Shelter in the storm

Sunday afternoon

Rita (Portugal) and Waafa (Egypt) and I set off for an afternoon walk to Amherst for provisions. A few fat raindrops fell, a little thunder rumbled, but we were unconcerned. A bus went past, we were happy to be walking, although the skies were somewhat grey and heavy looking. Then:

We tried huddling under some trees. In the sunshine the trees' canopies seemed nothing but generous and protective. In rain like this, no protection at all.

The result?

The porch of the Amherst Korean Baptist Church was a much better shelter. First they brought us paper towells, then they invited us to sit inside on deep leather couches, and then one of their number, a medical doctor from South Korea drove us back to our dormitory. He is at UMass researching breast cancer, and we were very grateful to him. Now the grounds are flooded, the temperature has dropped, but it has stopped raining.

Tonight we have our opening ceremony. We have been given very strict instructions that we must prepare a speech to introduce ourselves, but it must be no longer than 90 seconds. In that 90 seconds we must 'describe what motivates us, why we do what we do, and what we hope to acheive in doing it'. They never said we couldn't talk like auctioneers.