Rainy season has well and truly started to kick in. The symptoms of rainy season are easy to see;
1. Your clothes stop drying as quickly as they used to.
2. You need to start drying your clothes inside (and they don’t always smell good because they aren’t drying as quickly).
3. You start sweating like you wouldn’t believe, feeling light headed when you stand up, and craving salt in a way you have never craved it before.
4. You feel slightly more tired (although as rainy season really kicks in I have been told this will get worse).
5. The days will work their way up to unbearably hot and sticky and then a storm rolls in.
6. When it rains, it rains!!!!!!!!!
7. After the rain you have to wade your way through what used to be roads and are now rivers (and imagine all the overflowing septic that may have mingled into the river and all the times you have seen someone spit on the street which will now also be floating in the water).
8. The rain has compact the sand so it is much easier to ride a bicycle around!
9. Strange insects that you couldn’t even imagine, let alone be sharing a house with, suddenly appear!
10. The electricity supply becomes very intermittent.
So to pass on the joy of rainy season here are some pics. This is not nearly as flooded as it can get after a really long and really strong downpour. My roof does leak, but luckily the electricity goes out every time it rains so I don’t feel in danger. Luckily because of the hot weather the water on the floor does dry up very quickly.
After the rain the roads are flooded for the rest of the afternoon but by the next day the water is gone again, so you can generally choose to avoid having to walk through the water as much as you can. In fact the Gambians are as scared of the water as I am so they often will guide me around the rivers.
The other day I had a class when the rain started coming down really strongly. Water started pouring down the walls and I watched as slowly the students feet were sitting in puddles then had to quickly move my bag and give the rest of my lecture from the middle of a puddle. The most beautiful thing is that even though the students were part way through a presentation they didn’t bat and eye and just finished it, so I followed suit. Rainy season and badly built buildings are a part of life. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother people, if you asked the students they would tell you it is not good enough, but they don’t see any benefit in complaining or making a fuss so they don’t.
I did though when I discovered the not so little visitor in the picture in the bathroom, joined to my bedroom. Spiders have never really bothered me until I met this one. It really freaked me out – added to which it could stand itself up really tall and run like I have never seen anything move in my life. Luckily it was also scared of me so I managed to trap and remove it. Uuggh!
1. Your clothes stop drying as quickly as they used to.
2. You need to start drying your clothes inside (and they don’t always smell good because they aren’t drying as quickly).
3. You start sweating like you wouldn’t believe, feeling light headed when you stand up, and craving salt in a way you have never craved it before.
4. You feel slightly more tired (although as rainy season really kicks in I have been told this will get worse).
5. The days will work their way up to unbearably hot and sticky and then a storm rolls in.
6. When it rains, it rains!!!!!!!!!
7. After the rain you have to wade your way through what used to be roads and are now rivers (and imagine all the overflowing septic that may have mingled into the river and all the times you have seen someone spit on the street which will now also be floating in the water).
8. The rain has compact the sand so it is much easier to ride a bicycle around!
9. Strange insects that you couldn’t even imagine, let alone be sharing a house with, suddenly appear!
10. The electricity supply becomes very intermittent.
So to pass on the joy of rainy season here are some pics. This is not nearly as flooded as it can get after a really long and really strong downpour. My roof does leak, but luckily the electricity goes out every time it rains so I don’t feel in danger. Luckily because of the hot weather the water on the floor does dry up very quickly.
After the rain the roads are flooded for the rest of the afternoon but by the next day the water is gone again, so you can generally choose to avoid having to walk through the water as much as you can. In fact the Gambians are as scared of the water as I am so they often will guide me around the rivers.
The other day I had a class when the rain started coming down really strongly. Water started pouring down the walls and I watched as slowly the students feet were sitting in puddles then had to quickly move my bag and give the rest of my lecture from the middle of a puddle. The most beautiful thing is that even though the students were part way through a presentation they didn’t bat and eye and just finished it, so I followed suit. Rainy season and badly built buildings are a part of life. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother people, if you asked the students they would tell you it is not good enough, but they don’t see any benefit in complaining or making a fuss so they don’t.
I did though when I discovered the not so little visitor in the picture in the bathroom, joined to my bedroom. Spiders have never really bothered me until I met this one. It really freaked me out – added to which it could stand itself up really tall and run like I have never seen anything move in my life. Luckily it was also scared of me so I managed to trap and remove it. Uuggh!
I am enjoying your blog. Keep up the good work.
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