finally put out the fire.  It started, as it did last year, across the street.  It came up the side of our driveway and around my landlord's brother's house, and up the mountain.  Apparently it burned a lot up there.  I haven't seen it yet in daylight.

My landlord's brother was very, very sad.  Plus he fell while climbing the hill to fight the fire and got hurt.  It wasn't a good day for him.  After they got the fire controlled on that side of the property it spread toward my house.  It didn't make it as close as it did last year yet.  I say yet because last year we had several fires.  Carlos said it was a big fire.  As soon as they finally got in under control, 12 firemen came.  They went and walked around the property, then left because it had spread over to our neighbors properties.

Last year the fires really upset and scared me.  This year I felt more calm.  I saw last year that the fire can burn right up to my house and the only thing that happens is the odor of smoke lingers for days and I have to wash everything to get the smell out.  My house is cement with a wide sidewalkish thing around it and a tin roof, so the structure is likely to be safe.  My landlord's house is brick, so they are pretty safe too.

Right as I pulled up the driveway last night, raindrops fell on my windshield.  We had a good rain but heavy winds.  It hasn't rained in weeks.  I was happy for the rain, hoping it will take some of the dust off the roads and some of the smoke out of the air.