Let It Rain!

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The rainy season is finally here! There's no more school, so all the college and high school students come back to the village for the vacation. No more ridiculously hot weather. And my favorite, no more relying on a well 15 minutes away for all my water. Now it's delivered to me, straight off my roof. :)

Far from being a vacation time, everyone is working more than usual. Practically everyone is in the fields most if not all of the day planting corn, rice, peanuts, cassava, sweet potatoes, and okra. All of this is done by hand, the only assistance being that of a hoe.

Even I'm working more than usual. Because everyone's out of school, when they're not planting they want to learn English. So I've been having about three private lessons a day and one open class. My students range from 2dn grade to college level. It's fun because they really want to learn. Especially the little kids. If I teach them one thing, the next day all the kids in the village will run up to me to practice the new phrase.

Besides that, the rainy season is for waiting. Waiting for Ramadan, which begins in a month, and then waiting for it to be over. Waiting for results from the 7th grade, 11th grade, and university entrance exams. This year my village has 80 candidates for 11th grade. Two years ago only one student was admitted. Last year there were 35. We're hoping for more this year. And me, I'm especially waiting for October when a new Peace Corps volunteer, a math teacher, will be joining me in my village.

So despite the influx of mosquitoes, I'm excited that the rains are upon us. With the kids being happy to be out of school and everyone profiting from being able to sleep through the night (with a blanket even!), everyone's contentment is contagious.

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