After four days of bright sun, the roads are finally looking better. It is incredible the power that water and gravity have on a landscape. What were previously lazy little creeks have become wide sweeping rivers tearing down trees and carrying homes and boulders downstream. Lush green mountainsides are scarred by the massive slough of earth all along the drive out of town. More than 35 people have died in this municipality alone with several still missing. Yesterday, four members of a community water committee went to check on their spring project and were killed in a mudslide. People are nervous about the number of homeless familes and lost crops. Now, the big worry is the lack of water. All of the water projects that came from mountain springs, were destroyed in the storm. Even those who can find the pipes to repair report that the springs were covered up or completely hidden/lost. Even Chichicastenango proper (that's us) has nothing. There are families dragging water bottles, jars, coke bottles, and 5 gallon buckets to get water out of broken pipes, local springs and rivers. Estimates from town officials for fixing or finding new water projects vary from 2-6 months and tens of thousands of dollars each. Imagine no running water in your house; now imagine having to haul water for 10-15 family members. We are all just half-way praying for more rain, so we can have water to collect from the rooftops. Of course we also don't want anymore rain, because that will mean more damage in the compromised areas. I guess we'll hold on the personal hygeine classes for now...