The Tempest
I thought, “Oh, God. Nobody told me there was a storm coming.” It turns out there was a hurricane or, as they call it here, a cyclone barreling down on us which I found out about after returning to the resort. I asked Alex why he didn’t bother to mention the weather forecast. He said, “I thought you knew.”
Braving the Elements
That evening, even though the storm was upon us, we decided to go to the Tango class or Ping Pong tournament located on the grounds. However, the elevator got stuck on the way down which made my heart nearly stop but I remained calm when Maureen started to panic. The elevator resumed its course. We stood on the steps outside the building and realized we weren’t going to make it. Too frothy. I doubted we could even make it to the sauna next door when M reminded me that you can’t take a shower in a storm. Something to do with lightning coming up the shower pipes. Is that really true?
So we watched the storm. Maureen did a few kickin’ the habit jumps off the steps. Then we tried to get back in. The door was locked and the guy at the intercom was yakking away en Espanol. It sounded like he buzzed the door open but it wouldn’t open. I finally said, “OPEN THE DOOR”. M said, “Please”. “POR FAVOR”, I said. Then the maid came and opened the door. I asked her where the stairs were.
The aftermath of the Storm and the Tournament in Punta del Este, Uruguay
That night there was a tremendous howling of winds and cracking sounds. ‘Cry havoc let slip the hoary hounds of hurricanes!’ I thought as I lay awake savoring every gust, every crack, and moan swirling around us. Things were being torn up… In the morning, I stood on the balcony surveying the sorry scene. It was mainly the trees that suffered. There were branches big and small strewn everywhere. A few trees were actually uprooted. There was a balcony about a hundred feet away that was damaged.
I still could not believe that we had just experienced a hurricane, and I had no warning! This was the South Atlantic in springtime. Tropical Cyclones are very common. I always love a good storm. Although, I would not want to be at sea in a storm unless, of course, it was on board a British battleship in the vicinity of The Falklands/Las Malvinas. I am happy that I was in Uruguay to witness one. I am happy that we went down there, we saw the place, but we did not conquer it. Which is okay.
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