Rain

LISTENING to rain on the roof while lying awake in bed. It’s peaceful, it makes you calm, it makes you fall asleep…
WATCHING the rain from behind the window, little children playing in the puddles with their moms red polka dot wellies…
FEELING the rain hitting your face, with drops falling from your nose while riding your bike home. It doesn’t matter that you get soaking wet, at home you go straight to the bathroom and jump in the hot shower…

That is how I remembered rain, rain at home…

LISTENING to the rain on the roof sounds like hurricane Ike, you put your head under the pillow and search your bed and surroundings for earplugs…
WATCHING the rain from behind the window is looking at a grey curtain. I can hardly distinguish the tree just opposite my house…
FEELING the rain, makes you run. Wet in an instant. It almost hurts. And you can forget about a hot shower, unless you heat up water first…

That is rain in Guyana…

At home rain can be romantic, not in Guyana. The rainy season has kicked in, and don’t you mess with the rainy season. I was planning to go to Wowetta after 2 or 3 days of slowly blending back in to Guyanese life in Georgetown but Rain decided otherwise. Rain decided to work so hard that the road to home is washed away. The big bus service was cancelled on my first day being back in Guyana. Mini busses came back with horror stories, 36 hour journeys, stuck in the mud, washed of the road, that doesn’t seem to be safe. Even 4x4 trucks Rain decided to throw of the road. The plane, Rain can’t stop planes. Yes it can, Rain can wash away runways, Rain can create clouds so the mountains behind the runway can’t be seen anymore, Rain can come with fierce winds.
After several cancellations and delays I finally took a plane to Annai, so I thought. Since I was the only one heading to Annai (several people asked me: why in the world would you want to go to Annai now, the place is flooded) so Lethem first. During a little chit chat with the pilot in Lethem he could still not guarantee my arrival in Annai. I will assess the situation as soon as we get there, I don’t want to take a risk with a full load (me thinking to myself, you do with a half load?), and otherwise I just bring you back to town…
It was truly amazing to see the region being transferred in one big lake, the once so dry savannah. No savannah to be seen, just a few tips of trees sticking out of the water. There some houses that looked familiar, on dry land! There is Annai and it’s runway.
Now my first day back in Wowetta in my hammock writing this story, the whole day sheer sunshine…