On a Monday about a month into the last term, when the rains had just begun, I woke up one morning in the middle of a downpour. Time conscious American that I still sometimes am (or at least, was), I got up to bathe and dress like any other day. I put on sneakers, packed my books in a dry bag, pulled out my raincoat, and intended to head to school.
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My family was incredulous. "Don't go now. It's raining." (Yes, I can see that.) They assured me that the students wouldn't move in the rain, and that no one would expect me to either. As evidence of this, my three primary school-aged siblings weren't even in uniform yet.
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I let Maama talk me into staying home later than normal to take tea and macaroni, but then, it was after 8, and I was getting nervous. I was supposed to teach at 8, and I didn't quite believe that no one would move in the rain.
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As I left, my father insisted on giving me money for a boda, since I refused to stay inside out of the rain. Moving through Bukoto Town, my family's admonitions rang clear: I was the only person out in the rain, and multiple people called out to ask if I didn't fear the rain? (At that point, I didn't, though after a few more encounters with it, I would also choose not to move during storms). There were no bodas around (strange at that time of morning!), but I didn't really mind walking.
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When I reached school, slightly damp, it was exactly as my family had predicted: the only students around were boarders, and they were studying on their own. Thankfully, my good friend Roy found me and took me to her room in the girls' dorm, questioning me intensely about why I had come to school in the rain.
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We took tea again. I changed shoes and hung my wet coat to dry. Finally, around 9:30 or so, the rain had stopped enough that the students were coming.
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By the end of the term, I had learned to roll over and sleep a bit longer if I heard rain when I woke up in the morning. In fact, if I woke up still feeling really tired, I would spend a few moments wishing for the rain to start before crawling out from under my warm covers.
14 years ago
2 comments:
I wish that Notre Dame would operate similarly. We have had snow everyday for the past 8-9 days. Currently, this first day of classes, we are experiencing what the weather people consider "blizzard conditions." Enjoy your rainy days, my dearest!
And here in the Northeast... our snow days are quickly approaching their maximum. We have almost 2 feet of snow on the ground, and the thermometer read 16 degress BELOW zero tonight when I let Copper out before bed ! Brrr... :)
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