10,000 Leagues Under the Sea...or something.

Last night was crazy. Why? Pull up a chair and let me tell you.

Mila, Juan, and I decided to have dinner (and then spend the night) at Mila´s parents ¨campo¨(a large piece of land with many houses, animals, people, gardens), so we brought two large pizzas at around 10:00 pm for dinner. Mila has 12 other brothers and sisters, and every weekend, they all take turns spending the night to be with their parents. This weekend, it was Pili´s turn, and we joined in the fun. It had been raining off and on all day, and the wind had been VERY strong. As we drove over the the campo, we saw lightening in the distance, but didn´t think twice about it. Dinner was something in itself. Mila´s dad, Joaquin, is missing all of his teeth, speaks very quickly, often with food in his mouth, and likes to tell jokes. He also couldn´t understand why I am a vegetarian. So, mix all of that together, and you get me, very confused and a little bit concerned. But, basically as dinner ended, at around midnight, Joaquin told me that tomorrow I would be eating ham. I think not.

So, off we go to bed. Mila, Juan, Violeta, Pili, and Thomas (a nephew visiting from Greece). As we walk to the house we will be staying at, the wind picks up, and oh man-- it is so so so strong. The house we are staying in is quite nice and cozy. Pili gets one bedroom, Mila and Juan get the other, Thomas gets the couch, and I get a mattress on the floor with a mountain of blankets. We all stayed up and talked for a while, and turn off the lights at around 1:00. As soon as the lights go out, holy mother of god, the storm began.

First it was the lightening, flashing very two minutes, then the thunder (a great rumbling roar that shook the house), and the wind, whipping away at the olive tree outside the windows. Then, suddenly, the rain. Oh man. It was CRAZY. This lasted for a long time, and I would drift off to sleep and SUDDENLY a bang would wake me up. The power of nature is amazing. At around 5:00, I heard water dripping, but I didn´t think twice about it. Not at all. At 5:30, I saw a figure creep toward me, and in a FLASH of lightening, I saw it was Mila. I used my cellphone as a flashlight and we tried to turn on the lights, but guess what....yep, the electricity went out. So we searched for a lighter (luckily Thomas is a smoker) and lit a candle. There was water. Inside the house. Dripping from doorframes. Getting the tips of my blankets wet. I stood up, and followed Mila to the door, where she ran outside, with a plastic cover over her head to grab the mop.

So, yes. I held the candle as Mila mopped up the house. This is, once again, at 5:30 am. Thomas and Pili stayed asleep. How, I really don´t know. After placing dishes under the leaking doorframes, we blew out the candle and went to sleep. The storm was still raging. At around 6:30, there was total silence. It just ended. And I then slept until about 9:00 am.

As I went outside to survey the damage (not much, luckily) I saw Mila´s mom collecting snails in a large bucket. She grabbed my arm and explained that these snails would be cooked with rice. Not for you, she exclaimed, but for me. I eat meat. You don´t.

After breakfast (we went out) Mila´s mother told me with a huge smile "at my house, we always have fun. always"

Oh wait! I forgot to mention that as we unlocked the car to go to the restaurant, the half of the car was flooded as well.

lots of love,
violeta