It's a Love/Hate Kind of Thing

We are currently in the middle of dry season. In the US, of course, we have four seasons, but in West Africa, we have 2 – rainy and dry. In the rainy season, it….. rains – a lot. In the dry season, it… does not rain. At. All. Not too hard to figure out, I know.

For us, dry season runs from about October until May. The beginning and end of dry season is HOT. I don’t mean a little warm. I mean sweat dripping off your elbows, running down your back, too miserable to sleep HOT. But, for a short window in the middle, there are about 2 months of cold weather. And I don’t mean just a little cold. I mean 5 blankets at night, fuzzy slippers, stocking caps, long pants and shirts 50 degree COLD. In fact, about 2 weeks back, we hit 45 degrees one night. It was unbelievable. I could barely surface from under the blankets in the morning.

I enjoy the cooler weather. I like sipping hot drinks and covering up with blankets and cats (at least until I have to get out of bed in the morning.)

Here are some of my favorite dry season things….

1. The cool weather.

2. The dryness that allows clothes to dry on the line in just a few hours.

3. It is rice harvest time – so I know my friends have food to eat.

Like many things in life, there is a definite down side to dry season.

Burns: The rice harvest brings much rejoicing with the arrival of food. It is great for me to know that my friends are eating well at this time of year. Unfortunately, many of the burns I see at this time of year are due to the fires of burning the rice chaff that has been removed. They have machines that remove the rice chaff and it gets piled higher and higher as the harvest continues.

In order to get rid of it, people burn it, which is not a problem until more rice chaff is placed on the top and the stuff underneath continues to smolder. Kids, not thinking, often walk through it and burn themselves. One little 22 month old that I have been caring for was in the care of his slightly older brother who accidently dropped him in the burning chaff. Panicked, he left the baby there and ran for help, while the toddler’s feet and legs continued to burn. Other burns are caused by hot water or the fires that everyone sits around, desperately trying to keep warm.

Allergies: Now is the time for allergies to be in full gear – mostly due to the controlled (or at times not so controlled burning) of the drying grass. People burn any and all dry grass during the evenings -mostly to prevent accidental fires that have been known to wipe out whole sections of villages. The fires produce tons of smoke and seem to carry allergens all over the place. If you are prone to allergies or asthma, watch out.

Chapped, dry feet: Along with the dry, cold air comes dry, cracked feet. I usually experience it myself, though, for some reason, I managed to escape it this year. Last year, my heels were bleeding and painful as a result of the weather. And though I was able to escape it this year, many people who show up on my porch were not. The same thing applies to lips. People come begging for lip balm for their kids and themselves.

Dust: The cooler weather is a result of the harmattan winds blowing down from the desert. With the cold weather comes dust – and lots of it. You can dust your furniture in the morning and then write your name in the dust by afternoon. Almost makes dusting pointless! We are not as bad as people closer in the desert, who tell us that, if you lay still in your bed at night, you can wake up outlined with sand/dust by morning….

All in all, I enjoy this time of year. Like anything, I guess you have to take the good with the bad. . . .