Rain, rain go away....

Today, I have become officially sick of the rainy season.  Although I haven't been keeping close track, it feels like we've had no more than 3 totally rain-free days over the last 3 weeks.  And this isn't the type of place where it rains once a day for a few minutes...the last 2 days in particular have had downpour after downpour.  It's dark and dreary and I can't motivate myself to do very much.

Almost all our clothes are wet and beginning to smell moldy.  It's pretty hard to dry them without a dryer and without any sun.  Our house helper is valiantly trucking them all outside when we get a few minutes of sun....and then has to move them all back under the covered porch once the next cloudburst hits.

Driving here, difficult during the best of times, becomes disastrous in rainy season.  There are deep puddles, flooded roadways, and thick red mud everywhere.  Traffic is horrendous.  Our road has become nearly impassable because every time it rains, rivers rush down the hill, eroding the soil as the water journeys downward and creates huge craters. Our gate also gets stuck after the downpours as sediment builds up against its frame and we have to clear it away.  

Although we live only a half-mile away from school, that can be a very long distance when it is heavily raining.  Sometimes we drive but other times we think it will be clear and then we get caught!

Keeping the floors (and our feet) clean is an impossible task.  And that red mud is very hard to wash out of stained clothes (especially without a washing machine).

I've noticed an increase in the number of bugs, especially mosquitoes and flies.  There are also quite a few HOPAC kids that are out sick with malaria this week, which is scary to hear.

But it's not all bad...I am very thankful for the cooler weather this season has brought.  Although it's usually still pretty humid, a 20-25 degree drop in temperature is much appreciated!  I'm starting to wonder whether we'll need to buy a couple of long-sleeved shirts for when the true "winter" hits in June.  I also love watching the storms roll in over the ocean.  I'll look out the window, notice the thick white clouds forming and within 5 minutes, it's pouring!  There's definitely something peaceful about the sound of rain hitting a tile roof.  If I didn't have to go anywhere or do anything, I'd certainly enjoy this season a lot more.

I have to remind myself that I'm looking at the inconvenience of the rain from a first-world perspective. The rains are necessary for crops to grow, and if the harvest is affected, it's not me that will go hungry. I have a home located on the top of a hill with no danger of being flooded, unlike so many in our city. And my driving woes highlight the fact that I actually own a vehicle and I don't need to ride an over-crowded, smelly public bus that also can't navigate the bad conditions and gridlock traffic.

I'm also reminding myself that this is how I usually feel at the end of a long, dreary winter in the U.S....as Ned Stark says, "Winter is coming!" (and in this case, it's a good thing).