Typhoon

As you have all noticed my blogs have become less and less! This is because my life has gotten busier and busier. Paddling ended and I thought things would die down a bit. I was wrong. One week after paddling finished I was asked to join a local dance, which we would be performing in 2 weeks. I told them yes but I was really unsure if I was going to be able to learn this dance in time. It began to consume my life. I was practicing during all of my breaks, before school and after school. Not only was the dance moves making me nervous, but also the fact that the local dances are performed topless! We also started planning the Christmas program for the youth and we had a radio skit to do. Life as a Peace Corps became very unpeaceful. I had simple said yes to too many things and I was extremly stressed out. Then at the begining of the week there was talk about a possible typhoon headed our way. I didnt pay much attention to it because in such a small island people make a big deal about small things. However, this was not a small thing. The typhoon started heading right for us! The Peace Corps activated the emergency action plan and all volunteers were evacuated from our homes and put into a hotel. Many of the volunteers were happy to be able to get a warm shower and sleep in a real bed. I however, was not ver excited. It was very hard for me to leave my village. It was a very weird feeling saying good bye to my host family, kind of like I was abandoning them. The typhoon came and went and at the nice secure hotel we were in I could barley tell any bad weather was happening outside. The next morning when the sun came out I took a walk around town to see the damage. I saw whole trees tipped over with roots out of the ground. I saw roofs ripped off houses and I saw a lot of sea weed all over the roads. There were a couple pipes broken so extra water flooded some roads. I wanted to get back to my village to see the damage there, but I had to wait for the clear from Peace Corps. This was extremly hard for me. I sat around all day and waited and waited while I could have been helping clean my village or helping at the school (which was also a shelter) evenually at 4pm I was able to go home, but then came the trouble of finding a way home. All taxi and buses werent running. I finally found a ride from a friend. The village was a mess! Trees all over the roads! Phone lines and power lines ripped down, it was very sad to see. It is bow the night after the typhoon and the power is still out at my house. No one knows when it will be back on. Tomorrow is the offical dance and after this weekend things will die down again. Just in time for my vacation back home for Christmas!