Signs that it is Rainy Season

Rain falling on our street

1. You find the kids watching a video on the computer with their hands over their ears. Almost everyday this week we’ve had huge thunderstorms. The flashes of light are soon followed by great cracks and booms. Our kids think the thunder is too loud but didn’t seem to mind that they couldn’t hear their video at all.
2. You don’t always notice when the electricity goes out at night, leaving you without fans. Usually a night without fans means a lot of sweating and not great sleeping. Our youngest usually wakes more too. But after a big storm it is noticeably cooler so you just sleep on through.
3. You start to consider slightly damp clothes as “dry”.  Rainy season means clothes are not getting much direct sunlight and so you come to the indoor lines to hang the newly handwashed clothes and find that the previous load still isn’t quite dry.
4. David’s cloth diapers smell more. The rain brings some cooler weather which means we don’t sweat as much, which means the kids pee more. More pee means more smell.

Our kids play on rainy porch

5. You get excited when dirty water starts coming out of the taps. When it rains, we don’t have water.   The more rain, the longer the water is off.  We think it is because the rain overwhelms the water system, so when it rains they turn off the water. When they finally turn the water back on after a rain, the water is brown with the sediments washed in with the rain. (You might be curious to know that we filter our drinking water.)
6. You aren’t bothered by the sight of someone showering in front of your house.  Especially since water isn’t great during the rainy season. People take advantage of the rain by washing hair and clothes in the water flowing off the roof. Usually it’s men and boys.  Don’t worry, the men wear a pair of shorts for this type of shower.  Boys on the other hand are often naked.
7. You randomly find your children soaking wet through the day.  The kids like to play in the rain or in puddles left by the rain. We’re working with them about asking permission before they get soaking wet.
 8. You talk about the weather.  Like anywhere, the weather is always a great topic for small talk.  Yet here, since the weather isn’t that varied, the only thing worth saying most of time is, “It’s hot today, isn’t it?”  But the rain gives you a chance to talk about something.  “There was more rain today than yesterday.” “That wasn’t a lot of rain--but the day before, now that was a lot of rain.” “Does it rain more in your village?” etc.
9. You have an unexpected hour-long conversation with a carpenter. The rains can catch you off guard and if you are in a shop when the downpour hits, you stay in the store. Tom went to a carpenter down the street for a quick quote and was gone for over an hour.  Good language time!

Friend brings us a jackfruit

10. Your guests are late and stay long. The flip-side of the previous sign is that people will get stuck at our house too. They won’t come until the rain lets up and since most islanders don’t seem to invest in umbrellas they won’t leave until the rain lightens. We’ve had more people over for meals this week. Last Sunday this meant great long conversations with two men who came while we were gathered together on Sunday morning.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for all who have been praying for better health.  Everyone is doing well now.  Megan had some sort of infection developing on her lip, but now it is healing.  Even our heat rash is getting better.  Tom has had some language lessons this week that have gone very well.  His language helper has been patient and persistent--even coming in the rain (this never happened on Volcano Island!)  Thanks to some thoughtful preparation on Megan’s part, we’ve been doing “The Road to Easter” during our family devotional times.  We’re also looking forward to a picnic with some friends on Easter Sunday.  We continue to meet more people, make new friends, and have opportunities to have conversations about Truth .  This last week we were thankful to have some long conversations with two visitors. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that we would have time to reflect and fully grasp the beauty of this holiday weekend and share it with others. Continue to pray for our language learning as we figure out what to study, who to study with and when, when to practice, where to practice, with who, and that we learn this language well.  We are excited to celebrate our son's 3rd birthday tomorrow.  Pray that he might have a blessed day.  Pray for our old teammates (father and son) who are traveling to Kenya to join the rest of the family as they await the birth of their newest family member. Pray for all of us working on all three islands-- we’ve already heard that this holiday weekend is providing lots of unique opportunities to share. Pray for open hearts.