Blog Action Day: Cold in Africa

I really didn't plan on writing a blog post for this year's Blog Action Day because I honestly don't have all that much to say about climate change. But I think the weather this week wanted me to. We are now heading toward the end of October, and normally here in Cameroon, that means the beginning of dry season - months without rain, the heat, dust everywhere, dry season sickness - oh the horror. However, this past week, you would have thought we were in June - the midst of rainy season.

Like any culture, talking about the weather is the primary subject of small talk. This past week or so, everyone in village has been commenting on the bizarre weather this year - the constant rain and low temperature. I am not sure if I've just acclimated to the weather or it really is colder, but two days ago, I found myself bundled up in a cashmere sweater, sweat pants, socks and a fleece blanket while sitting with a cup of hot tea because it felt like winter where there is snow on the ground.

The temperature was likely only 60 degree at most, and this means this next winter, when I will actually spend it somewhere with snow, I may just freeze over. Anyway, the point is the abnormality of the weather. Whether or not the globe is warming up and the North Pole is melting away, the climate is absolute not the same. Is this the natural progression and evolution or is this due to our carbon footprint? I don't know. This is why I wasn't going to write a post - I don't have anything intelligent to say regarding the matter.

What I do know is, while this may not effect the everyday lives of people in the industrial world, its effect is immediate in places where agriculture is the main source of livelihood, such as with people in my village. In the rainy season, the rain usually comes in the afternoon, so people plan to go into the farm in the morning to work and return home before the afternoon downpour. But these past two weeks, the rain comes whenever it feels like it. People have no way of planning their days.

Few days ago, I took a moto to visit the lycée regarding my library project. The lycée in Batié is sort of in the mountains and not very easy to get to. Just as I was wrapping up with the meeting, the rain came, and not the typical rainy season rain where it pours for 15 minutes and stops. This was the annoying London kind of rain where it rains continuously and just hard enough where I couldn't take the moto back; I had no other option but to wait. So I waited - for three hours. On this particular day, I made the fatal mistake of forgetting my book at home. Those were three very long hours.

The repeated conversation I've had with villagers this week about the strange weather motivated me to write this not-so-in-depth post on climate change. Whether it's getting cold or getting hot - the weather is changing, and already affecting lives of people in some corners of the world.

Rain. Love It. Hate It.

I love the rainy season for several reasons. For starter, when it rains, I can stay in like rest of the population here. "It's raining" is a perfectly valid excuse to not do anything. The rain washes away the dirt and everything is less dirty. My house is not constantly covered by a layer of dust. Although my feet are still always dirty because the rain causes the mud to get all over the place. On a side note, the other day I realized that I have not worn closed-toe shoes in over a year. The thought of wearing high-heels is very foreign, and the fact I just typed hell instead of heel clearly reflects my feeling on this subject.

Since it's still the summer and my water boys are on vacation, the rain allows me to just put a bucket out rather than going to the pump and fetch water myself. That is a definite big plus. Finally, there is nothing more soothing than a cold rainy day when I can wrapped myself up in a sweater, read a book or get work done without interruption. I have really learned to love the rain since my time here.

However, nothing is ever so perfect. The one terrible thing about the rainy season is that my clothes takes forever to dry. When the sun does come out, it's deceiving. I put my clothes out on the line, and the next thing I know, I had forgotten about them and they are soaked in rain. But clothes are one thing, I wring them dry and it's okay. Now, bedsheets are a whole different story.

There are some things we as PCVs have to do that you may not remember. And washing your bedsheets by hand is such task. By hand, without running water. First it takes all of my energy and then some to wash the sheets and wring them dry by hand. Then I catch the small window that the sun is out to put my sheets out on the line. On this particular Sunday, I did just that, then began doing some work on the computer. Working so consciously that I completely forgot about the sheets. Several hours and many pouring session of rain later, I suddenly thought of them. Inappropriate words came out in all four languages I know. I was not a happy camper.

The problem with the sheets is that they hang lower, so when the rain pours, mud gets all over them. Not only are my sheets now soaks, I will have to repeat the entire process over again. Fan-freaking-tastic.

The rain. I love it and I hate it. This must the what they mean by "can't have your cake and eat it, too".

Let the Rain Fall

We are most certainly in the midst of the rainy season here in West Cameroon. Today was a perfect rainy season day - the rain was falling ALL DAY LONG. I am not kidding. From the moment I woke up until even now, it's either pouring or drizzling. So, like any other Peace Corps volunteer who is bien intégré (well integrated), I did not leave the house. What can I say, I take my job seriously in trying to blend in with the culture. And here, on rainy days, people stay home.

I wonder when again for the rest of my life I can say, "I'm just going to stay home today, because it's rainy." I bet the folks living in London who are reading this must hate me with a passion. Sorry. I paid my dues. I lived in London, too.

So instead, I baked cookies for 3 hours today with the neighbor kid (the good one who gets water for me everyday, not the jerks that steal from me.) We, or I, went a little crazy and made two double batches. So that is, 4 batches of cookies. The flavors today were: chocolate chip & cinnamon sugar. To my defense, there were a few belated birthdays I want to make cookies for when I return to Yaoundé next week. I have, believe it or not, moved on from my making-elaborate-food-for-no-apparent-reason phase. Probably because I actually have work to do that matters. Thank goodness!

Besides the cookie baking fun, I did do some work on the computer today preparing for the business seminar I am giving and some work for Books For Cameroon. I am not a total slacker. The rain falls, but the work still go on, kind of.

I've decided to write a bit more often to capture the simple tasks of my daily life here, instead go disappearing for weeks at a time and bombard you with a vague summary of what I am doing. After all, to be cliché, life is composed of all these insignificant details, n'est-ce pas?