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Published: October 20th 2008
Chopers
Military medical chopper.This morning I woke to the sound of helicopters. It was around 8:30 in the morning, I know that because I glanced back at the clock that sits at the head of my bead. The last few nights I have taken to sleeping in reverse to see what effect it will have on my nocturnal libretto. So far the results have been boldly positive. I have also removed all access hair from my scalp to create a better intake of oxygen. So these results could be caused by either the reverse order in which I sleep or my bald head. I still have a few more nights to go until I can reach a conclusion.
After peering back at my clock to inspect the hour I buried my face into the overstuffed pillow and quietly reminisced about Independence day. The sound of the helicopter had brought to mind pleasant memories of the recent Honduran Independence day in Comayagua. This is because, while marching on the Boulevard, three military jets from the Honduran Air force flew over our parade several times. They would swoop down in the form of a perfect triangle, blast over the celebrations, then break formation, swoop back
Grey Skies
This was the sky outside my place this morning. to the front and do it all over again. It was very exciting, but at the time I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if one of the warheads accidentally shook loose.
Some time later I woke again to the sound of a slightly larger helicopter. Once again I peeked back to my clock only to discover that the apartment had no electricity. This is a very common occurrence for Comayagua on Sunday. I usually wake up with no power. Apparently "they" are working on the endless tangle of wires and cables strung above our heads. However every time I see "them" working on it "they" are eating sandwiches. I am beginning to think "they" found a NY State Union handbook somewhere and have decided to follow suit.
I thought about the power being out for about seven seconds and then began to make bets with myself as to how long I would be without power. "Will it be till 4:00? Maybe I will have power this morning. I hope I can cook breakfast." I thought about this for a while and then eventually dunked my face back into my unfinished dream. However the dream had been
La Calle
3" of mud. interrupted twice and it just wasn't the same. Characters and plot setting had all been mixed up with the goings on of the real world and things just didn't make any sence.
I decided to check my trusted iBook. The time was 9:22 AM and there was about 23% battery left. This meant that the power must have gone off about 9:00. You see my laptop is a few years old and the battery loses power very quickly.
So at that point I had a few choices. I could sit and wait for the power to turn on or I could go off and hunt for food at some comfortable restaurant or street side grill. After sitting on the couch for about ten minutes, I chose to exercise the ladder of the two options.
On my way out I ran into one of my 10th graders, Eduin. He spotted me from across the street and pedaled himself through the busy traffic over to the corner on which I stood.
"Hey Meester," He said, "Howarjoo?" In Honduras the greeting "How are you?" tends to become one big word with the "You" dawning a hard "J" sound. I
try to stress the importance of keeping the words separate, but then I realize that I smush them together as well.
But, lets be honest, I am allowed to do that. I am a native English speaker.
"Oh, I'm good Eduin," I say, "Whatcha up to?"
"Aww, well..." Eduin has a strange way of speaking. He tends to blurt out English in a choppy yet well manicured pattern, "I was thinking joo go to see da inundation."
"The what?"
"Da inunda... uhhh... how you say?" He gives me a puzzled look.
"The inauguration?" I try to clarify. Often my students use incorrect words in English. The best example is when they use obligatory when somethings is derogatory. "Is someone getting sworn into office somewhere?
"Naww... there is like... water on de bridge." He really did mean inundation. Apparently there was some sort of flood. His description had really struck a chord in my curiosity so I asked Him to explain in greater detail. He told me that the river had flooded as a result of the tropical storm. This came as no surprise seeing as how we have had more than 72 hours
Caution
Bridge in repair. of what seems to be solid rain. Eduin explained that the bridge in the lower section of Comayagua was underwater as well as a few houses. He advised that put my meal on hold and watch the flooding.
I weighed my options once again. A cooked meal vs. seeing a bridge under water. I figured the meal would be there later, although I never decided where there was going to be. So off I went to see what was going on with this inundation.
