Today has been a great day. I got up about 7am after laying in the bed enjoying the sound of the rain on the roof. The ladies did not come today due to the rain which makes walking the just over mile between their house and here treacherous. Walking is the main mode of transportation here. If you are middle class you have a bicycle or donkey. If your on the high end of middle class you might have a motorcycle. Only the well off or mission backed person have vehicles. There is a place here called ravine kaiman. This particular ravine is a step downgrade that bottoms out to a brook and steep upgrade on the other side. When we have rain it becomes a hill of nothing but slick mud. The commercial vehicles drive down and slide around tearing up the road and then more often then not one will get stuck. An attempt to dig or push it out is made. Next a pair of oxen are called or they wait for the sun to come dry out the mud enough to get it out.
We received some good news the storm has change course which can be attributed to none other than lots of prayers. Port-au-Prince was helpless to prepare the tent cities for the amount of rain that was anticipated. The storm is passing far enough north that they had minimal rain an is not expected to get much more. There is definitely a sign of relief for many. Two missionaries from here on the plateau were in route to the big city. Rain can make that trip not only difficult but dangerous. We are thankful they made it safely. We here in the north will still experience heavy rain fall. There is a reported 10 inches due over the 24 hour period. We got rain all day in waves and the rain is now getting harder as the storm approaches Haiti.
Dad measured the fuel tank and we are very low. Consider we have been using about 10 gallons a day due to no sunlight and low solar batteries, we are need to get some fuel ASAP. He called but could not get any from Hinch. He called one of the missionaries headed to Port-au-Prince and was able to get a drum of fuel and it should be here Wed. Now we just have to get what we have to last until Wed. Right now there is more draw on the solar system than what is coming in. Dad has been working on the roof solar panels (yes he was up there and got caught in the rain). I took some pictures of that. He checked the batteries and saw that the water was low in a few. We used the last of the distilled water on hand getting them leveled out. Thanks to the generosity of a friend in Florida, we now have a distiller and are in the process of making more. Here is the fun part. We have to run the generator to make the water. It takes 3 hours to make one gallon. Running a generator for 3 hours just toake distilled water cost $36,That folks is some expensive distilled water(hench,we only distill at night when we HAVE to run the generator) . Now we have to have that water for the solar batteries to keep their charge so we wont need to run the generator as much. Yep this is just one of the paradox we live in here daily.
A neighbor brought us a gift of avocados and dry corn. Dry corn is roasted over a fire and has no milk in the kernels. The flavor is unique and a wonderful treat I have enjoyed since childhood. When folks come to visit here they often make appointments and I have a few coming up on Friday. Just like the gifts I received, it is also customary to give a form of gift to those close to the family. The gift can be as simple as a pack of razors for men or a baby's garment for the new mothers. Its more the gesture than the gift itself. I have a few more to make up before Friday.
After lunch Daddy was determined to get the panels rewired on the roof and make another attempt but another rain shower over took us and he had to come down. metal roofs get slick in the rain. Before the rain made it to us we got to see the most amazing rainbow. I was able to get some great pictures of both Daddy on the roof and the rainbow. I will post the link once I get them up during the upload allowance window.
We worked on things here in the house and Dad was able to make contact with mom and a few others. I am trying to get the office organized and still find time to study for my project manager exam.
Tonight I got a phone call from a girl I went to elementary school with. She and I are working on a class reunion for May of 2012. I am getting excited about that.
Dad and I have also spent time trying to find any energy suckers that might be causing power draw to be high. We may have found a few and corrected them or are in the process. By Wednesday we should have the power and fuel issues under control.
Progress is being made daily and its great to see.
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