We Survived!

When it rains… it pours a river off the roof! A picture of some of the rains we’ve recently experienced!

Sunday night after I (Erin) and Chad ate dinner (I made a stir-fry using all local vegetables from our market in La Mision. I would list them I was so excited to just throw everything in the wok…but don’t want to bore you) we were playing a card game the power flickered and then went out.

This is an unusual experience for us as the power rarely goes out for us. However, out it went.  Monday it stayed off and we learned from our friend Helio that we shouldn’t expect it to return until Tuesday around 5pm. 

On Monday afternoon however the rains came. So I was thinking it probably wouldn’t come back on for even longer because when it rains all the dirt roads turn to mud and cars get stuck. 

Even with the power off our lives weren’t affected much. We could still heat water with our gas stove and make coffee. We don’t have heat, so that didn’t change. And we didn’t have much food in the fridge that we had to worry about spoiling. So all in all the power outage made us just feel a bit disconnected from people, as we didn’t have access to the internet or our phone (since we use Skype).

Monday night when it started to get dark and was still raining, Chad and I went downstairs and ended up having a great time playing dominos by candle light with Pastor, Pastora, Gustavo, Enrique, and Edgar.  Sofia played guitar for us. We also ate with them, which was such a blessing as Pastora Elizabeth's cooking is so good.  She made her delicious flour tortillas, so for dinner we had bean burritos with guacamole.   YUM!

Tuesday was clinic day for me, and I didn’t think we were going to hold it since it was still looking like it was going to rain and the power hadn’t returned. But yet, Sarah came up to our apartment around 9:30am looking for me saying even in rain and no power clinic would still be open!  It started raining around maybe 12 and there was one patient who had to walk a long ways to her house…so I got inventive and cut out a poncho for her.  The clinic also has a visitor volunteering her work, so she will be joining us in clinic for the next two weeks. 

Clinic by lantern light! Sarah treating a baby boy sick with a cold.

One of our patients sweeping the water to make sure we could still walk through it from the clinic door.

My creative skills at work with a poncho I made for one of our patients!

Our volunteer Ebony, who came all the way from Philadelphia to work at the clinic.