Storm

Tuesday, March 1 2011

7:30 PM

I’m sitting in on the floor of my house, listening to some incredibly loud thunder and to the wind throwing rocks at my house, wondering how safe a wooden house with a corrugated tin roof is in lightning storms. Walking here from the teahouse was probably the scariest experience I’ve had yet in Thailand.

I’d been watching the lightning light up the sky for about 7 minutes when I decided I’d better hurry home before I got caught in the rain without a jacket, umbrella, or flashlight. I bid Paul and Machima goodnight, and quickly slipped on my flip-flops before I walked into the street. I had been walking for about thirty seconds when all of the street lamps went out and the wind began to pick up. Sparks were flying from the side of the road—I honestly don’t know where they came from—and the wind began to blow dirt straight into my eyes. I had to walk blindly for several seconds before daring to open them again with my hand as a shield. A rather large dog started trailing me with a low growl in his throat—I honestly felt like I had walked into the movie Something Wicked This Way Comes. Luckily I made it back home safely—though I can’t say I necessarily feel safe.

Hmmm….Ok….the power just went out here and I can’t find my flashlight… And I just saw a mouse run into my room by the light of my computer. I can see the lightning through the slats in my house….and I can’t hear anything but pelting rain and thunder. This is terrifying. I keep telling myself it’s just a good adventure.—all alone in a wooden house….without a cell phone or a flashlight. What a cool thing to write about right? And a mouse on the loose only makes things more exciting. OK…..I’m going to go search for my flashlight by the light of my computer.

7:55 Found it…and I have now discovered that my house leaks. There’s an ever growing puddle by my front door and I can hear the constant drip…drip….drip….from the ceiling above. I can’t tell you how eerie it is to be able to see lightning through the walls of one’s house. The lights started flickering on and off a few minutes ago—I turned them off deciding that maybe the darkness wasn’t so bad after all. I’m really thankful for computers with batteries.

Earlier today I came home early from the home due to lack of internet access—by the time I got here I felt incredibly achy and woozy. I tried to drink a couple bottles of water (assuming I was just dehydrated), but it didn’t seem to help. Finally I opted for lying on my floor by a fan after taking a nice cold shower (PS no sarcasm is intended by nice cold shower, I really HAVE grown to appreciate them in this heat). After lying down for a few minutes I felt my floor start shaking and heard someone making strange moaning noises outside. I took this as a sign that someone was outside on the side porch, and after prepping myself, opened up the door to peer out. I was slightly startled to find an adult Thai man wearing nothing but a purple sarong like garment around his waist. He was several feet away from me on the porch and beckoned for me to

GAH! I hate this thunder. I’m thinking I should have just stayed at the teahouse. Thunder is so much more frightening when you’re alone.

Anyways, he beckoned for me to come out. He kept making strange noises and pointing to his throat. I knew from the stories of other volunteers that one of my neighbors had a mentally disabled older son—I assumed this was he. I asked what he was doing at my house, and he just kept making strange noises and pointing to his throat. He said something in Thai and motioned for me to come toward him again. I just shook my head and told him that he’d better go home. I popped my head back inside my little wooden shell and locked the door. I decided just to hope that he would go away, and I commenced with reading The Da Vinci Code while I waited. A few minutes later I looked outside again and he was gone.

What an eerie day this has been….