"Chica de Fuego"

This little nick name is thanks to Julio because... Last Friday, I received the scariest call of my life. "Your house is on fire," is one of those things that only happens to other people, right? I was at a graduation for one of Caminante's programs and answering my phone was the last thing I was about to do!

The shock that took over left me literally useless, lacking any ability to think, let alone understand Spanish. While I stood around waiting for some magic way to get home immediately, my coworkers thought quick, did a lot of calling and with in a few minutes I was headed towards home. 

I am extremely grateful to everyone who helped me in the following 48 hours! By the time I had reached my house, all of the fire had been extinguished, the burned up fan and curtains had been removed, and the cleaning project had already begun. The whole house was wet from the water and there was a thick layer of soot everywhere, but other than that... nothing was damaged beyond cleaning or repair, thank God. 

The culprit.

The burnt linoleum after lots of scrubbing. 

Very black walls.

To go back a little, earlier in the day I had washed a couple loads of laundry and laid them out of the chairs in the dinning/living room during an afternoon rain shower. I never leave ANYTHING plugged in or running, except the fridge... but thought the fan would be fine to help dry the clothes quickly. Sometime while I was gone, said fan overheated/shorted out. The fan itself and the curtains that were hanging close by completely burned. All that was left of the fan when I saw it was the metal grate and a pile of soot! 

Side note: if you want to know where the cobwebs are in your house, start a fire. They burn and leave black strings everywhere that fall apart when you touch them.

This white dress was a little too close to the fan.

Lots of soot everywhere!

 My neighbors saw smoke pouring out of my window and were able to get the spare key from the landlord, get the hose into my house and put out the fire. I don't know what would have happened if a) they hadn't seen the smoke quickly b) been able to get in or c) the fan had malfunctioned in the night while I was sleeping! For these things I am thanking God for my safety and the relatively minimal damage! It took lots of cleaning, and I am still finding soot everywhere and often look down to see blackened hands. My fear was that my clothes that were sitting out would be ruined... they were very black with soot, but with the skills of Yumara, my clothes, sheets, and curtains look almost new! One living room chair needs some serious cleaning, but hoping it too will look great after a good scrub.

After lots of scrubbing and mopping... fresh paint to come!

Thank you to those who helped me clean, Esperanza and the Chica's Brilliantes Monte Ray, Yumara, Maria, Indeeda and Onea; Rayda and Julio who without thought opened their home to me (and July for letting me steal her family for a couple days); Morena, Deana, and Denisse for visiting me Friday night; and in advance, the Caminante boys who will be helping me paint in the coming week!