Rain, Rain, Rain

With living and teaching in the Midwest, I was guaranteed to have a few snow days every year. With living in the Caribbean, it is a bit different to be getting hurricane or 'rain days.' Last year the Dominican Republic was having a drought, and we were praying for rain. This year we're having torrential rains, and we're praying for the rains to stop. The area where I live in Santiago (and also our school) has not been affected much by the rains-- though there are a lot of people with leaky roofs, and b/c of the dampness, there is mold that has started to appear in some apartments. In other areas of the country, and some that are even on the outskirts of the city, there is massive flooding, mudslides, and many people are displaced from their homes. There will probably be more repercussions from all the rain, later as well.
Monday we didn't have school b/c of the rains that had been affecting the area-- the schools were closed, but b/c we have an Accreditation Team here, the staff came to school for the morning. A Team of several school personnel (from Caribbean countries and also a Supt. from the U.S.) were here visiting from Sunday through Wednesday, which is a pretty exhaustive process that is done every five years. There are a lot of preparations that have to be done beforehand, even a year in advance, and then they come to observe the staff/campus and interview the community, teachers, staff, parent's, and student's.
We had a few days relief from the rain Tuesday through Thursday, but then starting last night it started raining again. It has been raining almost all day today. With having an outdoor campus, it does make it somewhat difficult for teacher's and student's. There's never been more of a need to make sure you have an umbrella! Just walking to Specials (Computer, P.E., Art, Music, etc.) or lunch can be a feat with the rain, b/c the classes have to walk outside in the rain. With days like today, the Specials Teacher's have gone to the classes, which makes it safer. Everything is wet here, and with all the tile, it makes it a lot easier to slip and fall. It's things like that you wouldn't ever think of being a issue. It has also been weeks since student's have been able to have soccer practice, b/c the fields have never been dry enough to play. The people that are from here have said they have never seen it rain like this ever before. Please pray for Santiago and the country, as this has affected many, and will affect them for a very long time to come, especially the economy with the crops and buildings. Our school nurse has given us warnings of being watchful of our tap water as well, when it comes to brushing our teeth or cooking with it. We have never been able to drink the water, but with all the rain that has come, it could affect the safety of the tap water in other ways.