I can remember about 6 weeks ago I was torn over whether or not I should invest in a raincoat for my trip to Rwanda. I knew that I would be arriving during the start of the rainy season, but I also heard from several other volunteer blogs that raincoats were useful in theory, but a good umbrella would suffice. My bank account was definitely leaning towards the umbrella, but after some persuasion from my parents I decided to go for the coat.
Fast forward to landing in Rwanda – the air was thick with moisture and dust, it was humid but not necessarily rainy. For the first few days there would be a shower mid-afternoon for about 3 minutes, then sunshine the rest of the day. I thought my raincoat was obsolete. And then it happened. A group of females including myself went to one trainee’s house to do some yoga before dinner. The sky turned black and the wind whistled through trees like trains through a tunnel. Then what can only be described as Biblical rains fell violently from the sky. There was no escaping it, water flooded from every direction, it was an umbrella’s worst fear. But that didn’t matter, because I didn’t have my umbrella with me. It was tucked away in my room at home, along with my raincoat that I so cavalierly tossed to the side. Never again. I wrapped my button down shirt around my head and barrel hugged my knapsack as I proceeded to sprint up a hill that was spewing water and mud my way. I had less than a mile to travel, but that was all it took to soak me to the bone. Since that day it has rained nearly every day, and into the night, and into the morning, and so on. You won’t catch me without my raingear again.
And now I’ve learned to love the rain. I love the way it seems to bring renewed life to botanicals and how calming it sounds pinging off my roof as I lay my head down for sleep. If I’m lucky, I’ll even see a rainbow. The rain makes me appreciate the beating sun, and it gives me an excuse to stay in bed for 5 more minutes. I can only anticipate what the dry season will bring.
