Wow! Last night, I was sitting in my apartment when I heard this loud boom. And all of a sudden, all of the lights went off and I heard sirens and car alarms going off. I immediately went to the window to see what happened, but it was completely dark outside. The whole city lost power. As I went looking for the flashlight, the lights came back on. Alarms still blazing outside, I could hear this strange noise coming from outside. I looked out the window again and this time I saw it. RAIN. It was pouring. This is the first time it has rained since I got here almost 3 months ago. A friend here has been telling me that the dry season is almost over. I guess he was right. The dry season ended with a bang (literally). I know that when we are really in the heart of rainy season, I will wish we were back in the dry season. But, for now, it was good to see a little rain.
A fellow missionary I was talking to asked me if I was going to run outside and play in the rain. I would have loved to, but then I would need a shower, which would be a problem. We have had no water here since Friday morning. All last week, I was awakened to the sound of pounding as men were breaking holes in the concrete walls in the hallways and stairwells. On Friday morning, there was no more pounding. I thought that was good until I went to take a shower and found that we didn’t have any water. Apparently there are problems with the water pipes or something in the apartment building. The water was turned off Friday morning, and has been off since except for a period of half an hour, 3 times per day to fill buckets. We did have water today for some time and I was told that the water would be back on for good, but a few hours later was told differently.
Apparently, this type of water problem is nothing new to Maracaibo. Every time I told someone the situation, they responded with “Welcome to Maracaibo”. According to them (and I have seen it myself in some places), there are some areas and buildings that do this on a DAILY BASIS. They will only have water for an hour or two a few times every day. They live out of buckets and coolers filled with water. Wow. That is hard.
My schedule has had to change some. I have had to adapt to the times that the water was supposed to be on. In times like this, I have come to appreciate all that God has given to me, things I usually take for granted, like having water flowing from the faucet. Thank you God for your many, many blessings.
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