Yesterday I spent a rather full and productive day at CTC (see previous blog). Because of this, and because they spoil me with food whenever I end up having lunch there, I wasn't too hungry come dinner time. Rather than head to Sancofa (See: incredible pizza worth walking all the way across town to eat) with the rest of the team I decided to just grab a sandwich at Larem, which is roughly next door to Acholi Ber. Throughout the day it had been dark and cloudy (in fact, I was at CTC as late as I was because a mid-day rainstorm delayed my trip. Caught the sound of it on tape, it was beautiful), but as I ate my sandwich I began to notice some tell tale signs that the rain was coming on again. Funny, I've only been here three weeks but I can now tell. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to see that when the wind starts to pick up, it starts to get cold, and the people around start taking cover, that it is probably going to rain.
I threw 5,000 UGX ($2.50 USD) to Katherine to pay for my meal, wrapped what was left in a napkin, and began to hastily make my way into the dirt road. Then it began to sprinkle. Then the people started RUNNING. I began to run too because no sooner had I managed my way two doors down to the lobby of the hotel when the sky opened up, the earth began to howl, and all the forces of water and wind converged on Gulu-town. Mark (owner, Acholi Ber) began to close up the big storm doors, and I watched as people ran by trying to avoid pelting rain. Thinking I was probably safe (being dry, fat, and happy) I decided to head upstairs to watch the water from the balcony. As I crossed through the storm door I knew I'd made a mistake. Water was flooding down the staircase, coming in through windows and flooding down from the fourth floor. It was a little like that scene from Titanic where Kate Winslet was trying to go down several flights of stairs to find Leo DiCaprio, and she was just drenched in water coming from everywhere. By the time I made it to my room I was as soaked as if I'd stood outside in it and decided to swim up the street.
And swim is what most people were doing. Okay, that's a little hyperbole, but the street did become a rushing river and the rain continued. The power flickered on and off, and the wind (probably the worst wind I've seen since I got here) was threatening to tear roofs off of huts. An hour later, it still raged on, with much of the open sewer now flowing down the street and intense thunder and lightning crashing through the sky.
THAT is why they call it rainy season.
I took advantage of my solitude and the availability of water (no pun intended) to get some laundry done. It was a long, wet night.
I managed to get some reasonable rest last night (with nowhere to go) but despite having learned to tuck my mosquito net in to the side of the bed I still managed to somehow wake with it entangled around my body. I will not miss sleeping with mosquito nets when I get home. All of the thrill that one gets of doing something new, of having bug protection, of having a personal pup tent above one's bed, all of this disappears the moment one realizes that there just is no good way to sleep with a mosquito net. Blake, who is 6'2", finds that he not only has half of his legs dangling off the bed but that he cannot keep the mosquito net around the bed at night due to this inconvenience. And the other night, I had a moth trapped in my net, which was made more interesting by the insect's absolute refusal to move unless the net was down. It was like sleeping in a butterfly cage.
Today has been a day of finishing laundry and tending to bug bites (unwittingly made a good meal for a spider the other night and now have the three pin head holes in my leg to prove it. I hope I rolled over and crushed him in my sleep, stupid arachnid).
I also found a book store. Ok...it's something of a book store. The books are all donated by "Books for Africa" according to the boxes that the employees were unpacking, and therefore the selection doesn't even compare to a poorly stocked GoodWill, but when one has already read through the only novel one thought to bring...one doesn't really have the choice to be picky anymore. The books are reasonably priced and I picked a couple up (night time around here hits at 7:00. I find that reading is one of the few things that keeps me sane lacking television and internet).
All in all, another day in paradise.
No comments:
Post a Comment