Hello again 21st century world!

I’m writing from my laptop at home – which I haven’t been able to do for the past 2 and a half weeks since Tropical Cyclone Gita. I’ve just been posting from work or on my phone (another reason why I started Moments on my blog), and so here are some updates!

Since the cyclone, we were very fortunate to have our water restored the same day though late in the night. We had prepared with several gallons of water for drinking and collected rainwater for dishwashing/ tooth brushing/ toilet flushing. This was our most basic need so we were truly very blessed to have our water back within 24 hours.

Five days later, electricity came back on! We fared decently without electricity. We bought canned food and ice to keep perishable food in two little coolers, used a tiny gas camp stove to cook, had romantic candlelit dinners, and slept earlier. The hard part: no AC and no fans!  Gita must have taken all the wind with it because the humid tropical summer heat made the air feel hot and sticky. We couldn’t get much relief – other than cold showers; we slept with our windows open, tried to sleep in a tent on the porch (hahaha), and on the living room floor – desperately hoping for a cool gentle breeze to keep us cool while we slept. So when the power came on in my village, I literally shrieked with excitement, immediately turned on the air conditioning, and finally enjoyed a cozy night of sleep.

Eighteen days later, and here we are. The Internet is back up. I’m laying in bed with the AC on right now, streaming Netflix (currently binge watching Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee), typing up this blog update, and feeling so grateful. Also, another update: my landlord is back in town and she’s getting our roof and ceiling fixed! I was a little worried at first that the repairs would drag on the same way all these FEMA and Red Cross assessments are. But she’s way better than FEMA because the supplies have already been purchased and just earlier this afternoon there were like 5 guys on the roof.

Oh yeah, life is good!