Never a dull moment....even in a cyclone!

So last week we had our first signal one storm.  Of course the field activities stayed on schedule.  In Ireland, if you didn't work in the rain you didn't get any work done.  That philosophy stays true all over the world as far as I am concerned.

Everything got soaking wet in the rain!

Myself and Clare (Renee was up north with Richard) managed to complete our tasks for the day.  It was SO rainy and windy but it was manageable.  I have had worse days up the hill in Leenane in the west of Ireland to be honest. One of our fields flooded though and the water went straight through our fence. Thankfully it's the end of the experiment and things are winding down so we didn't have to worry about it.

The floods the next day

The highlight of the cyclone had to be when I was leaving a restaurant that night.  It had been bucketing down all day and while driving to the restaurant we could see the floods forming.  By the time we were leaving, the car was parked in water that was about mid-calf level.  The brilliant waiters had come out with us with umbrellas but they didn't put up much of a fight against the torrential downpour.  Val, the car owner, made a run for it in his dress pants and his fancy shoes and socks.  He was being a gentleman and opening the car for myself and Sara so we wouldn't get too wet.  I rolled my pant up and made a run for it.  I opened the car door and just as I was about to get in my flip flop washed clean off my foot. I tried to grab it but it quickly floated under the car and disappeared in the murky flood waters.  I jumped in the car and opened the door on the far side just in time to see it float away.  The waiter came to the rescue though and saved it before it joined one of the local rivers.  Only in the Philippines!

In the tropics the weather can turn in an instant.  This week it's roasting and we have been acting the maggot on the way home from the fields today.  It's more fun in the Philippines.  Of course, most of the locals think we are pretty much certifiable!

Niamh

Clare

Renee