(THIS IS MOM ON 12/27 --- I JUST RECEIVED JOHN'S JOURNAL FROM 11/6 THROUGH 11/26. JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW, HE IS NOW AT HIS PERMANENT SITE AND HAS A SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS IF YOU WISH TO CORRESPOND WITH HIM IN THAT FASHION. JUST EMAIL HIM AND LET HIM KNOW.)
I feel like there's so much I want to document before I stop noticing it. So much. Of course, I felt similarly overwhelmed in the States, but I never had the routine of writing in a journal.
So the weather.
The weather is strange. There are two official seasons, winter and summer. Winter is the three months of American summar, and summer is the other nine months. By winter, they mean, of course, that the average temperature is in the 70s and not the 80s.
There is a rainy season, and when it is supposed to begin and how long it is supposed to last is the topic of much debate. Many of us have heard that it was supposed to begin in September. Some heard even August. Others heard that it was supposed to start in January. And for how long? Anywhere between a week and a month. So really, rainy season could strike at any time and for 1-4 weeks. And it randomly rains, too.
The only thing that PC people need to worry about is flooding. If it seriously floods, there could be an outbreak of cholera, which means we would be at least temporarily evacuated. And of course, it would devastate this already poor country. By the same token, if these rains don't come (and they haven't, some years), the country will be horribly crippled. Such a difference from the US, where we worry ourselves about homes being washed away and other trifles... Nineteen million peoples' well-being depends on the weather, and in turn, what the 1st world does to the environment. Think global warming sucks because you don't have as much snow this year? Sorry, I promise not to get preachy. After all, this is my journal...
So, the weather. It's been nippy the past couple days. Today it was in the mid-50s (Fahrenheit). For Africans, this is COLD. For Americans prepared for mere summer, this is chilly. For Americans taking outdoor bucket baths like I'm about to do, it's RIDICULOUS. I feel like my testicles are going to freeze into stones and drop off my body, one at a time. Tink...tink. It's cold.
The sky, however, is spectacular at all times. When it's sunny, the land around here is so flat that you can see for over 20 miles. You can see the distortion of the clouds in the sky as they follow the curve of the earth, and you can see the clouds drop off into the horizon. When they're not burning trash, there's no pollution to speak of, and you realize how much ambient pollution there is in the US at all times.
At night (and I think I previously explained this), the sky is breathtaking. You can see stars pop out while there's still enough light to write by. Then, as the night gets older, you can see hundreds and thousands more stars. Constellations become crystal clear, and you can jump into the minds of the first navigators who stared at the very same patterns for years at a time. You look around at the life around you and marvel at the simplicity - nighttime is my hour of justification. I am a creature of the moment, and all of my emotions are intense. So when I have even one day of homesickness or of lamenting a stupid cultural error, a simple look up into the heavens and then back around at the village that is lit by moonlight, all is forgotten, at least for long enough to temper my mental state.
It is how the Earth is meant to be seen and used, and it appeals to humans subconsciously. No picture I can take can reveal its simultaneous simplicity and perfection, and no words can describe how raw and pure it really is. I guess this is why it's so jarring to me to see 21st century America in bits and pieces alongside what is classically "human". And such is the question of my presence here - which category do I fall under?
Peace
John
