Almost like camping

Almost. Except that camping is meant to be fun, and let me tell you that being stuck in a house for over four days, then losing power, communications and water and trying to keep an active Wee One happy in a dark, cold house isn’t exactly fun. Breath in....breath out. Monday evening it began to rain, nothing new there. Our friends, the Redcays were coming to visit on Thursday and we were going to travel together to Panamá so that they and our intern could renew their visas. We had all been anticipating this trip with much excitement. Luka was going to have two little buddies, Simmy and Tito to play with. Thursday night we were going to have a big grilled pizza party (if you have never had grilled pizza....oh my sassy! Do! It’s delicious.) Jaime Redcay was bringing pumpkin pies, which is a delicacy around here, my house was clean, the toys were put away, the guest room was cozy. We were ready. But then the rain. It. Never. Stopped. No really. It didn’t stop. Tuesday rolled by, Wednesday creaped by the the power and internet going on and off. That wasn’t much of a big deal either. Reports swam around of such and such road being closed, then open again, then maybe open soon. We didn’t know what or who to believe. Even the “official” information stations dished out conflicting news. Thursday morning came and we were assured by an official that the road from the Capital, where our friends were traveling from, was open all the way. Well. All you have to do is take a look at this blog to learn otherwise.
The roads were a complete mess and obviously our plans were squashed....but we ate the pizza! We had to. There was nothing else left in our fridge, as I had planned for an empty fridge before our trip. But the next day....ooooh the next day. No power. No communications. No water.
Luka had a blast, I cannot assure you. It was dark, it was cold, and pointing at all of the animals in his books got old after about the 27th time. What I love about situations like these is the push for creativity. What better time to introduce the Wee to in-home tent making, as Jason so wisely did? No water? No problem. There was plenty of rain, and so we put out buckets under our roof drains and used that to wash dishes and “take showers.” Modestly, of course. The stores were running out of most food items and so we even resorted to boiling our drinking water. I can tell you one thing I did not do: I did not purchase any of the unrefrigerated meats and dairies they claimed they had iced over the night before. The fact is, they were not on ice at that moment and the chicken, well, it didn’t take much light to see its greenish tint. Ew.
Our situation is well restored now. I have not been to the store yet, and don’t know if we will be eating fresh or canned tonight, but our hearts are full of gratitude for our safety and that of our friends. Thank you to those of you who have prayed. God is faithful and stopped the rain. Please continue to pray for this nation. Many people lost loved ones and homes, and thousands are still without power and water. Pray that God would show us how to help those in need.

XOXOX
Sarah

The Wee One, camping out Tropical Storm style.

He lined up his "friends" in a row and went down the line, giving each one of them a kiss.

Washing our dishes with bucket rain water out on the side of the house.

One of the bad sections of road that separated us form Panama.

While nearing the edge, I asked a worker if it was safe to get that close. He said it was and I informed him that if I tumbled down along with that chunk of asphalt, he would be the first one to go get me.

It's no wonder our power was out. Try fixing that mess. I have been very grateful to the government workers who have worked tirelessly night and day to provide people with basic living conveniences.

There once was road, and now there just isn't.

You want to know what's really crazy about this? This once was a little creek. It turned into a raging river and literally swept the road out to sea.

What the roads are looking like these days.

While going into "town" we encountered this. Semis as far as the eye could see, waiting for the road to open up so that they could continue on south. Buses too, lots of bus passengers stranded overnight.

Waiting truckers making the most of it, with their spread safely under one of their trucks

They didn't have a lid for their pot and so they rigged one with a plastic bag. They were so cheerful about it too! They claimed they were probably happier than most people because they were faced with the need to be resourceful, and they were enjoying it. One of them joked that the lid came straight from Nicaragua...

They wanted me to take a picture of their hot sauce