... more than I remember it ever raining here at once in a long time. My plans on Monday this week, which I happened to remember was our Independence Day back home, were to help in Deisi's kitchen for a couple of hours in the morning, eat an early lunch, and then make our way into Barahona. I had some work to do on the computer and then Izabelle had been bugging me for a week to go to the pool or beach! We also had plans to leave sometime this afternoon for Puerta Plata for several days. But with the amount of rain pouring down, everything changed. One of the kitchen helpers didn't show up, rain was coming down in sheets, and I soon realized we weren't going anywhere today and maybe nowhere for several days, which is how everything eventually played out. We stayed put. I worked with Deisi and her staff all day long, peeling a pound of garlic, as I have been doing most mornings, as well as other vegetables such as carrot, potato and tayote. I served water, bussed tables, washed dishes, etc. All the while the rain kept coming down in buckets. I thought it might never stop. I was told the forecast was that it would be like this much of the week. Having seen no news or weather reports myself since early June, I had to accept what I was being told and know that this week would be much different than I had planned. Precisely why Dominicans always complete a forward-thinking statement with the phrase "God willing".
We actually had lots of fun staying put in the rain. At one point Izabelle exclaimed that it was just like being at the pool! So in case you were wondering where my weekly post was, well here it is. A week late. This week's lesson - flexibility - goes hand in hand with patience. If we can't do as we planned on a particular day, then we'll have fun doing what we can do. And we'll readjust our plans for another day.
In the States, rain rarely halts things as it does here. People with vehicles are still able to proceed with most things as planned. But folks traveling by motorbike or public guagua (minivan) are pretty much at a standstill. Unless you don't mind arriving at your destination cold and soaking wet. For me it seemed I wasn't so pressed to be anywhere but right where we were. I didn't even feel so inconvenienced by the weather. I was really needed in the kitchen. The pool and beach will still be there when we can get there. And I was even able to reschedule our trip to Puerto Plata. It seems that some of the patience I've been looking for is beginning to set in, just as I had hoped it would.
Next hitch in the giddyup will be a nationwide strike scheduled for Monday July 11. I've been advised that nobody will go anywhere on that day. Folks will be protesting in the streets against a whole host of perceived injustices such as the price of gasoline (nearly $7 a gallon), the price of food, the lack of constant electricity and water, etc. The National Police force will be out en masse as well as military forces to control the well organized demonstrations in all Dominican provinces. No worries here. I just know in advance to have an extra measure of patience and flexibility in mind on Monday!
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