water buffalo, a sinking boat, and the beauty of monotony

I've found living on the banks of the Amazon river is to live always on the verge of an adventure, and yet the monotony of life can dull us from that reality.  Scraping burnt beans from a pan or sweating through your t-shirt before 9 am has the tendency to diminish ones sense of adventure.  And yet, a medical emergency, at a moments notice, could mean a fight against time as we work to get a boat in the water and travel the 45 minutes to a hospital, no hope for an ambulance or Life Flight.  

Yesterday we got a jolt of reality, a reminder that we don't live a normal life.  It started at about 3 am when Brin sat bolt upright in our bed and whisper-screamed that we were being invaded by an army.  As I slowly climbed out of that deep slumber that only comes at 3 am, I heard an odd sound.  Only 3 feet away from our window (which is actually only a screen) was a herd of water buffalo! By the way do you know what a water buffalo sounds like? It's somewhere between a grunt and a sigh, which I suppose is why Brin's suddenly awakened brain must have assumed we were being invaded by an army of overweight soldiers, grunting and sighing their way through our yard.  

In the morning we learned a barge carrying the water buffalo to a slaughterhouse had capsized and they, being water buffalo, quickly made their getaway through the water and jungle to our school.  They promptly set about grazing, grunting and sighing.  In the moonlight, Brin had seen one of the mammoths chewing and swinging around something that looked like a towel.  Upon investigation in the morning, she was saddened to learn they had plucked from the clothesline the one dress she owned that wasn't a hand-me-down.  They may not be much to look at but they have good taste. 

But our adventures this day were not limited to late night visitors.  Later in the day I was warming up our girls before their soccer game against a neighboring village when a thunderstorm rolled through, as is common this time of year.  As we waited for the rain and winds to pass, Jeremy ran up from the river saying a boat had capsized in the river and they needed help.  We quickly put my boat in the water and sped off in the direction of where the boat had last been seen.  The sea was angry that day, my friends.  We finally located the men, clinging to floating debris and tiring quickly.  We were able to get them all lifejackets, and then circle back around and pulled them into our boat.  At least one of them, a middle aged man, probably wouldn't have lasted much longer. 

Fighting the diminishing wind and waves, we were able to finally get their motor into my boat and tie a rope onto their wooden canoe and drag it to shore.  The seven of them had been fishing on the other side of the river and were caught in the middle of the river when the storm blew in.  

The owner of the capsized boat helps Jeremy salvage the motor.

We tow the sunken boat to shore while two of the rescued fishermen "ride" in the boat.

Making the canoe seaworthy again.

After all the excitement of the day, we hosted a class party for the 7th & 8th graders.  Eight students that speak 5 different languages means the common language is English and laughter. 

Brin commented this morning that she thought yesterday could have been the plot of a sit-com.  I'm thinking something between Baywatch and Gilligan's Island.

In all seriousness, this is just another reminder of God's faithfulness and protection.  With other recent events, such as a tree falling on our dining hall and an armed robbery that took place in front of our community, it seems God is trying to teach us something about His faithfulness and care for us.  Adventure can be exhilarating, but the simple, mundane, everyday tasks can be as equally revealing of God's goodness.