1/22 Snowed Out

I spent Inauguration Day with a group of friends. Our new Country Director had given his blessing for us to consolidate wherever we found a TV, so the one guy in the region with a functioning satellite dish got to host about a dozen PCVs. :) I promise, I'll tell you all about it soon.

After the Inauguration, there was Great Rejoicing by all. Some of us went outside to admire the gorgeous stars - the closest we had to fireworks, after all! - but none of us noticed the clouds on the horizon, blocking the stars over Berberville.

Turns out they were full of snow.

Lots of snow.

By morning, Berberville was buried. Reports have differed, but they're all at least a meter. Some say a meter and a half; one guy said two meters. That's six feet, six inches of snow. I know exaggeration and hyperbole are common traits here, but I'm guessing there was at least two feet, and three or four are possible.

Needless to say, the road was buried, too. As they say here, "L-abrid ibbi." The road is cut. Impassible, impossible, probably imperceptable.

So I spent yesterday, the 21st, hanging out. We played Scrabble and chess, cooked, and huddled next to the buta heater. And did I mention that the electricity was out most of the day? When it came on, in the evening, we checked CNN to see what our new President was up to. He hasn't yet responded to the Berberville Snow Crisis, but I'm sure it's on tomorrow's agenda. ;)

This morning, we cleaned out the house - a dozen PCVs can track in a lot of mud - and then headed to SouqTown. As I waited by the road, there was no trace of yesterday's snow (which had reached even to here, on the outskirts of SouqTown, over 100 km from Berberville). The sun was broiling. There are cacti here. And yet I'm snowed out of my house, out of my town, out of my whole region. Sigh.

Apparently, a snow plow successfully pushed through this afternoon. Of course, since no tranzits had left this morning, there were none here to take us back on the freshly cleared road, which is why, at twilight on the 22nd, I'm still at the bottom of my mountain instead of the top. Tomorrow morning, inshallah, I'll get to go home. And then, if I have electricity and internet access, I'll update you all on the events of the past week. :)