Living Haiti

Rain Rain Rain...

I fell asleep around 11:30pm last night. It felt weird going to sleep when you know a storm is coming. But thanks to a little help from some Benedryl left with me, I was able to rest a bit.

I woke up off and on throughout the night to hear the rain. A long, steady rain. It's been raining here in our area of Port Au Prince for over 12 hours. Not a drizzle, but not a crazy hard rain like we get here sometimes. A long, steady rain. This morning when I woke up we had a little wind, but not as windy as yesterday. Every once in a while I see the trees moving wildly outside my bathroom window, but that's it.

It was strangely quiet here last night. In Haiti, I always know I have neighbors, people, music, animals tell me they are present in my neighborhood most nights, and most nights it's all night long. Last night I fell asleep only listening to the sound of rain. If I closed my eyes, it felt like spring day at my house in Chicago. But I knew outside my walls it was a different story.

I checked the weather this morning. It looks like Tomas is back up to a hurricane and it looks like the people in the far west of Haiti might be feeling those effecs this morning. I looks like the people out in the bigger cities of Jeremie and Les Cayes might be getting some pretty strong weather, if the storm tracks I'm looking at our correct. There are lots of little towns out there in the hills. Flooding could be a real problem. It's likely that people out near Jacmel are getting the outer bands of the storm as well. They may be seeing weather more like us. Remember this is what I'm determining from looking at maps, and I've never been in a storm like this so I don't really know what I'm talking about, AND I can't really turn on NBC and listen to Al Roker.

It's possible that the real strong stuff could stay out of Port Au Prince if the storm moves more north and less east. That would be great news for all of the people living in inadequate housing. The hard thing is that there is no escaping this rain. Every day I drive by hundreds upon hundreds of tents. I don't say that to be sensational...I say it because it's true. I drive by temporary housing, or "Permanent" housing that is made out of nothing more than 2X4 frames and some tarps or canvass. Really hoping the storm moves more north than east.

I thinks it's CRAZY that I still have internet...most days even the threat of clouds means it won't work. So...go figure! I'll try to keep people updated.

I'm going to run up on the roof and see if I can get a view of our neighborhood. If I can grab a picture I'll send it along if the internet holds.

p.s...the kids are fine. They are all downstairs in their room singing. Maybe I'll try to find a way to show them a movie today...But our tv exploded...imagine 38 kids gathered around my laptop with me telling them not to touch it. oh man!