Rain Rain Go Away

Before I came to South Africa, I did a variety of research on the country. The one thing I was most curious about was what the Rainy Season would look like. Would it be non-stop rain? Torrential rain showers? Wickedly scary thunderstorms? Days and days of continuous light drizzle?...

Well over the past few weeks I’ve begun to understanding what “Rainy Season” means? It is non-stop rain, torrential showers, hella-scary thunderstorms, and days and days of on-again-off-again drizzling. All is fine and dandy, but let’s add to the equation my stylish and trendy tin roof. It accentuates the sound of ANYTHING. It’s like a natural sound system. Thunderstorms in “the condo” sound like tornados back in North Carolina. There have been times when I thought the roof was going to fly off the house, like in some type of Wizard of Oz scenario. Rain on the tin roof (that sounds like the name of some Broadway play) has kept me awake many nights. However the roof is ridiculously sturdy, BUT more importantly (and to my shear joy and happiness), it doesn’t leak!!!

While visiting one of my friend’s village, I survived a near drowning experience. Well...not exactly...I was sleeping on her couch during a CRAZY thunderstorm and rain leaked through the roof onto my face. I thought (for about 5 seconds) that my friends were playing a trick on me by throwing water on my face as I slept. It scared THE MESS out of me, and for the rest of the night I kept thinking I was getting sprinkled with water. Just another situation where my mind was playing tricks on me.

With all the rain lately, I’ve been introduced to some new South African wild life, specifically mosquitoes and wasp-like bugs called “dinhlaw”. I don’t see the mosquitoes but I do see their trade mark signs all over my arms. Yep…mosquito bites…oh joy! Thanks goodness for Malaria medication. The dinhlaw are harmless insects. As a matter of fact, humans cause more harm to them than they do to us. That’s because they are a tasty post-rain treat. People eat them raw, or cook them in a frying pan with water and salt. When I travel abroad, my motto is “try anything once”. The dinhlaw are actually pretty tasty, but its difficult to get over the “I’m chewing a bug” gag-reflex. I ate a handful, just enough for my family to be proud.

My two primary schools began their “end-of-year testing” this past week. I have to be honest, I was really surprised because the last day of school is December 5th. I was (well...I still am) confused as to why they are testing so early. The children go to school, like any other regular day, and spent most of the day playing outside and socializing. They take tests for each subject throughout the day. This will be the schedule from now until December.

It frees up my daily schedule because the teachers are no longer teaching the kids. I’m currently trying to find small things to take up my time at each of my schools, but I prefer to be in the classrooms. However, I’m not interested in staring at children take tests for the next three weeks.

I’m sure I’ll find things to occupy my time, like staring at the mountains after a rain storm. They are so clear and green, it's gorgeous!...