Aguaceros

October 23, 2007

"Aguaceros" is another name for a shower, often a downpour. The past 2 days I have had plenty of those. On Sunday I was thankfully in the house when the aguacero came. It was only about 30 minutes of heavy rain but when I left the house a little later to visit with a friend, I found a lake on the dirt road just in front of the house. As I drove, the roads got worse until I saw one of the main highways that was up to the curb in water and it was beginning to spill over into the traffic lanes going my direction. It seems like there are some issues with the drainage system. I realized that even if I did not have to drive on dirt roads in the country and thereby need a vehicle like an SUV or pick-up, there would be days when a car even in San Pedro would not be the best. They sat quite low in all of that water. Three hours later the streets were almost dry and you would not have known that earlier that day they had been a river.

Yesterday I made the drive to Santa Rosa de Copan, a town 2 1/2 hours from the city. I was taking the Associate Ministries Director of LAM there to meet with some other missionaries. I am friends with them from Language School in Costa Rica, so I was glad for the chance to visit them. Some of that joy disappated with the drive though. We got left a little later than planned and so by the time we had reached the mountainous roads, it was beginning to get dark. Part of this was due to the sudden "aguaceros" that we found ourselves in. Driving through a torrential downpour on unfamiliar mountainous roads, filled with deep potholes is not the most enjoyable. I eventually followed a sometimes slow, moving delivery truck, because the driver seemed to know the road and where the potholes were. Though it was a slow pace, I was in less danger of hitting a bottomless pothole. Because it was my first drive to Santa Rosa, I had this fear that I had missed the town. In the end it would have been impossible to miss because of its size.

When we arrived in the town, I discovered that it is very much a town on a hill. I went into 4-wheel drive after sliding a bit in some mud. One of hills was so steep that I felt like I was on initial climb of a roller coaster. Upon arrival at the Wards, I discovered that I ached from the tension of the drive. It did not help that because of sickness from something I ate on Sunday, I had only eaten crackers during the day. I went to bed by 8:00 because of the exhaustion. Thankfully today dawned with sunshine and much beauty. The view from the back porch is great and it has been good to fellowship again with the family.