After a day of failure, anything becomes a success so just waking up in the morning and being able to walk after the bike abuse was a good sign. We were still on a mission to find a local internet café (it’s important to us for several reasons: communicating with family and friends, posting blog entries and photos, but first and foremost, finding out about another house). There was no need to discuss our mode of transportation after I hobbled bowlegged into the kitchen.
Halfway into our walk on the dirt road, we were fortunate enough to get a ride from an expat we met, Steve, who owns a hotel somewhat near us. He also pointed out the correct gravel road that leads to town if we didn’t want to take the interstate. Steve also informed us that Parrita was flooded last night, only the 2nd time in 9 years, due to the outrageous amount of rain we’ve gotten. Apparently the flood did whatever floods do to go away because we only saw a few remnants; a very high river and some soggy lawns. That was before we spent the rest of the rainy day at an internet saloon (this was no café…they had a full bar, karaoke room, a movie projector, disco lights and a sound system). Mike was also psyched because they played futbol games on their mini TV. Doesn’t matter what language it’s in, GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL is recognizable.
We spent quite a few hours working online (I say working because it sometimes seems like a job). The internet connection isn’t the fastest here so posting entries, uploading pics, and refreshing pages, sometimes takes a while. We’ve tried on three occasions to upload a video we took when we had the car of our infamous dirt road but it’s never made it to completion and that’s after 20-30 minute attempts. Mike also downloads entertainment for us. FYI, Robin Hood was on the agenda last night and we’re more than halfway through it. You’d think we’re dragging it out on purpose but that’s not the case. Putting a movie on in the dark is equivalent to giving Mike a tranquilizer, even on a wicker lounger (isn’t that any oxymoron??).
After sucking up as much of their internet as we could, we decided to cross our fingers and hope a bus would bring us to the stop right outside our dirt road. The bus schedule isn’t very clear here (at least to us)…seems like sometimes you get one, sometimes you don’t, sometimes you buy a ticket, sometimes you pay the driver. So we just wing it. There were a lot of people at the station so we figured something must be rolling though shortly and it did.
After riding a few minutes we noticed that there was some type of accident or incident as we crept through town…lights were flashing, people were gathered, police were directing traffic. The river had flooded again and this time we were driving through the middle of it. Unfortunately, the only thing we had with us to capture the event was our memories and my Blackberry (but I didn’t bring plugs and deactivated my email so the pics you see are actually pics of the pics on my phone). Coffee colored water gushed over the bridges, well over SUV tires, poured into lawns, plantations, and the town’s cemetery. Their memorials are above ground in what looks like coffin-sized ceramic-tiled boxes and all but the tops of these were submerged. The way people were gathered snapping photos, it was clear that this was the type of event that happens only a couple times in a decade. At its deepest point, the water would have come up over my knees and the current was strong. Since it was headed to the ocean, it may have behooved us to grab a tube and take a ride but we opted to walk as planned. Fortunately, we live far enough away from the river to not be affected by the flood. Surprising, I know.
Mike’s success making a chessboard has led to the creation of a few other games (a generic version of “Sorry!” that we’re calling “Apologize!”) and an original idea called TRAVEL that uses a die (knew I brought that for a reason). It’s got the board game essentials - a simple objective and obstacles that keep the game going in unexpected directions. And most importantly, it keeps us entertained.
The only other thing that’s blog-worthy is that Mike did the laundry a few days ago. His response to hand washing laundry? “(Insert the 6th letter of the alphabet here) that.” The warmest water that touched our clothes probably came from Mike’s forehead and he got a blister on his hand from wringing them out. We’re on day number 3 of drying. With the humidity here, we’re hoping they might be dry for our move in 16 days.
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