Sept 1, 2009 - We are still in the hotel. Part of the city is in a state of emergency. I heard the rain start at about 4AM and by the time we woke up at 8AM our courtyard (out back of our room) was full with 6 inches of water. They had record rainfalls clocked in at 240mm over 8 hours, 266mm by the end of the day. For a country that annually gets under 900mm that is quite a lot, I figure it was the 100 year storm. We were very lucky, there is little effect where we are – we had a tiny leak of water, but the room next to us was flooded. About a quarter of the city was flooded and many people are homeless. I heard only one person died, it was a police officer, but a few are missing still and potentially dead, swept away by the water. A lot of people live in mud brick homes so if it had been overnight a lot of people might have been hurt as houses collapsed all over. There will be no power for awhile and probably no clean water. Markets will be closed as will stores. I think the hotel is well stocked and has a generator so we’ll be okay. I was purifying water and putting it in bottles but I think I will buy for now as the water will be quite dirty. If things don’t clear up soon, there may be cholera. I just hope that it gets hot again for several days to dry things up quickly. We will stay at the hotel until things clear up, well realistically we can do nothing else as we don’t have any mode of transport other than Loren right now and many roads are closed. It’s a good thing we didn’t move or we’d likely be stranded with nothing. One bridge is broken and the main hospital has damage so they are transporting the sick to other hospitals. The government has opened the schools for people who have nowhere to go but they have no insurance or anything so they will have to rebuild on their own dime.
Loren spent the day helping a friend whose house fell down and said he would come by later. He is out with some friends, sitting in the dark, drinking beer. Some places will have generators but not many, certainly not the places where he is drinking J.
I am worried for Dembele. I can’t get through on the phone and I’m sure that their house has fallen down by now. With the last rain, the roads were already inundated and terrible. I think he’d be lucky if nothing happens to them. I worry for Cita and her pregnancy. She could get very sick. With people leaving their homes, there are many thieves as well since people can’t take everything with them.
Sept 2, there was no internet yesterday so I couldn’t send. We got into the house today and it is fine, but needs some cleaning. I am hoping to move out of the hotel today but the house needs cleaning, needs the water and electricity hooked up, and has no furniture. We spoke to a carpenter this morning and he will have beds built by tomorrow, a dining room set for 6 by Monday or Tuesday next week and living room set by the following week. That’s fine, we can deal with that, it’s just the first couple days that will be challenging. The owner is out of town and will meet us this afternoon I hope. Having already spent 4 months rent on this hotel, I am anxious to get out of here but not at the expense of staying in a house with no power/water etc. We’ll see how it goes.
Driving around you can see the aftermath of the storm. A lot of stores have all their stuff out front, drying. Many homes and shops are destroyed and some areas where the water was flowing really fast are dug out and the dirt spread everywhere. But otherwise it appears mostly business as usual. It is sunny and hot so everything is drying up nicely. Loren said there will probably be no mosquitoes for a few days because the storm would have washed out all the stagnant water and their nests. Positive thoughts in a challenging time.
Sept 3
I am currently waiting to hear from Loren that the owner has settled everything. We are hoping to have the house today, but who knows really and even if we get it, it may not have water. It needs cleaning as it is quite dusty, a couple windows are broken, there are no screens on the windows yet and we are having furniture made. Loren has some stuff already, like burners to cook on, but need to purchase a fridge (second hand from France so probably full of Freon), cushions, mattresses and need to get someone to install cupboards. It will take quite some time before we are complete.
Ben’s school doesn’t start until October. He gets 2 weeks vacation for Christmas and Easter and other days off, school ends in June.
So far it has been a real range of temps and weather as it is rainy season. Some days it’s hot and sunny (35oC) and humid; and other days, usually after it rains, it is cooler, like 20oC. Nights are pretty cool but the rooms are hot still. There are no screens so I cannot leave the door open (we are on the ground floor and have a terrace door so someone can get in the room, as can bugs – and there are LOTS of mosquitoes and flies – they hang knitted curtains which are only so effective). Ben has lots of bites as do I but his legs look like minced meat from scratching. We are being careful with him taking anti malarials but haven’t been super smart with the bug dope. There aren’t a lot of bugs in the room, but mostly because they spray the hotel, which doesn’t make me too happy. There is no where to put up the mosquito nets in the rooms. We are getting beds made with posters for hanging the nets.
The food is awesome as usual but then I am not so picky about the appearance. They make a lot of sauces that I really like. Tomatoes and bananas are quite cheap and plentiful as are oranges and grapefruit. People are focussing on cultivating grains right now during the rains and will get to the fruits and veg more in dry season. Mangoes are done unfortunately but now mango juice is readily available. There is a new company – Dafani, that specializes in juices, so for $2.50 you can get a litre of juice that is quite good. Ben is a little picky so has mostly been eating spaghetti, rice and bread. He doesn’t seem to like meat much but did eat some rabbit and has meat sauce on his pasta. Milk is in short supply so I have him taking supplements. People here get their calcium from bones, marrow, cartilage but he won’t eat those either. There is some cheese but it’s expensive. A box of 8 “Laughing Cow” costs about $4 and they don’t exactly have a lot of calcium in them. Ben doesn’t like Emmental which is the most common cheese here. 150 g of parmesan costs about $4.
The restaurant here makes great food but has been quite expensive, usually about $15 for breakfast and $20 – 50 for dinner, depending. Djamal came to stay over with us for a couple nights so the meals were pretty expensive. The hotel is nice with a bathroom in the room (toilet and shower are combined), tiled floors, a nice front lobby with tv and wireless (although slow and intermittent – so I type all my stuff in Word then copy). They have a nice area out back with a bar and cabanas, a huge pool and a kids’ pool. I paid about $500 for the 8 nights I’ve been here – I got a fair discount for being friends with Clark/Loren.
