Thursday, July 24, 2008

Change in blog address

Hey all,

I'm changing the webpage for my blog. I've been having some trouble loading photos and videos onto blogger so i decided to try a different blog.

My new blog is:

http://chrissenegal.wordpress.com


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Rain!

While many of you often complained about cloudy/rainy/snowy weather throughout the fall, winter and spring (especially for those of you dealing with the unforgiving New England climate), I did not have that problem. In fact, I didn't feel a drop of rain from October until the end of May. I didn't even see a cloud from the end of November until May. The sky was always blue except for when the Saharan trade winds (the Harmattan) were in full force and filled the sky with dust and sand from the desert creating a monotonous haze.

However, all this changed when the winds switched and started to come from the south. With these new winds came clouds and more importantly rain. Senegal is currently in the midst of its rainy season, which lasts approximately from June through September. The rains have been a welcome relief, coming 3-4 times per week and cooling everything off (to a chilly 88 degrees!) and making everything green. Grass is replacing all of the fields and areas that were simply dirt and dust during the dry season and all of the trees and plants are looking more vibrant. It usually rains in the evening or night and is anything but a soft, summer rain. It comes in sheets and sounds like animals are stampeding on my sheet metal roof. If i step outside, even for a couple seconds, i'm soaked from head to toe. If anyone is caught away from their home during a storm they wait it out under the eaves of a building or in the doorway of a nearby boutique, which leads to great impromptu social time.

Its amazing what a boost to spirits the rain is. Since Senegal, and more specifically the department of Nioro, is largely agrarian, there is a direct connection with the rainy season as it is the agriculture high season. Everyone, regardless of profession, has some connection with agriculture and at least owns a small field (a couple hectares) that they farm. As a result, people have been very busy preparing, seeding and now weeding and thinning their crops. So far, they are saying this has been a good rainy season and are hoping for a good harvest.

Kids too get excited for the rains and often run through the streets laughing and screaming or playing in the compound. Here is a video of my cousins playing in my family's compound during one of the first rains.

For those of you with a little slower connection (mainly my parents), here is a photo of my 3 year old host sister trying to sweep away the rain. Its unfortunately a losing battle for her