When the rain comes

 I am not sure when the rainy season is supposed to begin, officially. I have heard different stories from different people, but I think people always hope for the rains to begin in March.

During the weekends of February, there are traditional (voodoo) ceremonies to ask for the rain. You can hear the drums beating well into the night. So, when it rained early in March, I wondered if the idol worshippers were claiming credit for it. I mentioned that to Karen a couple of weeks later and she said that indeed they had done so. There were three days of rain in March, about a week apart. But the showers were only slightly more than sprinkles and lasted an hour at most. 

Now we are in April and the rain has a little more substance to it. Friday (April 1st) it rained for over two hours. The downpour lasted perhaps twenty minutes and then things settled into a nice steady rain for the rest of the time. I couldn't say for sure how effective it was, but as we passed through the countryside on our way to lake Togo on Saturday, I saw farmers out in the fields and saw some crops growing.

Today we had a good old-fashioned gully-washer. I apologize for the word, partially to myself, because I must have said it three or four times in the space of five minutes as I dealt with all the rain. 

I drove over to the house for breakfast because I had some errands to run and then I planned to go to school for the middle school French classes that I usually attend on Wednesday. It was cloudy when I left to go pay my Internet bill and to have a document printed. While I was paying the bill it began to thunder and while I was in the copy shop the heavens opened and the rains came down. Unfortunately, the power also went out, so my document remained unprinted. 

I waited a few minutes hoping that the rain would lighten up a bit, but finally decided to go ahead and get wet. A young lady from the shop walked me across the street to my car, holding a length of cloth over us to keep us dry. Can we say customer service? I hopped in the car and headed home since it was too early to go to school. 

Upon my arrival I discovered that my house could be susceptible to problems in the case of a really bad rain. My street had standing water.

In addition, water had pooled inside the compound by the door and in the driveway.

 

At the house, I sat in the living room and enjoyed the breeze--until I realized that the windows were open and, if the breeze was coming in, rain might be, too. I wish I had had my epiphany sooner. Puddles had formed under all the windows and my bed was wet, too. So I had to do a lot of spot mopping. During this activity I noticed places where the rain had leaked through without the help of an open window.

Although I didn't want to do so, I left my house in time to get to school for the 10:15 French class. More standing water filled Hammer's street. There was a nice little pond in front of the soccer field. I kept telling myself I should have stayed home, but felt that I needed to go. After all that worry, the French instructor didn't come! Of course, he drives a motorcycle so he could have run into places that were impassable for him. I did not spend the rest of the morning at school, but came home around 11:00.

I had told Dela I would go to the house for lunch, but I waited until the rain had truly stopped. Then I engaged in a few minutes' debate over my mode of transportation. The thought of the document still at the copy shop swayed the decision. I haven't yet walked in that direction, so I don't know how comfortable that walk would be for me. When I arrived there after lunch to pick up my document, I discovered more customer service. When the power came back on and the document printed, they took it to Hammer's house!

So here we are at 4:24 p.m., close to the time I normally leave for prayer meeting. The rain seems to be stopped for the afternoon. I hope that the water has had time to abate. Sunset is at 6:03 p.m., so it will be dark when we leave church and I won't be able to see clearly. I pray that people will be on time so that we are able to leave at 6:00 and not later!