Rain

The rainy season is upon us here in Kaolack. It rained a little over a week ago and it rained last night. This is big because before that it really hadn’t rained since September, almost 9 months without precipitation people! Both times the rain approached in dramatic fashion. The first rain was at about 11pm and was preceded by sand being picked up off the ground and flying into my eyes, nose and mouth by powerful winds as I tried to make my way home. Bandana over the face was really the most comfortable way to be if you were outside. As soon as I got home the pitter-patter started on the tin-roofed salon of my host-family. It was slow for about 5 minutes but then quickly turned into a full on monsoon. Yesterday, the storm started at about 6pm so I got to see it approaching. As it came in, it looked like a huge sandstorm, there was a lot of wind and the sky turned dusty brown. The wind picked up and the rain started, it didn’t stop until the middle of the night.

As you might imagine, with the infrastructure being as it is, the drainage is not great after these storms so there are now HUGE puddles in inconvenient places. I know we can expect the fly, mosquito and other annoying insect population to spike now, thankfully I’ve got my industrial strength bug spray to keep me safe.

And to all of you who said ‘well, at least it’s a dry heat.’ It’s not anymore.