Not Used To...

... RAIN!!

Dodoma's climate is described as "semi-arid" (according to climate information on the "wikipedia" website) and for 8 months of the year we are highly unlikely to see so much as tiny droplet of rain. Therefore, the "rainy season" between December and March is of vital importance for local Tanzanians, providing the opportunity to plant and grow their crops, which can then be harvested and stored, or sold to provide income for the family. In a country where subsistence farming is still the norm, even as a top-up to wages earned in town, crops are a lifeline.

However, many locals have been concerned at the lack of rain over the past month. My houselady Jane told me that her maize crop was not growing as it should. MAF employees who work in the hangar here in Dodoma told Andrew last week that if we did not have rain in the next few days, their crops would fail- taking with them the hope of income from selling food, plus food they had been counting on for the family, not to mention the waste of all their hard work since November in preparing the soil, planting and tending their crops.
People here depend on the rains: if they do not come, crisis ensues. Last Sunday, the wife of the bishop of Dodoma stood up in the church service to plead with us all to pray for rain, as the crisis point was looming. Another week without rain would mean crop failure for many in our region. A serious matter.

Therefore, imagine the suspense here in Dodoma when the skies clouded over on Wednesday afternoon, thunder rumbled and lightening began to flash across the sky... we almost held our breath as we waited to see if this storm would pass over, or whether life-giving rain would fall... I heard the first drops of rain about one o'oclock in the morning and gentle dripping of the first raindrops soon gave way to the welcome sound of heavy rain beating against our tin roof. I went back to sleep again very grateful for this blessing of rain!

On Thursday morning, the rain was still falling as the children set off for school. As I took the 3 of them to the school bus-stop, Joel seemed most surprised at being bundled into a pram with a rain-cover; a new experience for him! Esther and Ben were thrilled with the novelty of wearing raincoats and wellies to school! I just had to take a photo to mark this unusual sight of my children crowding under an umbrella on a  wet and muddy Dodoma morning:

 Jane came to work with a big smile on Thursday, pleased with this gift of rain and the prospect of healthy crops. The rains eased off by lunchtime, but a dramatic and exciting thunderstorm on Friday evening preceeded another welcome rainfall. The children were greatly excited by the wild wind, the loud crashes of thunder, the bursts of lightening which lit up the whole night sky...and by the excitment of our leaking house, which is also not used to rain! Heavy rainfall seeps through our lounge wall, dripping through cracks and pouring over 2 electric sockets (which we avoid using!!)- 3 towels and some cloths helped to soak up some of the water...

 On Saturday morning, I went to my Ladies Keep Fit Class, which is held at the swimming pool for an hour of "Aqua Fit". Out of about 16 ladies who come along to the class, only 5 of us turned up on this damp, cooler morning, as the rain had lasted well into the night- and we 5 were the ones from colder climates- 3 Brits, a Dutch lady and our German teacher- all of us a bit more experienced with grey skies, able to handle a bit of rain and cooler air!! Funnily enough, there was no sign of any of the African ladies, the New Zealanders or others used to warmer weather!!
However, despite the depletion in number of ladies, we were all repulsed by the increase in the number of water scorpions, who seemed to have been enjoying an overnight gathering in the pool to celebrate the rain! Nasty weird-looking creatures, who we removed from the pool and squashed- at least 15 were lying dead on the side of the pool when I arrived:

 A couple more surfaced while we were exercising and 2 cheeky fellas climbed up the arm of the Dutch lady and another crept up my leg, creating much screaming and hilarity from us ladies! They look like giant cockroaches and do NOT make pleasant swimming companions:

 The rains had also brought a few frogs to the pool, but unfortunately for them, the pool must have been too deep, as it was the bloated corpses of frogs who floated up amongst us and had to be thrown out of the pool by the braver ladies (not me!!).

It is funny how unused we can become to the rain, despite coming from a rainy country myself. It is amazing how much more I now appreciate rain- despite the bizarre creatures that reveal themselves with each wet season! It has been a wonderful few days of RAIN!!!