Caught in the Rain

In Mundri there is often a moment when you see the storm clouds and hear thunder in the distance and you have to make a choice. You can either stay put and wait out the rain or try to beat it home. Since I rode my bike to the office today, I decided I would leave and try to beat the rain. I was about a quarter of the way home when it started to rain hard. I took shelter under a tree for a few minutes but as the rain got harder I decided I had to move, especially since I had my computer with me in my backpack. I rode to the next compound and was greeted by a woman named Susan who so kindly let me wait out the rain in her tukul. I was soaked and covered in mud at this point, but my backpack was still pretty dry. I sat and talked with Susan for about an hour. She spoke some English and little Moru since she is from Yei. I really enjoyed our conversation and hearing about her family. She was very surprised to hear that I am an only child, which is very uncommon in Sudan. Once the rain slowed down, I decided I better start biking back since I didn’t want to have to ride home in the dark and it was already close to 6 pm. The heavy rains had created rivers of mud on the roads. I kept pedaling as fast as I could to get back which resulted in mud being splashed all over my legs, back, hair, arms, and pretty much everywhere else. Some of the puddles were already several feet deep, so I got off and carried my bike over the largest puddles and just rode through the rest. I was already muddy and wet at that point anyway. When I got to our gate, it was locked! I called out to Kim, and she let me in. I was soaked, but thankful that my computer stayed completely dry. I put my things down, and went to get my things to take a shower. When I got into the tent, I saw that it also did not fare so well in this storm. Water had come in the front door and a few windows. The rip in the back also let some water in onto our beds which are now pretty damp, but not soaked. I took a glorious shower that even felt warm since I was pretty cold from sitting in wet clothes for over an hour. Now I am clean and sitting at our dining room table writing this blog post. Dinner is almost ready, and Kim made pizza for the intern goodbye party tonight. I am looking forward to good, warm food. I am sure I will be caught in the rain many more times during rainy season. I even enjoyed the last part of the bike ride through puddles and small stream since I was already wet and covered in mud.