As I walked down the street the road slowly changed from concrete to dirt to mud. I noticed an extremely busy amount of foot traffic. People were coming and going up and down the hill with cameras, bags of corn, muddy shoes and small children. "Wow, I thought. Whatever is going on must really be big."
Then I came to it. It was big. Bigger than I had anticipated. Not only that, but when I got to it I noticed that the military helicopters were hoovering overhead. Blowing a mix of vegetation and water vapor into the air, each helicopter would travel a few hundred feet above the river and then stop, only
Militery
Two soldiers directing traffic. to continue its journey after a few minutes.
I was in the lower part of Comayagua, which meant I was in the outskirts. The terrain resembled a jungle and the roads were all dirt. The mix of population, jungle and helicopters made me feel like I was in Vietnam. I could faintly hear Credence Clear Water Revival in the depths of my brain. The helicopters seemed like they were searching for people. They would hoover around than lower themselves into the forest and disappear out of sight. I still had no clue what was really going on.
In front of me I could see the bridge. It seemed as though people were trapped. Water was rushing over the approach and some brave souls had decided to cross. Lifting their bundles high above their heads each traveler moved one shaky foot after the other and found solid ground on which to walk. I remembered a time when I was younger and the driveway flooded. We had a really long driveway up to the main road and one day it rained so hard that it caused the stream to overflow into the road. Seeing fathers lifting their children into the
Blues House
Taking a break after frantically emptying their house. air flashed images of my dad carrying my best friend, Russel over the raging water and into the waiting arms of Mr.Kalback.
I stood and watched this for about a half hour and then decided to go get Josh, a fellow teacher at the school. Both Josh and I live less than five minutes walking distance to this flood. The good news is that we are on higher ground, so I don't see any water coming up here any time soon.
Sure enough Josh was still inside, just as I would be if I hadn't have been so hungry. I yelled up to his window and he came out onto his balcony. I asked him if he had any clue what was going on outside. He asked me about the helicopters. I told him to come outside. He asked why. I told him that If he wanted to know why then he should just come outside. He came outside.
We walked down to a different spot in the river and that is where we realized the true severity of the flooding. The river had grown to a "minimississippi" overnight. It was raging through trees bringing every form
Bus
This bus got to the bridge and then was forced to do a u-turn because the bridge couldn't support it. of trash with it. After we walked even farther down the road we saw a house that had been underwater and another that was being emptied of its soaking wet contents.
Children were riding their bikes through the knee high water and cars were testing each roadway with every ounce of caution they had. By then the military had taken over the bridge and were directing traffic. A tree had been ripped from the ground and had smashed into the side of the bridge, twisting the guide rail and pushing it into one lane.
It was quite the experience and I think I am stating the obvious when I say that it all brought back memories of my time in New Orleans. I could see into houses that had been washed out with the muddy water and I couldn't help but think up checklists as to how they should be renovated.
That house needs a team of five skilled workers, this house could use a team of three unskilled workers. It was all a grave reminder of the monumental danger of flooding.
As a result we do not have our first day of exams tomorrow. Many
Bike
Often people ride these bikes propelled by hand instead of using wheelchairs. of our students live in the lower part of town and I spoke with one of them this morning, JonLucas. He had emptied out his first floor early in the morning and was on his way to get some sleep. I would love to tell you that its all over, but as I write this another wave of heavy rain is starting in on our tin roofs. However the good news is that the river has died down a bit since this morning and the time gave everybody a chance to empty out their first floors.
Apparently we still have twenty four more hours of rain then the storm will pass. If you want to see more photos from this morning then check out my Flickr page.
www.flickr.com/photos/sunrisa/
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Clint Holmes
Sunrisa
Flickr
So far this post has nine views, but no comments... So I will be the first. I have not added the photos just yet. They will be uploaded to the Flickr page tonight. Check back tomorrow, October 20th. So far the rain has stopped for the night and things are calm. I am ralaxing in ym living room with the windows open and I am listening to The Inkspots. The breeze is very nice. I plan on venturing out to the river tomorrow to see how things look. Hope everyone is sleeping soundly up there in the US! God Bless!