THIS is the Rainy Season

In a previous post, I referred to the rainy season as we had experienced it thus far, with short downpours each day. For four days now, however, it has barely stopped raining. So this is what they meant....

One main benefit to the rainy season is that it cools things off. 80 degrees never felt so cool! With a breeze, it's downright nice. The man who works in our house has asked for extra tea and coffee this week because he is cold, and the guard wears an insulated coat at night, with heavy boots. I try not to laugh at them, because I do find it quite funny to be 'cold' when it is still 80 degrees.

That said, I do miss the sunshine. Among the many benefits to the tropical heat here are that you don't have to defrost everything. Food can come out of the freezer for 10-20 minutes and be completely defrosted. On a normal sunny day, it is too hot for mosquitos and most other bugs to be active between dawn and dusk. With the rain, however, they are more active, and our yard is very wet right now and full of fun creatures, including a massive (5 inch) beetle I will post a picture of when I have the opportunity.

Henry and I went creature hunting today, but didn't find too much. I'm told the fun ones come out mostly at night and I haven't wanted to douse myself in bug spray any night this week. Len doesn't find it attractive. :)

Len was almost a casualty of the rain this week. He dropped off a friend and was running through the pedestrian gate (everyone here has two gates in their wall, one for a car and one for people) in the downpour with his head down against the rain, and it turns out the gate is a little short. He cut the top of his head and had a nasty bump, but is thankfully ok. With some antibiotic ointment and calendula, he'll be rescalped in no time.

Another casualty of the rain is the roads. While going to the market yesterday, I made it around a fallen tree near a bridge but had to turn back at a place where the water was very high and few trucks were making it through. Len drove through that place in the truck today and one that was deeper and made it, though. He said the water was up to the doors, although it didn't come in. On Tuesday I took our friend home and drove through one intersection where I actually started to feel seasick; all the road was covered with rushing water going the opposite direction of us, and when I returned through that intersection after dropping her off, part of the road had begun to wash out.

Doesn't seem to phase Africans too much, though. They just keep going on about life. When the tree was across the road, there were locals cutting it up and taking it away...it was cleared very quickly. No waiting for the city trucks to come and do it for them. Of course, I don't know if there are city trucks to come. But I do love the innovative spirits of the Africans I've met.

The rain is starting again. I'm sure we'll miss it when the dry season comes, but until then, I'll covet whatever sunshine God can throw this way.