Stormy Weather

i love stormy weather. the grey clouds creeping in, taking over. the sudden fall in temperature. rain spilling from the sky. gusts of wind shaking trees with a power that is mesmerizing.

the rainy season has made a less than subtle arrival in mundri. 

our first big storm caught us all by surprise, blowing sheets of rain sideways through our open air windows. we scrambled around the team house, pulling cushions off chairs, trying to save books and computers from ruin. finally, we all huddled under an umbrella and waited for an end to the fury.

afterward, we find this large tree had collapsed on the interns’ house!

the next storm came while jennifer and i were visiting our friend, mary. we watched the clouds roll in, debating whether we should jump on our bikes now and try to beat the rain. mary insisted we stay, so we sat, anxiously anticipating what was coming. 

not even ten minutes later, the storm we had feared was definitely coming at us, and it was a big one. the wind came in a sand storm, blowing dirt and debris wherever it pleased, turning over chairs and sending water jugs tumbling. we grabbed all that we needed to and ran inside. 

by the way, mary’s house was getting a new grass roof, so when we did take shelter, we all crammed into her other storage/guest hut. five of us in a room piled with boxes and food, clothing gathered on the bed, all of her belongings. unfortunately, the roof was rather leaky and water was pouring in under the door. many of mary’s things were wet, and i managed to get soaked. one of the only times i’ve actually had chills in south sudan!

after the wind and rains taper off, we come out and survey the damage. mary’s compound is one big puddle. chairs are broken and dishes washed in mud. as jennifer and i help tidy up, we begin to see children with handfuls and even buckets of mangoes. 

turns out the storm was not all too bad, as i imagine hundreds of mangoes were raining down on mundri that day. mary enjoys a couple herself, offers a dry shirt for me to change, and sends us home with a bag full of mangoes :)