The Day It Wasn't Only Rain in Guatemala

Every day is a new beginning. Every day is full of activities we execute. The weather is an important factor in our everyday life. The weather either limits us to do some things or helps us to do what we planned. Sometimes even the weather can change our mood. The weather has an important role in my mood and in my every day activities. Here in Guatemala is hard to predict if it is going to rain or if it is going to be hot or cold. Guatemala´s weather is changing all the time, so we don´t exactly experience the four seasons. We experience mostly winter and summer seasons.

The weather is something unexpected. Here in Guatemala there is a lot of sugar cane harvest. When the ones in charge of the harvest start burning the cane, the whole wind and sky is contaminated with small pieces of burned cane. You can see the little burned pieces flying in the sky. I have a house in Amatitlan and when there are burned pieces flying in the sky, my mom doesn´t let anyone go inside the pool. That affects my plans and my mood because a get cranky with my mom. Plus, it ruins my afternoon.

I remember one day when I was amazed with the weather. It was a Thursday if I remember correctly. I went to school, then I came back to my house, after that I went to my ballet class and came home. I believe it was around seven o’clock when I heard the rain. I got up from the chair in the study room and went to close every opened window. Then I came back and continued with my homework. My dad was doing some work in his computer besides me in the study room.

 The rain didn’t sound the same as it always sounds, but my dad and I ignored it completely. After a while, my dad went out to drive his car inside the garage and started screaming my name. I went running to see what was going on. When I got outside I saw the rain, but it wasn’t rain. It was raining earth. I couldn’t believe it. My dad grabbed a recipient and put it under the earth rain and in a matter of minutes the recipient was completely dark.

My dad and I were both confused, because we couldn’t find a reason why it was raining earth. My dad went inside the house and turn on the television to watch the news. The news said that the Pacaya volcano had erupted and that the ash was the earth it was raining. What was amazing is that the ashes flew in big quantities from Amatitlan to the city. It was very dangerous because it wasn’t just a little rain but it formed thick layers of earth on the streets.

My mom was in the traffic when it started raining earth. She said it was horrible because the earth didn’t come off the windshield. The streets were hard to drive through because the layer of earth on the streets made it hard. Plus, there was a lot of traffic. She said it was the worst experience she has ever had.

I was in my garage watching the earth rain. The news said school was cancelled the next day. In the morning you could see big trucks picking up the earth layers on the street, people cleaning their houses, ceilings, cars, and there were big sacks with earth inside. Everyone took that day to clean their house. My garden was no longer green and many plants were dead.

You could see that the whole city was black. In the afternoon, I went to a party and there weren’t too much people because their parents didn’t let them go out. The earth in every house, ceiling, building, street, sidewalk, and garden remained there for months. It was impossible to remove completely the earth. The garbage people took so long to pick up the earth sacks which were on the streets waiting to be picked up, that the whole city looked dirty, and sad.

I remember that the people that day was sad, angry, tired, surprised, astonished, and worried. It was awful to see how many houses were destroyed. One event changed the life of many people. One change in the weather brought disaster to Guatemala. I will never forget those days because it was not only about the time it rain earth but also all the consequences it brought along.