Rain!

Yes, rain has finally come to The Gambia. Everyone says that if the rains don't come by June 15, they're late. On June 14, suddenly the clouds opened up and let it out. It was really nice. It's been stiflingly hot lately and instantly everything cooloed down. My compound has a covered porch area that runs all the way around so everyone sat on the porch outside their houses and watched the rain. One of my host moms took advantage of the downpour to wash her baby in the roof runoff.

The next day was a travel day, and I kind of began to see the disadvantages of the rainy season in The Gambia. Huge puddles had formed everywhere (can you say malaria?). In the Brikama car park, people had to wade up to their shins to walk into the market. It was pretty gross trying to pass around these huge brown puddles and attempting to stay dry.

Now it's been a few days since the last rain. It's hot and sticky all over again, but the skies have been grey for a while now so I'm hoping for some more rain to cool things down, even if it means puddles.