So, Friday night rolls around, great dinner, the start of the World Cup, just a great night to relax and enjoy our surroundings. Before I go any further, I must say that right now is ‘monsoon season’ here in India. It comes on the heels of the Indian summer, so it rains quite a bit… pretty much like the summer showers we see in Alabama, just with a lot more water.
That night it had been raining for several hours, the first World Cup match (Mexico/South Africa) had come to a close and the satellite feed was going in and out due to the weather and we had no internet, so no one was able to contact the states. We then decided to go to the movies, Grace and Alyssa were pretty fired up about seeing the new ‘Karate Kid’ movie.
We all pile up in the cars and head out… Mind you, from the moment we get in the car I start telling Eddie about the experiences I’ve had on this trip that I’ve never had. I begin to list off everything… then it happened… about that time we pull into the street and see water everywhere. Eddie says, we can get through this (after all, this aint his first rodeo), but the further we go down the street the higher the water gets. We then realize that we can’t go back… we MUST go forward or get stuck.
As we move further down the street, in the dark, I start to get a little nervous, not too nervous, but nervous none the less. About that time, we are forced to stop. Immediately in front of our car is was looks like a rushing river, it looked like the road had completely washed out. What makes matters worse are three guys who are stranded, hanging on to a pole yelling at us, “Go back!! Go back!!”. The water is getting higher and higher, so the panicked discussion heightens. Joel says, “guys, we need to get out, get out now!” and before you know it, he and Haefs are gone. I never heard there decision to go, I just heard the car doors open and shut. The problem for me is, I’m on the passengers side of the car, the very spot where the whole force of the rising water is directed.
I try to open the door… nothing… I can’t open it! So, I roll down the window and go flying out the car. The strength of the water is so much more than you expect when you jump out. Water is up to my waist and I can feel debris, dirt, rocks, limbs and branches hitting my legs. The water is so strong, it’s forcing dirt and rocks in between my feet and my Chacos (sandals). We make our way nearly all the way out of the river when we make the decision to go get the car. Probably not the best idea, but we didn’t want Eddie to lose his vehicle. Joel and Haefs go back and get inside the car, I can hear the engine roar and the brake lights go on and off. We make our way slowly back up the street trying to push the car out of the water. All the while trying to tell people, on scooters mind you, DO NOT GO FURTHER.
The whole ordeal seemed to take hours, but in actuality, was only a half and hour or so. I came to India for adventure, and adventure I have found.
Crazy!!
Here is a link to a quick video we shot…
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000898845463#!/video/video.php?v=715535409698