Mostly the weather is very pleasant, often cloudy. We can almost always count on rain threatening late in the afternoon. There have only been a couple of times when rain has been absent for a couple of weeks. It's a good thing because none of the locals ever water their crops. Our yard meri (woman) planted some seeds in our garden during one of those 2 week periods of no rain.
Then again we sometimes get dumped on. Right now it's raining really hard. It sounds worse than it probably is because the roof of our home, like all missionary homes, is made of corrugated metal with some opaque plexiglass panels in spots to provide natural lighting. Noisy!
Our dirt roads become slick mud unless they have lots of rocks of all sizes on top of them. We'd been warned about walking around during the rainy season (which we haven't hit yet) and we'd brought rubbers/galoshes. Many of the nationals, who don't have shoes, just walk around barefoot in the cold muck. Can't imagine doing this.
We were invited last night after church to the home of friends who live almost at the top of the hill. (We live at the bottom.) Because it had been raining yesterday, we'd put on our galoshes. We did pretty good until we got almost to our friends' house. Their road is at about a 20 degree slope and was pure mud. As we walked, I had to hold Julie's hand so that she didn't slip back more than her step moved her forward. Mud stuck to our galoshes, making our feet look about an inch wider and longer. The mud was being kicked up onto the inside of our pants cuffs too.
It's standard practice that you take your shoes off when entering a house. If needed, you ought to bring alternate footwear when at your hosts' home. Sometimes, the host may even offer you slipper socks. Last night, I left my shoes outside, hoping the roof overhang would protect my shoes from getting soaked.
After walking home last night, I thoroughly washed and dried both my shoes and galoshes and hand washed my pants.
And the rainy season, two months away and over two months in length, is yet to come. I wonder if I'll see Noah before we leave for home in early February.
Then again we sometimes get dumped on. Right now it's raining really hard. It sounds worse than it probably is because the roof of our home, like all missionary homes, is made of corrugated metal with some opaque plexiglass panels in spots to provide natural lighting. Noisy!
Our dirt roads become slick mud unless they have lots of rocks of all sizes on top of them. We'd been warned about walking around during the rainy season (which we haven't hit yet) and we'd brought rubbers/galoshes. Many of the nationals, who don't have shoes, just walk around barefoot in the cold muck. Can't imagine doing this.
We were invited last night after church to the home of friends who live almost at the top of the hill. (We live at the bottom.) Because it had been raining yesterday, we'd put on our galoshes. We did pretty good until we got almost to our friends' house. Their road is at about a 20 degree slope and was pure mud. As we walked, I had to hold Julie's hand so that she didn't slip back more than her step moved her forward. Mud stuck to our galoshes, making our feet look about an inch wider and longer. The mud was being kicked up onto the inside of our pants cuffs too.
It's standard practice that you take your shoes off when entering a house. If needed, you ought to bring alternate footwear when at your hosts' home. Sometimes, the host may even offer you slipper socks. Last night, I left my shoes outside, hoping the roof overhang would protect my shoes from getting soaked.
After walking home last night, I thoroughly washed and dried both my shoes and galoshes and hand washed my pants.
And the rainy season, two months away and over two months in length, is yet to come. I wonder if I'll see Noah before we leave for home in early February.
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