So, it has been few days since I have posted on my blog, but I assure you it has not been because I grew tired of blogging. On Monday evening, it began to rain. Rain really hard. The papers the next day said that it rained about 99 MM in just 10 minutes. The street outside the apartment flooded, as the drainage systems were inadequate.
Unfortunately, every night at about 8.00p everyone puts their evening's trash on the curb for pickup, and when the rain started at about 9.00p there was trash everywhere. The trash was swept along with the current, and firefighters scrambled across the city to unclog the drainage pipes from all of the garbage. Firefighters also helped people cross the street who were unable to unassisted. People were trapped in their cars, all the cars parked in the street outside the apartment were swept away into the intersection at the end of the block.
Strangely, I only personally saw the beginning of the night's events. And the aftermath, naturally. Betty and I had been out on the streets looking to see if there was a murga a few blocks from the house, and the rain started about 15 minutes after we returned to the house (having found no murga). The next morning, Betty told me everything she had seen out the window, how she had gone downstairs and seen the water level with the building's door (which you have to climb 4-5 steps to open). And it rose further after she returned upstairs. All of the buildings on the block flooded, the bottom floor, the basements, there was one building with an underground parking garage in which the cars were completely submerged.
A few hours before the rain started, on Monday, there was a super loud explosion outside. Magnify the sound of a car backfiring a few times, and I thought someone had set off a small cannon in the street. Naturally, everyone immediately appeared in the doorways and at the windows, looking for the source. The police came and blocked off the road, and a fire department crew came by. From the window, I had a tree perfectly blocking my view of the road, so I could not see what was happening. Later (on the way to the nonexistent murga) we found out that the electric phone box on the side of the road had essentially exploded, chewing up a section of the sidewalk. So when the rain started, we did not have a working phone line.
Tuesday morning, I woke up to no electricity, running water, or phone/internet connection. After school, I returned home to see the basement being drained through a pump and hose into the street. That night, there were some rioters in the streets protesting the power outage (since the electric company is private, not government run). They had set up fires in the streets and were yelling and banging drums and blowing whistles. Apparently, the electric company was doing nothing/very little to remedy the situation, and everyone was experiencing the same frustrating loss of all perishable items at home, many of which were still wet, and so tempers were flaring accordingly.
Wednesday, we got electricity back after the basement had been drained and the power would not cause an explosion in the foundation. We also got running water, just not any hot water. We were so relieved that we did not mind that we did not have hot water, we were so thankful for the apartment owner (and his family) who worked for hours and hours to drain the building.
After school on Wednesday, I joined a group from school on a trip to the national cemetery. All of the deceased were buried in above-ground tombs (although some had "basements), which made the appearance very unusual for a cemetery. The Americans in the group compared it to New Orleans, Louisiana. Buried there were all of the old, rich, famous people of Buenos Aires, often along with their families. The tombs ranged from modern, to antiquated and dilapidated. I recognized quite a few names from streets and subway stations. Apparently not many people are still buried there, the rich opting for burials outside the city limits, but there was a double funeral in process while we were leaving the cemetery.
As we were walking to the exit, we found it had been blocked off by security personnel, and there was a large congregation that followed a casket through the entrance of the cemetery and into a building. We suspected that the deceased was a police officer or member of the military as there were a lot of uniforms present, including about 20 solders with guns who marched into the cemetery in pairs (in descending height order). As we left the cemetery out of a different entrance/exit, there was a second funeral car was pulling up to the entrance.
This morning, Thursday, I woke up to an absence of water. We had light (the telephones have still not been repaired, thank goodness for cell phones), but no running water. We decided to eat out for breakfast so that we could use the restroom, and I brushed my teeth etc. when I got to school early. We asked downstairs about the water, and the lady there said that it was not an issue with the motor/pump in the basement, but a problem with the company. Fortunately, we currently have water and electricity.
Besides the weather drama and associated chaos, school has been great. The lessons have been going smoothly, and I am getting along really well with the people there. Come Monday, though, I do not know how things are going to be since most of my group is leaving. I'll explain tomorrow when I have the sad photos.
The only other story-worthy experience was last night. I went out with some people from the school (including a teacher and a girl from the office) to a restaurant/bar in Palermo. I took the subway there, and met up with some of them at the door. It turned out that it was a private event that night, celebrating the new BMW Nuevo Fox car (of which there were 5 display cars). Still, Paula managed to talk our way in, and after a slight hiccup with my confusing ID from ¡Texas! we had a great time. When the dancing started, I was quite amused at the choice of music. In addition to the expected popular, modern tunes (from the Latin-American countries, the U.S., and England), they played 'Take A Chance on Me' and 'I Will Survive.' Quite funny. My departure resulted in another exciting adventure when I took the correct number bus in the incorrect direction and ended up waaay far away from home. So, I took a taxi (once I flagged on that was willing to make the drive) and paid the enormous sum of USD 6.00. I got home late (time reference intentionally censored for motherly benefit), and I was greeted this morning by the absence of water.
I am having quite the Argentinean adventure, but I have still enjoyed everything. No offense to all of you lovely readers, but I almost enjoyed being cut off from the all-to-familiar Internet. It made for a different experience. I will add photos, hopefully, at a later date since everyone is using the Internet (in lieu of the phones) and so the connection is extremely weak.
Chao. Chao. Chao. Chao. (One for each day that this blog is covering.
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