Rain

Is it going to rain? Beats me...

So this is the beginning of the “short rains,” one of Kenya’s 2 rainy seasons. Lucky for me this time of year the rains tend to come every day, but only last a short period. Last Friday as I was packing up my things to leave clinic, I noticed that the huge sky had turned ominously steel grey. It started to feel a little chilly, which was a first for me in Kisumu.

I asked some of my FACES co-workers if it was going to rain, figuring I should hurry home since I had my computer with me. It’ll be a while, they assured me, so I hung out for a bit chatting about nothing much in particular. Next thing I know it’s pouring, crashing, flooding down rain. Serious drenching downpour. The dirt parking lot in front of FACES was submerged under a foot of water within 15 minutes. I was told it wouldn’t last long, and yet I waited and waited for over an hour, wondering how I was going to get home with my computer and no raincoat, umbrella or even garbage bag to cover me. Luckily I caught a ride with the truck that serves as an ambulance going to Suba, sitting in the back with a lady with a wracking, horrendous productive cough.

The next day, again the sky turned dark grey while I was at the grocery store, so I hopped a tuk tuk home, thinking how clever I was to beat the downpour. Well it never came. I waited and waited, but no rain.

The next day again the sky turned dark but I figured once again it was leading me on. And of course the rain fell in huge thundering sheets. What the hell?? Why can’t I figure out when it’s going to rain here?? And to top it all off, today it rained TWICE. Once when I was about to walk out to lunch, and again when I was in the (thankfully covered) vegetable market. I’ll take it as a practical joke being played by mother nature on a daily basis. But I don’t think I’ll leave home again without my umbrella.