Rain!

When we came to Peru in 1999, people showed us the tiny splash marks of raindrops in the desert and said they were from the last rainfall, in 1964. That may have been hyperbole, because there is thick sea mist, but last night, it really rained, for the first time since we put the new roof on the house in 2004. We have a system of gutters to carry off the morning condensation, but they promptly overflowed. It turns out that when it rains enough to dislodge 13 years accumulation of dust, everything plugs up.

Cuando llegemos a Peru en 1999, nos mostraron una pequenas marcas de gotas en las pampas y nos dijeron que fueron de la ultima lluvia, en 1964. Tal vez fue un exageracion porque hay llovizna, pero anoche, lluvio en serio por la primera vez desde pusimos el techo nuevo en 2004. Tenemos un sistema de canales que llevan el agua que gotea del techo, pero de pronto rebalsaron. Cuando llueva y quita 12 anos de polvo en el techo, todo se tapo.

It didn’t seem like much of an issue until we realized that the water was running into the spaces around the two trees in the patio and when it overflowed, the water would pour into the bedroom that is at a slightly lower level. Water was already leaking in and I put down towels to soak it up and discovered that the water was very, very dirty. Minor panic ensued. Then the power went out.

No parecia problematica hasta que nos dimos cuenta que el agua estaba llenando los espacios alrededor de los arboles en el patio central y si desbordaba, el agua fluiria dentro del habitacion a nivel mas baja del patio y estaba ya entrando. Cuando puse toallas para contener el agua, vi que era muy sucia. Empece el panico. Y se fue la luz…..

Fernando, our caretaker, climbed up on the roof and cleared the blocked drains, which required disconnecting a pipe to the storm drain because there was too much water. When he did that, water spurted across the roof and onto the back patio, but at least it stopped draining into the center of the indoor patio. While I shone the flashlight and pointed out where the water was still dripping, Fernando cleared and adjusted the gutters until it was stable. The power was off all night–this morning he discovered that a light fixture in the back yard had filled with water and created a short.

Vino Fernando, subio en el techo y abrio los canales bloqueados, incluso desconectando un tubo de drenaje porque habia demasiado agua. Con esto, un chorro de agua tiro hacia el patio atras, pero por lo menos quito el agua chorreando en el patio. Yo ilumine los canales con la linterna y Fernando limpio y ajusto los canales hasta que todo estaba bien. La luz no regreso hasta la manana, cuando se dieron cuenta que una pequena lampara habi llenado con agua, cortando el sistema.

It was a rather sticky night after the rain stopped, because the temperature didn’t really fall much and we had no fan because of the power, but I was glad to find power back by the time I got up. There was some cleaning of mud from the patio, but the weather forecast is for more rain tonight. I’m hoping we are a bit better prepared.

La noche fue bochornoso porque la lluvia no bajo la termperatura y sin luz no habia ventilador. Por lo menos estaba arreglada pronto en la manana. Era necesario limpiar el patio pero el prognostico es para mas lluvia esta noche. Espero que estamos mejor preparada.