Thursday (Oct. 25)
After spending the night mostly wide awake waiting for the storm to be over, I was overjoyed to be able to venture outside and see the damage. I knew it was going to be bad, but what I saw shocked me. My neighbors homes were gone. Almost nothing left. A piece of my neighbors roof was in my yard, trees were down, and as I walked toward the street I could see power poles down in both directions, no way to get around by car.
After checking on the other teacher who lived at the school compound, I walked to the apartment where many other school staff had spent the night, they were all doing well and after connecting with them and exchanging a few stories, I walked to the school to see the damage. Praise God the main building was undamaged, but our porch roof, had blown away, some of it was smashed, other parts were gone. We later found out the the main part of it had been blown off sailed over the top of the 2 story school building, across the small patch of jungle, over the double lane road, and into the jungle about 200 feet in.
The way this “covered area” worked was, we had section of open area, farther back there was the stage I had build last year, and just beyond that was a new classroom that had just been completed last year, and beyond that new locker rooms. Before the winds could take all the roof away and destroy everything including the classroom, a tree fell right over the top of the stage and held the metal down so the wind couldn’t take the roof of the classroom off. I really feel like this was a God thing, It could have been so much worse for us. And for those of you wondering, of course the stage is okay, I built that thing American Tough!
I spend some of that day with the principal clearing a few of the branches away. Later I went home and started to pack up a few things that I would need, and to get all of my valuables (mostly electronics). I wanted to keep them safe from looters. While I was packing up I set my laptop in my open suitcase, then had to leave to go bring something to someone so I locked up the house and left, When I got back I realized it had rained, and since the roof to my house was mostly gone, it had leaked… A lot… The doctor (me) tried everything he could to save her, but it was no use, my beloved laptop lost her live to Typhoon Yutu. A moment of silence for the dearly departed.
Moment of silence
I assume you all took the appropriate amount of time to mourn the loss of my computer before continuing, so I will continue the story. I decided I was going to start living at the school until my house was liveable again. I took all my stuff, a little bit of food and moved into the office back room.
Friday (Oct. 26)
Friday the Principal and I worked hard to try to get as much done as we could before the work day we were planning to have on Sunday. We got so much done. During that day my truck seemed to be not starting as well and I could tell the starter was going out on it. It continued to go bad through the day but I didn’t think to much about it. We continued cleaning, and bringing things to the rest of our school family who needed it.
Sabbath (Oct. 27)
The next day we did a little bit of outreach after church trying to see if there were people we could help. We cleared a few areas of road, and wound up at our staff housing where someone was trying to get into their house, sadly the locks got damaged in the storm and we couldn’t get in. I figured the roof is already damaged… So I climbed up and crawled through and kicked in the inside part of the roof to get in.
Near the end of this day, my starter went out completely on the truck, I was a bit ticked but decided to just Trust God and replace it, So I found a place that had a starter and I told them I would be back tomorrow to pick it up. Not wanting to buy on Sabbath. Thankfully it died at the school.
Sunday- Friday (Oct. 28 - Nov. 2)
I got up early and got to work on my truck and take the starter off so I could take the old on in as a core. But no matter what I did I couldn’t get the bolts loose. They were so stuck I just couldn’t get them loose. Since Sunday was a work day to help clean up the school, I had too much to do to worry about it so I called a mechanic who put all of his other customers on hold the help me, (He likes the school) I figured I could pay him to take it off and I could still put the new one on, but I was ticked! Everything that had happened I had taken with a smile, and now after everything God wouldn’t let a stupid bolt come loose so I could just fix my truck. I was thinking about all the extra money I was going to pay out and how I already couldn’t afford what I had to replace I just wasn’t happy. After the Mechanic got there He got it off ( had to use a hammer and chisel (destroyed the bolt, no I am not weak) He then told me that he could rebuild the one I had. I asked the price and it was over 40 less than what a new one would cost me. So I happily told him to just do it. I then realized that God knew exactly what he was doing. If I had been able to get the bolt loose I would have had to take it off, go into town, spend a bunch of money, come back, take the time to put it back on. But I saved money and didn’t have to lift a finger to fix it. Also if I had bought it on the Sabbath I would have been stuck and wouldn’t have been able to save all the money. Taught me a lesson about trusting God no matter what.
We had a great turn out at the work day, and many church members helped us get things cleaned up, however there was so much to do, some of us were working all day everyday through thursday before things were back to normal. For the first few days some of the ladies would make us lunch, most people took a step down meals wise after the typhoon but we were taking a few steps up, the food was so amazing, and they made so much we could eat as much as we liked. Below is a picture of the truck loaded up with debris, everyone told me I had enough, but that's not the American way and that’s not Riddle way. I loaded it until I couldn’t fit another piece. And I made about ⅓ the trips of the other truck.
Thursday (Nov. 1)
I got to go up the mountain with a man from JOY FM (Adventist Radio Station in Guam) He showed me all the equipment and how it worked (he is hoping to be able to call me in the future to do work on it if he cant make the trip) It was a lot of fun but It wasn’t long before the school was calling me with all kinds of issues they were having and they needed me back, so I was forced to end my adventure early, but it was still fun and I enjoyed learning the new stuff.
Monday-Friday (Nov. 5-9)
We started school this last week and it went mostly good. We have 4 portable generators that power the school, well partly power the school. Lights and AC. We have had to go to a schedule for the AC because it kept tripping as we do not have enough power to power everything at once. I am starting work everyday at 6am, getting cords rolled out and the generators set up, I am usually working close to 6 as well. Loving the 12 hour days! I also have been promoted to head of security, It comes with no pay raise, but very nice living accommodations, I get the back room the of the office all to myself. And the commute is incredible. 10 seconds to work, 10 seconds home, (depending on traffic.) I just keep an eye on things at night. But God has been good to us. And school is going great. We are spending so much money in gas, I do the gas runs and I am thrilled to do so because I am racking in those credit card points!
I have been there (at the school) for the last 2 and a half weeks and still enjoying the camping experience. I wash all my clothes by hand. (More fun than I thought) Until recently I was taking cup showers using the rainwater we collected, (CUC water is on… for now….) When I am not eating chips and cookies for my meals, I cook over a little propane stove, you know if I’m not at Pizza Hut or Subway (they survived). Taco Bell didn’t make it… It has been kinda nice to unplug from power and get back to basics.
Here is a picture of my living arrangements, very comfortable. I have read a lot more and i'm liking that, of course I fear I will run out of books soon. A book did randomly show up for me from amazon and it looks good, no idea where it came from though, but it came at a good time.
There are many here who are not dealing with the lack of comfort very well, and I always thought deep down that I would be one of those people. But I learned something about myself and honestly I am really enjoying the experience, and while it will be nice to have power and water again, and to sleep in a real bed again, there is a big part of me that will miss the way things are now once everything is back to normal. There is something to be said for the simple life.
Anyway that is the condensed version of the last two weeks, there is so much more maybe for another post. But that is the big stuff. Y’all have a great week.
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