And then the rains came

Rainy season is in full swing here. Maybe it's just because we have been having a drought in California for the past few years, but the rain here is like nothing I have seen before. It just doesn't stop. I think it has rained everyday this month. These aren't just showers either. There have been serious downpours.

I have had no water since Saturday morning, so I've been collecting rainwater to use instead. The buckets fill up pretty fast, so now I'm set probably for the next week or so.

The great thing about using rainwater is it is clean. No risk of cholera or other water-borne parasites like you usually get from groundwater this time of year with the high water table. Still, I'm boiling and filtering it all before I drink it, just to be safe.

The rain is bringing out more creatures too. Check out this pretty snail. Note: this guy was as big as my hand!

There are some drawbacks to all this rain though. Like walking through brown water up to my ankles to get to school. Clothes that take days to dry. Power that goes out everyday. Rain pounding on the tin roof when I am trying to teach. Oh yeah, and this:

That used to be the brick wall behind my house. They only used mud to hold the bricks together for the wall, and the soil has a lot of sand here, so the wall has been collapsing as it gets soaked. That photo was from yesterday. More fell down last night. Luckily the bricks from the house were cemented together properly so it seems okay so far. There are some growing wet spots in the walls that I am monitoring, and I have plates on the floor to catch all the leaks.

In that photo, the back left corner is the latrine. I had to climb over that pile of bricks to reach the chim this morning. Have you ever used an umbrella to walk to the bathroom? And then almost slipped in the mud with your flip-flops? I have!