Well I suppose the rainy season has started. It has been getting hotter and hotter but also cloudier and cloudier, with some thunder and lightning in the evenings. We had a couple of showers; then last Saturday night it rained hard. The place didn't turn green overnight.(I didn't actually believe it would). But if you get down and look you can see lots of little green shoots bursting through where there was previously bare earth. A couple of large lakes have appeared by the main road, the bridges which formerly crossed dry gullies are now crossing sluggish brown rivers and the ditch I have to negotiate on my path to school is now an even more difficult water hazard. I have had to relearn the pitfalls of my route. Various sand banks have shifted so some sections that were difficult have now had the sand swept away but others have suddenly become treacherous.
But the most noticeable thing is that suddenly everyone has got their mattocks out. It's a
jembe in Swahili. We used to call it a
khasu in Malawi.
Pieces of land that I thought were just waste ground are now nicely turned over, the red earth ready for the maize or sorghum. There are no discernible boundaries and no fences. Grazing animals are always kept within bounds by a shepherd or cowherd.
The rain has also brought out the local wildlife, especially scorpions. I have become wary of pupils approaching the staff room carrying containers with holes punched in. The National Exam in Biology often includes a classification exercise involving scorpions so the school tries to build up a stock of them while they are plentiful.
There has been no rain since Saturday and as I write the sun is shining in a blue sky. These are the short rains, so maybe that's it.
