Saturday October 10, 2008 9:18 pm
It’s a perfect rainy night for sleeping, but I cannot. Lamine is coming in early this morning and it has been affecting me oddly all day. At least that’s what I think has been affecting me. Saturday shopping can sometimes be odd enough unto itself.
The rainy season rolled in on a thunderous storm cloud sometime last week. A thunderstorm in Congo is unlike anything I have experienced…ever. It is truly biblical. Only with the heaving thunder, do I get such a clear picture of how immense and large the sky really is. It’s like another land up there, cavernous and vast. “Clap” is too weak a word for what happens after the rumbling buildup. The surging booms and crackles echo off the atmosphere, giving a vivid picture of the planet’s roundness. The finale is so forceful it seems as though the earth itself will split in two. It could be felt so intimately I feared perhaps I might break apart as well.
There was no sleeping that night either so I rose, did schoolwork and read a book until 3 a.m. I could not help but think, if this is how the rainy season goes, it will be impossible to get much sleep.
Tonight around dusk the air turned such a deep and rosy pink. I could only think of that weather rhyme…”Red sky at night sailors delight, red sky in morning, sailors take warning.” At least that’s how I think it goes. But clearly, I felt red sky at night, get ready for fright. Sure enough, less than an hour later the wind picked up. The most fascinating thing about the wind here is that the trees are so tall and thin. They rain down mango and avocado fruits like pelting hail. Even the ‘leaves’ that tumble are huge palm fronds that quickly cover the path. It is easy to imagine a hurricane scene from some deserted island movie and the destruction that will follow.. Perhaps after some months experiencing the season, these storms will not produce such drastic images. With no personal history to reference, every storm holds the potential to create a massive impact. It is delicious to be home, feeling cozy and safe.
Tonight, however, I had been invited to a wedding reception and was obliged to have my first driving experience. I suppose, like Africa, I can never do anything halfway. I did try to excuse myself from the event but it was too late. There were three very formally dressed people unable to travel by foot or by car to their destination. SO! I waded up to the jeep (this is quite a hike across campus, through a mucky soccer field and across a flooded drive) imagining a lightening strike at any moment. After a slight scare, I managed to gain access to the key for the vehicle. Behind the wheel, the world was right again. I do love driving.
I agreed to bring them up the road to the reception but decided I would not stay and simply return straight away (perhaps due more to social phobia than the storm. A fully formal event such as this was probably not the best idea to attend alone.) As promised, the place was only 5 minutes or so up the road, 7 km away. Theoretically, a straight shot.
In actuality, I found my self on the opposite side of the road more frequently than on my own. Several times I looked up to see a truck or bus coming at me with only one headlight. There are even a few cars with no headlights at all. Of course, when looking up I was unable to examine the road for deep craters. (They tell me with enough practice, I will have memorized where the holes are, thus freeing my eyes for oncoming traffic.) This entire scenario is only possible because everyone is traveling 20 mph…maybe even less. At least, I was. There was a small stretch where I managed to get into fourth gear but it was a dark lonely patch of road near school with few pedestrians and real pavement.
Despite my initial hesitation to travel out into the storm, I am quite happy I did because I feel completely free now. There is hope that I will learn the route and head out into Kinshasa should I need to. Of course, Saturday shopping has always been about more than just the shopping…..
