And They Drowned Us All

Tests always get me down. When they do come around, I end up procrastinating. Not doing much the night before. And the next day, there's an actual "going to study" motion, but no real effort to. It didn't help that it was very hot when I went on my way to school.

So, I took the test and probably failed. Sad to say, it was not the first time I would have failed, but considering how and where I am now, I'm not doing so bad. The day progressed as any normal Wednesday, lecture then laboratory classes after lunch.

With a fused class, the room where we had our laboratory class was pretty crowded. Hence, it was pretty humid in that area. We began to notice the room had gotten pretty dark, a sure sign of rain. Plus, more of the humidity. When we got outside the room to take a breather, it had only started to drizzle. This was about 4:30pm.

At 5:00pm, it rained hard. The breeze was cool and I enjoyed the cold air. Outside the laboratory, the shed was available to seek shelter under. So, a few of my classmates did, and so did I. Some others went up to the classrooms, some others went straight home hoping they'd beat out the rain.

As we stayed under the shed, the other laboratory room was slowly filling up with the water, with classes still going inside. The water had risen only about the height of their shoes, but most of these students were girls. With the slippery floor and the running water, they were a hazard to themselves. So, as gentlemen, two of my friends and I moved the bench to serve as a bridge from the laboratory to the shed. Although a little hesitant at first, we managed to move two benches, but getting very wet in the process. Two people thanked us for that, and both of them were our friends, a little gratitude would've been nice considering we were risking getting sick for them to pass on through safely.

After all that, I had gotten a text from my mother telling me not to go home yet, the house was flooded, and I wouldn't be able to get there anyway. The three of us decided to go up to the classrooms and join our other classmates who were waiting the rain out. Few minutes later, I went out of the room and continued on to the main entrance, where it was very crowded with students unable to go out in the rain. The rain was not as strong now.

Still, with the command of not going home yet. I had time to kill, until my mom texted me again. So, I texted a friend of mine to ask if I could seek refuge in his boarding house. And that I did, I stayed awhile, got dried a bit, and did a bit of yoga. The text arrived soon after, and I was headed home. The rain was slower, but during my time in the boarding house, the rain shifted from fast to slow, and from weak to strong. It took me a while to get on a jeepney though, people always crowding every time a jeepney stops, always trying to get first. I don't blame them, I would've done the same thing, which I probably did.

Getting home also took a while. With everyone trying to get home, the roads were packed, traffic in both directions. The rain was much more accommodating this time around, which made it okay for me to just walk from the corner of the street(my house is probably a 10-minute walk from the corner.) The road was a winding path with a downward slope before getting to my house. When I got to said downward slope, and as I made my descent, I saw cars trying to get to higher ground, some fighting their way through the vast body of water. The flood was not exactly at the bottom of the slope, I would think that that part was a deeper road, that's why it filled up with water.

When I finally got to the bottom, I made my way towards home. I met a friend who told me that the water had risen at very high levels, and that the water had surely gotten inside my house. But I didn't mind it, I thought this was like earlier floods I had experienced, once or twice before, since I started living with my grandmother. As I drew nearer, I met another friend, a much closer friend this time. He told me that he made his way to check on my grandmother to see if she was okay. He narrated how high the water rose from walking from his house to mine, his house is farther from the village entrance. From his house, it started from his feet. About halfway there, it was up to his knees, then to his hips. When we got to my house, he basically swam getting there. The water had risen up to his chests. And this guy is a little taller than I am. So, the water is probably almost five feet high outside our house.

My friend and I made our way through the village entrance, and he told me that the roads had been badly damaged, which was very apparent, that things in the house were swimming, and how our friends car wasn't parked in the same spot anymore.

To better understand the passageway, I have to explain how the village is set. The village is divided into "phases," my house is built on the very first one. I would think that this is one of the oldest houses in the village. And "phase one" is formed like an oval, like a track field. When you enter the village, there are two ways to get to my house. The quicker way where I just turn left from the entrance, go up a couple of steps  and head on to my house, and the longer way where I have to turn the whole "oval" to get there. The steps on the quicker way is built like a dam, to keep water out.

The view of the quicker way to the entrance was less engaging. I could no longer get in without getting my pants wet, so we took the longer route. Along the way, I saw a friend shouting that my car had also been affected by the flood. As we marched on to my house, still being accompanied by my friend, I saw my car filled with water on the inside, and my stuff toy hanging from the windshield was nowhere to be found.

My friend dropped me off at my house, and when I got inside, there was more water inside than outside. Well, at this point in time, considering most of the water from the outside made their way through their respective drainage. Thinking ahead, the outlets were cut off power from the main circuit breaker, rugs and shoes were placed in a higher place. Basically nothing valuable was wet, well, except the car which was parked away from the house to prevent such circumstances.

It was dark and neighbors were busy getting water out of their houses. And being the only viable candidate to do job, I pressed on. Granted, not before changing my facebook status. Nevertheless, I changed into something more comfortable and started, quickly opening clogged holes to get water from the inside out. This was 7:00pm.

With nothing to eat, but a few snacks while waiting out the rain earlier, I opted to have dinner. My grandmother too, had not eaten because she was unable to. Due to her diabetes, she was unable to either help(she only gave out instructions) or cook dinner for herself. (The kitchen was filled with water up to the knees.)

The water from inside the house was visibly getting less in quantity, LPG containers that once floated now stood steady on the ground, the floor on higher ground began clearing. All that was left of the water was the dirt. And I started work on it, right after I had my fill. Soon after, reinforcements arrived.

And with the combined help of three people, we made progress. Making our way from the back of the house to the front, as to assist the water to move out. At around 12:00mn, we stopped and called it a day, much has changed since the flood came in the house. Even after four or five hours of work, it wasn't exactly as clean as before, but it was there: progress. My grandmother then treated us to pizza. Would I say that four or five hours of endless sweeping and mopping worth a 9" pizza? No, not at all. But it was better than nothing. So there's that.

The only thing that I'm really bummed out about is the fact that I don't have a car to drive with, for the time being. And so is my plush toy which I treasure. Hopefully, we can get the car back into driving shape, so I can ravaged the roads once more.

Oh, the rain. What a love-hate relationship we have. Next time, don't try to ruin my car. Seriously.