Rain in Ghana
I love it when it rains here in Ghana. There are two seasons here in Ghana, the rainy season and the dry season. Right now it is the rainy season and it rains at least once a day (usually at night) here in Techiman. When the it rains here in Ghana, it “motherfuckin’” rains… There is no other way to describe it. The craziest flashes of thunder and lightning accompany this rain and light up the night skies with some amazing colors.
There are a couple of reasons why I like it when it rains here in Techiman. My homestay house does not have running water. Due to the lack of running water I have to go fetch water at the borehole/pump to fill my water barrel in order to bathe, drink and do laundry. The trip to the borehole/pump takes about 2 minutes each way. It really isn’t that long of a walk, but it gets annoying going back and forth carrying a water jug that probably weighs about 50lbs. So when it rains like it is doing tonight I can usually just put a bucket out a couple of times and within 10-15 minutes I can fill my 50 gallon barrel of water.
Another reason to appreciate the rain is that it is a natural shower. Because there is no running water at my homestay I have to take bucket baths. To take a bucket bath you fill a large (usually and 2-3 gallon) bucket with water and then you use a smaller bucket to pour the water on your body. I never get the feeling that I am fully clean when I do this because I can never get all of the soap off of my body. So when it rains I stand in a spot where the roof of my house pitches in and take a shower. I think the people of my village think I am crazy because they always stand outside their houses and watch me bathing from their porch. I can’t really make out what they are saying to me because my twi (language/dialect spoken in this area and in many parts of Ghana) isn’t that good yet. I imagine it to be something along the lines of “what the fuck is this crazy obruni (white man) doing standing out in the rain?”
The last reason I love the rain is because it cools the weather down. Everyday it is humid and hot. I wake up every morning sweating because in my room it is around 86 degrees on average (my travel alarm clock tells me so). When it rains like this the temperature in my room dips below 85 degrees and if I’m lucky it will get into the 70s (right now as I write this it is 81 degrees). Because of the rain my pants will probably get muddy on my way to training, but right now I am probably the cleanest I’ve been in a couple of days.
There are a couple of reasons why I like it when it rains here in Techiman. My homestay house does not have running water. Due to the lack of running water I have to go fetch water at the borehole/pump to fill my water barrel in order to bathe, drink and do laundry. The trip to the borehole/pump takes about 2 minutes each way. It really isn’t that long of a walk, but it gets annoying going back and forth carrying a water jug that probably weighs about 50lbs. So when it rains like it is doing tonight I can usually just put a bucket out a couple of times and within 10-15 minutes I can fill my 50 gallon barrel of water.
Another reason to appreciate the rain is that it is a natural shower. Because there is no running water at my homestay I have to take bucket baths. To take a bucket bath you fill a large (usually and 2-3 gallon) bucket with water and then you use a smaller bucket to pour the water on your body. I never get the feeling that I am fully clean when I do this because I can never get all of the soap off of my body. So when it rains I stand in a spot where the roof of my house pitches in and take a shower. I think the people of my village think I am crazy because they always stand outside their houses and watch me bathing from their porch. I can’t really make out what they are saying to me because my twi (language/dialect spoken in this area and in many parts of Ghana) isn’t that good yet. I imagine it to be something along the lines of “what the fuck is this crazy obruni (white man) doing standing out in the rain?”
The last reason I love the rain is because it cools the weather down. Everyday it is humid and hot. I wake up every morning sweating because in my room it is around 86 degrees on average (my travel alarm clock tells me so). When it rains like this the temperature in my room dips below 85 degrees and if I’m lucky it will get into the 70s (right now as I write this it is 81 degrees). Because of the rain my pants will probably get muddy on my way to training, but right now I am probably the cleanest I’ve been in a couple of days.
posted by john park at 2:14 PM
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