I have a cell phone 011 226 76 56 81 82. 226 is the country code and 011 is to dial international. It’s fairly expensive to make calls but not too bad. Canada is a little more than $1/min and I can call locally for about $1/5 min. I don’t know how much internet is yet but surfing is quite expensive.
Loren is back, we can move into the house now. The water will not be set up as the flood caused damage to the Water authority’s computers so it may take some time to get it. However we can get water in a barrel from nearby.
So will write again when able.
Love Lisa
Loren spent the day helping a friend whose house fell down and said he would come by later. He is out with some friends, sitting in the dark, drinking beer. Some places will have generators but not many, certainly not the places where he is drinking J.
I am worried for Dembele. I can’t get through on the phone and I’m sure that their house has fallen down by now. With the last rain, the roads were already inundated and terrible. I think he’d be lucky if nothing happens to them. I worry for Cita and her pregnancy. She could get very sick. With people leaving their homes, there are many thieves as well since people can’t take everything with them.
Sept 2, there was no internet yesterday so I couldn’t send. We got into the house today and it is fine, but needs some cleaning. I am hoping to move out of the hotel today but the house needs cleaning, needs the water and electricity hooked up, and has no furniture. We spoke to a carpenter this morning and he will have beds built by tomorrow, a dining room set for 6 by Monday or Tuesday next week and living room set by the following week. That’s fine, we can deal with that, it’s just the first couple days that will be challenging. The owner is out of town and will meet us this afternoon I hope. Having already spent 4 months rent on this hotel, I am anxious to get out of here but not at the expense of staying in a house with no power/water etc. We’ll see how it goes.
Driving around you can see the aftermath of the storm. A lot of stores have all their stuff out front, drying. Many homes and shops are destroyed and some areas where the water was flowing really fast are dug out and the dirt spread everywhere. But otherwise it appears mostly business as usual. It is sunny and hot so everything is drying up nicely. Loren said there will probably be no mosquitoes for a few days because the storm would have washed out all the stagnant water and their nests. Positive thoughts in a challenging time.
Sept 3
I am currently waiting to hear from Loren that the owner has settled everything. We are hoping to have the house today, but who knows really and even if we get it, it may not have water. It needs cleaning as it is quite dusty, a couple windows are broken, there are no screens on the windows yet and we are having furniture made. Loren has some stuff already, like burners to cook on, but need to purchase a fridge (second hand from France so probably full of Freon), cushions, mattresses and need to get someone to install cupboards. It will take quite some time before we are complete.
Ben’s school doesn’t start until October. He gets 2 weeks vacation for Christmas and Easter and other days off, school ends in June.
So far it has been a real range of temps and weather as it is rainy season. Some days it’s hot and sunny (35oC) and humid; and other days, usually after it rains, it is cooler, like 20oC. Nights are pretty cool but the rooms are hot still. There are no screens so I cannot leave the door open (we are on the ground floor and have a terrace door so someone can get in the room, as can bugs – and there are LOTS of mosquitoes and flies – they hang knitted curtains which are only so effective). Ben has lots of bites as do I but his legs look like minced meat from scratching. We are being careful with him taking anti malarials but haven’t been super smart with the bug dope. There aren’t a lot of bugs in the room, but mostly because they spray the hotel, which doesn’t make me too happy. There is no where to put up the mosquito nets in the rooms. We are getting beds made with posters for hanging the nets.
The food is awesome as usual but then I am not so picky about the appearance. They make a lot of sauces that I really like. Tomatoes and bananas are quite cheap and plentiful as are oranges and grapefruit. People are focussing on cultivating grains right now during the rains and will get to the fruits and veg more in dry season. Mangoes are done unfortunately but now mango juice is readily available. There is a new company – Dafani, that specializes in juices, so for $2.50 you can get a litre of juice that is quite good. Ben is a little picky so has mostly been eating spaghetti, rice and bread. He doesn’t seem to like meat much but did eat some rabbit and has meat sauce on his pasta. Milk is in short supply so I have him taking supplements. People here get their calcium from bones, marrow, cartilage but he won’t eat those either. There is some cheese but it’s expensive. A box of 8 “Laughing Cow” costs about $4 and they don’t exactly have a lot of calcium in them. Ben doesn’t like Emmental which is the most common cheese here. 150 g of parmesan costs about $4.
The restaurant here makes great food but has been quite expensive, usually about $15 for breakfast and $20 – 50 for dinner, depending. Djamal came to stay over with us for a couple nights so the meals were pretty expensive. The hotel is nice with a bathroom in the room (toilet and shower are combined), tiled floors, a nice front lobby with tv and wireless (although slow and intermittent – so I type all my stuff in Word then copy). They have a nice area out back with a bar and cabanas, a huge pool and a kids’ pool. I paid about $500 for the 8 nights I’ve been here – I got a fair discount for being friends with Clark/Loren.
I have a cell phone 011 226 76 56 81 82. 226 is the country code and 011 is to dial international. It’s fairly expensive to make calls but not too bad. Canada is a little more than $1/min and I can call locally for about $1/5 min. I don’t know how much internet is yet but surfing is quite expensive.
Loren is back, we can move into the house now. The water will not be set up as the flood caused damage to the Water authority’s computers so it may take some time to get it. However we can get water in a barrel from nearby.
So will write again when able.
Love Lisa
Wow! Sounds like a crazy adventure so far! Love you guys! Be safe!
Hey Girl! I hope you are feeling better now and have recovered from the malaria...everything you are writing seems so far removed from my little office here in Ottawa, it's crazy, it's such a different world! Very interesting...Well, take care and Be safe!