Flood

This week has been unbearably "menre" (hot-humid). Temps in the 90s and humidity you can choke on. Finally, it started to rain. then it rained more and more. It started to flood thursday and we had to take off our shoes and socks to get to and from class. The sewers overflowed and gushed up, pushing up the concrete and metal manhole covers.

yesterday was a big day, so I wore my nicer khakis and a dress shirt. I decided to roll up my khakis and wear the crocs my host father got me (beyond nice of him). It turned out to be an excellent decision.

I got on the bus and the bus driver was saying something. I just thought he was cursing the rain. A minute or so later, there was yelling on the bus and some people demanded to get off. Then I noticed we had passed the place the bus was supposed to turn at. The bus just kept going. I wanted to ask what was going on but knew I wouldn't be able to understand the driver's answer. I figured I'd ride it out. I thought maybe he was going to take a detour because of the rain and we'd go to the other side of campus. But the bus just kept going. It didn't make a stop until it got downtown and I knew I was screwed. I got my phone out to call Max to tell Luo Xin (our Chinese teacher) what the deal was, but my phone said "Invalid SIM." I couldn't make any calls or texts. I freaked a little then because I realized I couldn't call anyone to help me. I was lost. I couldn't read enough Chinese or speak enough.

I didn't want to take my chances getting off the bus without a decent plan, and I didn't want to get off somewhere and find a bus station that didn't have the 336 going back the where I came. I could get off and ask to borrow someone's phone and just look in my contacts on my phone. I could call Max and have Luo Xin tell me where to go... But I really didn't know where I was, so that would be hard to explain. For a minute I thought the bus was going to take me all the way to Sichuan University. I could just go to the Peace Corps office and ask for some help. Then I realized the bus was going in the opposite direction... so I just kept riding. I thought maybe I'd just ride the bus until it turned around and went the other way. After a while, I realized that would take all day, and today was too important to spend on a bus. Finally I decided I'd just get off at a station where I could physically see the other station on the other side of the road, so I knew where it was and I knew the 336 was going in the opposite direction.

I got off at a station downtown about half an hour away. I read the bus routes, but none of it made any sense to me. BUT I remembered that the station where my host family is at is Shang Dong. I know the character for Shang, and it just so happened it's the only station on the 336 route that has Shang in its name. So i went to the other side, found Shang, and took the 336 back in the opposite direction.

I finally got to school an hour late.

During class, it rained even harder and the streets flooded completely. We waded through shit and dirt and rotten vegetables. Later I found out someone somewhere in Sichuan died from this flood.