the rains have come

The rains are eagerly awaited here and they have arrived. They come in August-September and again in the spring. The people in the village are now busy planting crops other than matoke, which grows year round, and the dust is being replaced by mud. When it's not raining it can be in the 80's but the temperatures have generally cooled. Many of the villagers wear parkas and wool caps (though I haven't seen mittens) when it's in the upper 60's and I think it gets to the 50's at night so people talk a lot about how cold it is. The rains are intermittent, though occur most days. Last night there was an outside showing in the village of health films sandwiched between Ugandan music videos- the first was an entertaining film about a clean water supply and the second a graphic film about sexually transmitted disease which was less amusing- and despite thunder and lightening throughout the films, the rain held off till the end. The rain can be intense, pouring buckets for 30 minutes and then blowing over. On one 15 minute walk from the trading center to the health center during a driving rain, I arrived with shoes almost unrecognizable from the splattered mud and mud half way up my legs. So this weekend I'm in the market for gum boots (which I think is a generic name for knee high rubber boots) since next week I'll be accompanying community health workers as they walk from home to home and I plan to be fully prepared with umbrella, rain poncho, and my gum boots. The hail that fell is not obvious in the first photo; the second photo is what the Ruhiira countryside now looks like much of the time. Thanks to all who post comments, and Peter, I appreciate your faithful responses!