Hurricane Felix

(If you're on my email list, most of this is a repeat)
On Sunday, we got warning that Hurricane Felix was headed right for us and was now a category 5 (the highest possible).On Monday, our principal, Vanessa, called to let us know school was canceled and she could take us into town for supplies. We bought a large bucket to store water, extra candles, and food. The stores were crowded and running out of essential supplies. At home, we scrubbed the slime out of our pila (a large, outdoor washtub) and filled it with emergency water.
As we awoke on Tuesday, school was again canceled. The hurricane was projected to reach us Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. It was very warm and sunny outside so Christina and I decided to go into town for some errands and then head for the beach. Why not...we have the day off and nothing else to do, right? We rode our bikes to town, paid our insanely expensive internet bill (especially because it doesn't even work half the time) and bought a longer ethernet cable so we don't have to sit on the floor to type. (Our week-long roommate bought a router so we could be wireless but, alas, he took it with him when he bailed).

Right after the purchase, it began to pour. Instantaneously, the streets were flooded. We decided against the beach, although it was still hot, and rode home in the downpour. It was really quite fun. We got home completely drenched. We then walked to the store for ice, in case we needed to store food in the cooler, and walked back home, casually enjoying the outdoor shower coming down on us.

Once home, we realized it was only noon and we had the whole day to do...what??? We were trapped in the house. The internet was not working so I read, painted my nails, listened to some NPR podcasts (This American Life, Hearing Voices, Nature Stories, etc.), and then we watched part of a movie. We thought about taking a walk but right then it started raining again. Finally, at about 8:00pm, our internet began working again so we could talk to our family and friends and let them know we were fine.

By Tuesday night, the hurricane's path was changing course and heading farther south of us. It had also been downgraded back to a topical storm. At about 2:00am, I woke up to some wind and heavy rain but still not too bad. The tin roof over our clothes lines almost blew away. That was the most exciting thing at happened. So far, we still have water, electricity, and internet. Our backyard and streets seem pretty flooded but luckily we only had only one small leak in the house.

Wednesday morning, everything seems calm and, except for lingering clouds, the storm seems to have passed us unscathed. School is canceled again and will resume on Thursday. By the end of it all, the storm now looks like this (what a scam!):
Wednesday night, the electricity and water were shut off for about 3 hours. We read by candlelight and watched movies until our computer batteries died. We had to bucket flush the toilet. Overall, the hurricane was quite a letdown. But at least we're safe.