Nice Climate? I Will Say Bizarre

I think all of us, Guatemalans, are lucky to have such a climate. In my opinion, if you ignore all its security, economic and politic problems, Guatemala is a great place to live in. It has been blessed with a perfect climate that helps everything grow well and fastly. Here you can throw a seed in the earth and if you come back in one week I can ashore you there is already a small plant with small green leaves trying to open its path through the earth. Maybe these could be seen as something insignificant, but a great part of the country’s economy depends on it.

Sometimes we don’t appreciate things, as the climate, until we lose them. Last year we suffered a big catastrophe with Agatha. For many people this name means the loose of their beloved ones, a curse, or the destruction of their houses and jobs. This huge storm was devastating for a lot of people but especially for poor people that was the most vulnerable. Maybe people never imagined how a windy day or small rain, the one of the winter afternoons, could turn into a strong storm as Agatha was.

 I remember that week pretty well, and it was all rain. It never stopped raining; the sky was always full with gray and creepy clouds, and all my yard’s trees shacked as if they were small daisies instead of big and strong oak trees. I was, as always, sick and with that cold climate I wasn’t able to go out of my house. All I saw about the storm was through my window and TV. I was in school vacations and I got to say that they were some of the saddest and most boring vacations I have ever had. All the days instead of watching my favorite TV shows I saw news with my parents about the storm.

One of the worst things of this storm was that it occurred in the wrong place in the wrong moment. Because most of Guatemalans that don’t leave in the capital city have small cardboard made houses, with no floor or windows. These houses are also built in mountains and insecure lands, and erosion makes the houses fall apart. Also it occurred after the sand rain. Yes, I said sand rain.

Maybe in other places it rains or snow falls. But you remember when I said Guatemala’s climate was really special? Well, that is the proof; instead of a simple rain in Guatemala we had sand rain. What happened was the same that had happened centuries ago with the Vesuvius. The Pacaya volcano expulsed a lot of stones, magma, fire, and ashes from its crater. Then these ashes went up into the sky and spread all over the city, and since it was dark approximately at 8:00 p.m. no one noticed. Later it started falling from the big and smoky clouds as rain.

I remember at first I thought it was normal rain, because with the sand there was also normal rain falling from the sky. But when I saw my balcony I got really surprised when I saw it was full of sand. I went out to see what was going on and I got really impressed. I thought I was crazy when I felt I didn’t got wet with the “rain” and all my body was turned black. But when my little brother said it was raining sand I was shore I had seen everything.

It was not the first time it happened here in Guatemala. But last time was like eighteen years ago and I wasn’t even burned. And my parents were in a trip so they didn’t saw it. Doesn`t matter how much problems this rain brought to our country I feel fortunate and lucky to be one of the persons that saw it and felt it. I don’t know what other bizarre events our special climate will bring us, but it would have to be something really strange to impress me more that this “rain”. Sadly I think Agatha is not going to be the last storm, because meteorologists are already announcing another one is coming this winter, but we can pray so that it wouldn’t take so many lives as Agatha did.