The rains down in Africa

It’s Thursday morning. I’ve got a meeting all day today on the issue of HIV/AIDS that sounds very interesting and I was really looking forward to attending. The meeting was to start at 9:00am, but it is 9:30am and I am still sitting in my bedroom.

It’s raining.

This isn’t Canadian style rain – get your umbrella and quickly walk to your car/train/office. No, this is African rainy season rain. The kind that seems to come from all directions, soaks you through in about 30 seconds, and would render even the biggest golf umbrella useless.

The rain stops all human activity. Stalls where you buy goods and food are closed and people don’t leave wherever they are. I’m not worried about missing my meeting – I know that no one else is at the office either and the meeting won’t start until the rain has passed.

There is really something beautiful about this rain though – the power of it leaves me in awe every time it comes. I feel like I now understand why Toto misses the rain down in Africa. I think I will too when I leave. But I don’t think I will miss how it holds me hostage in my bedroom, eating ginger candies for breakfast and wanting to go to work to talk about development issues in my district.