The Rains are Here!

Habari,

I have always enjoyed a good storm.  I like the smell in the air right before the rain begins and I love watching the downpour as it saturates the landscape.  I even like the occasional rumble of thunder and strike of lightening, as long as no major damage is done, of course.  The key word here is occasional.  The heavy rain season has begun in Nairobi.  It rains just about every day and it’s the kind of downpour that gets your attention and makes you go to the window to make sure you weren’t imagining things.

Last weekend ended with a torrential downpour that forced my upstairs neighbors to abandon the penthouse.  The rain was so heavy that it woke me out of my sleep.  It sounded like there was a huge waterfall outside of my window.  I could also hear my neighbors up walking back and forth in their apartment.  The hysteria in their voices made me think there was a leak of some sort in the bedroom of the apartment.  Since it was 2 o’clock in the morning and quite chilly, I was reluctant to get out of my bed to investigate the possibility of leaks throughout my apartment.  I sent up a quick prayer (I know God has better things to do, but still) asking God to spare me the trauma of having my things ruined and having to move to another apartment.

After I said my prayer, I went back to sleep listening to the melody of the deluge going on outside my window.  I woke up in the morning to the sounds of my neighbors and the cleaning staff walking frantically around the penthouse.  As I made my way to the kitchen, the door bell rang.  When I opened the door, I was met by two members of the cleaning staff carrying buckets and mops.  The hallway and stairwell were drenched and covered with leaves from the numerous trees located on the property.  Water had also poured through the elevator rendering it useless.  I can’t tell you how pissed I’ve been about having to walk of five flights of stairs at the end of an exhausting day with my heavy work bags. SMH. 

Apparently the unleveled floor that I frequently tripped over when entering the apartment prevented the flood of water from entering my apartment.  The cleaning ladies were amazed that my apartment was spared.  They kept telling me how lucky I was that the apartment was dry.  It wasn’t until then that I started to look around the apartment in search of water damage.  All I found was a wet spot on the ceiling in the area between the living and the dining rooms.  I guess God was taking small request that night. J

The constant rain is starting to wear on my soul.  Master Pu has told me I can’t let that happen because there’s a lot more to come.  The rain itself isn’t the main problem.  It’s the conditions it creates in and around the city.  First of all, once it rains, you can forget about getting anywhere in traffic.  Last week I spent nearly three hours in traffic even after leaving the office early.  Once you understand the conditions of the roads around Nairobi, you can understand why things slow to a crawl.  You could lose your entire car in some of the pot holes here.  If you add water to the situation, things could be disastrous and often are.

The flooding and landslides that result from the heavy rains are inevitable, but surprisingly people manage through them.  Tragically there was a fatal landslide in the slums of Mathare after last week’s rains.  40 homes were destroyed and 8 people were killed.  I could spend fifty blogs talking about the dangers of these slums and still not tell the whole story.  As shocking as it is, it is unexplainably accepted. SMH. 

Considering the fact that we are at the beginning of the heavy rain season, I will have to learn to adjust.  I love watching rain storms from the comfort of my home.  Having to go out in the elements and experience them first hand is not something I look forward to.  I guess the rain boots, poncho and umbrella that were given to me by my Tyco friends will come in handy.  See you all here next week.

Trying to stay dry,

Della Rochelle

Copyright © 2012 by Della Rochelle Williams