Mud Wrestling!

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Well, somebody’s rain-dance must have worked!!! Yes, you guessed it - the long rains have finally started and I don't think I have ever seen so much mud!!! I think I now know how it would have felt to be slogging my way out of the primordial ooze to walk on land!! I have had to crank out the gummies and so look very special as I negotiate my way along the road. On the plus-side, I have managed not to fall over yet (touching wood as I type!). It seems ridiculous to think that only 2 weeks ago we were so desperate for water - talk about going from one extreme to the other!!! We ended up having absolutely no water coming through for 4 days - doesn’t seem like too long, but it is actually a really long time to have no water at all!! Fortunately I had some stored and managed with careful rationing - wouldn’t have lasted any longer though! It is amazing how little foresight there is from people here - you would think that when the water was getting low and the rains hadn’t arrived, they would start to think about restrictions, or advising people to organise stores. As it was one day there was no problem and the next we were told that there would be no water again until it rained!! However, it is incredible how quickly you learn to save water. Anyway, we now have about 3 or 4 hours of good, heavy rain a day and I have discovered around a million leaks in the roof of my house!!
I spent Easter in Zanzibar and had a great time lazing on the beach, reading and swimming. Of course, I managed to get sunburnt so have now peeled and lost my tan - bugger! I got back from Zanzibar to find my house under about 2-3cm of water! Had just finished all the mopping when it began raining again and I had to start over - could have cried!!! The leaking had also shorted out my power, so it wasn't exactly the best home-coming! They have assured me that the roof is fixed now though! I will believe it when I see it!
Things here continue to be much the same, although we had a chicken come into the staff-room the other day - that was definitely something new!! I am managing to keep myself busy - I am now teaching 44 periods out of 40 (don’t even ask!). I have also just been told that I have to give a seminar to local English teachers in 2 weeks, but they haven’t decided on a topic yet - Welcome to Africa!!! I am hoping it will be something I can do some interesting stuff with - the last one was on transitive and intransitive verbs (for 2 hours! - YAWN!!!)
Well, I don’t think I have anything else to report. I hope all of you are well in NZ.
Take care,
j

Things I miss at the moment:
Being dry!
Paved roads and footpaths
Non-contact periods

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