Storms

As I sit here writing this post I am in my office at work, my windows open and my fan on. My desk and computer, both of which were clean this morning, now are covered in a fine layer of dust. A wind storm abruptly swept in and blew the dust and dirt that was loose into any available space it could. A few minutes later, after listening to my door and the other metal doors of the offices near mine slam loudly, the rain starts.

The rain is thick and heavy. There is thunder and of course lightning. I could shut my office door and windows but the fresh air feels so good, it seems a shame to cut it off. Besides I enjoy listening and watching the storm. People who know me well know I love to dance in the rain and that I love a good storm. So, I am going to sit in my office, and enjoy this simple pleasure.

When I arrived in South Sudan is was the dry season. Here they only have 2 seasons: dry and rain/wet. So dry season is hot and the air is, of course, dry. So, the 104* days that stretched on and on were not as bad as they could be. The air is dusty in dry season, as there are not grasses or lush vegetation to keep the dust down, but the days are clear and sunny, and of course, warm.

The earth is very, very dry during dry season. Not much grows and finding certain foods in the market is harder during that time of the year due to the dry climate and it being out of season for certain things. Nothing holds the dust down so when a strong wind picks it up it creeps into everything. I've made peace with the dust, and that my white socks will probably never be white again.

I don't know how the livestock survive well during dry season. Packs of sheep and goats wander the town searching for food. Thankfully they seem to be good scavengers so they seem to do okay. The horse wanders to different patches of grass in the town to find his own food as well. The cattle are skinny, as they are moved to different areas to feed. Hopefully the rainy season will bring them more food.

Now it is rainy season. It started mid-March and seems to be slow in progressing. The first week or so there were several bursts of short storms almost every day. Now it seems like there are days with no storms, but then when a storm rolls in, it does not last a mere 20 minutes but for several hours.

Today the rain is feeding the dry and parched earth. It rains for several hours, eventually tapering off to something light and pleasant. There are puddles around the office, which I can mostly avoid thanks to some raised pathways. In a few hours those puddles will be gone. The wind has blown over one of the wooden fences.

For the rest of the day the sky remains grey and gloomy. I am actually grateful for this. Sometimes after it rains it becomes immediately sunny again and hot. Therefore, it hot and humid and somehow the weather is more oppressive than it was before the rain. However, today we are graced with grey skies and cool temperatures. It is only 88* here. My colleagues are all bundled up in warm coats but I am still sitting in my office with my fan on, enjoying a reprieve from the heat.

I enjoy the weather changes and I enjoy the storms. It was fun to watch the wind storm blow in and then the rain again. I am looking forward to more days of rain. Maybe one of these days I will show my colleagues what a Khawaja dancing in the rain looks like.