village-wide rain party

"Ilana! stop doing your laundry! can't you see the winds are starting? the rains are coming! quick, get everything inside!"

Well, unfortunately, even with the help of about 30 frantic burkinabe in my courtyard, i didn't get everything inside, and all my hard work on my laundry for the past 3 hours went to waste, but it really didn't matter. It rained!!!!

Two days before it actually rained, there was some far off thunder and lightning, and i thought the sky looked a bit menacing, plus it was getting windy, so i expected the rain to come then. I was at the pump getting water, and my little solar panel i use to charge my phone was outside at my house, so i ran home to make sure i got it inside before it started to rain. Everyone who was at the pump looked at me like i was crazy. "What are you running about for, Ilana? It's not going to rain yet!" "Yes it is! I don't want my stuff to get ruined!" Laughter ensues. "It's not going to rain for another couple days. Wait, you'll see." I was sure it was going to rain any second. I waited. It'll start raining any second now...

No. never came.

Fastforward to two days later, terrential downpour, just like everyone had said. Right on the dot. Guess i just don't have an inner guage for the schedule of the rains as precise as my Burkinabe neighbors. On the day that it actually rained, i was apparently completely oblivious to it until it pretty much slapped me in the face. It was miserably hot as always, and i had spent the entire day dripping sweat all over my laundry, which is somewhat counterproductive, but what can you do.

As soon as it started to rain, everything instantly cooled off. I've never been more excited by a simple act of nature. All the women ran to get inside their houses and yelled for me to do the same. Aren't you afraid of the rain? You have to get inside. NOW. NO!!!! I love the rain!!! The kids saw that i was staying outside, so they stayed outside too. Then the dancing began. We jumped, we clapped our hands, we did the maceraina. The kids were squeeling with joy and we were all laughing so hard, the parents started braving the rain to come out to see what was happening. Everywhere i went, the kids followed me. I went into my courtyard, they all came too. I went out, they ran after me. We slipped and slid everywhere. It was muddy, but the mud didn't last long on our clothes cause it was raining so hard that it all just got washed off in an instant. After a while, the younger kids started looking really cold. They were shivering, but they refused to go inside. I started picking them up, one by one, and carrying them to their respective houses so that they could go dry off. They didn't mind going inside if it meant that I would carry them there. Every time i made a kid delivery, their moms would crack up, accept the kid, and immediately strip them down. The whole village looked different wet, and it was remarkable.

The rain floods the roads and makes it really hard to ride my bike anywhere, but I really don't mind. I'll trade barely traversible roads for a bit of cool air any day. Now, though, the day after the rain, it's back to being really hot, but the brief hiatus was well appreciated. I've always loved a good thunderstorm, but never as much as I do now. It's still not actually rainy season, but I eagerly await its arrival.