African Rains

listening to the cure. waiting for my camera battery to charge just a little more. the rains came this morning. it's been days of Hot, perhaps pregnant hot.. my forehead is wet all day long and at night too; at the heat of the day, i feel drips of sweat running down my legs. i don't bother wearing antiperspirant; i just drink litres and litres of water instead.

so the rain came this morning. it was only for 30 minutes, but it brought a breeze that was cool. i tried to remember if i've felt the sensation reminiscent of 'cold' since i arrived here.

kris, the english woman i've stayed with for the past 3 nights, said that african rain always has the smell of spice to it.

i have to go. i'm headed up to meet Father Lazarus and his daughter, Hilya, who work with HIV positive home-bound patients. they get bikes donated from Bicycles for Humanity - the bikes come from Canada and the U.S. to BEN Namibia (which stands for Bicycle Empowerment Network), and then Father Lazarus and others sell the bikes or donate them to the volunteers to who visit their sick patients in their homes.

tomorrow i head back to Rundu. i'll be in Kerri's village for the weekend - one of her learners has a 'traditional village life' tour for us - we will pound the grain, mapongu, to prepare it for cooking, visit an ancestors' tree (more to come on that later), and generally kick it, namibian style.

i'm not sure what i'm doing next week; i think i'm visiting another Peace Corps volunteer's homestead and school. i'm trying to visit a refugee camp, Osire, where about 7,000 Angolan refugee are staying... but i think i'll be very lucky if they grant me permission to enter...

anyway, love you all. let me know if you want to meet me in europe oct. 12-28 ;)