"Little Green"

Sanji na na! Sanji na na! The rains have come. Merciful Allah has granted us welcome reprieve from the oppressive heat of hot season. My mom asked me once a few months back if there was grass anywhere in Mali. And I said no. But that's not true. After the very first rain, the land just EXPLODED into greenness. It's like there was this great verdant mystery locked underground waiting for water. I don't think I ever doubted the fecundity of the Malian soil. After all, over 80% of people here make their living in agriculture. I guess I just forgot that this place could resemble anything other than a big pile of reddish dirt.

The joys of rainy season are chiefly the diminution of the temperature and thusly the ability to sleep inside (which is convenient, considering it's not too fun to sleep in the rain) as well as the extra downtime. Malians generally don't leave their homes if it's raining. Not for meetings. Not for church. Not for work. Not even for play. You can't really blame them considering the state of the dirt roads during the inevitable flash floods that occur every time it rains. The cons of rainy season include the aforementioned sorry state of roads, the "stuff" that gets washed out into the street, being forced to walk through this "stuff", the deafening roar of rain on my tin roof, and the occasional face full of mud from my bedroom ceiling (conveniently located on the dirt roof side of my house). However, the fact that it didn't get above 86 all day last week is worth all the unpleasantries.

If it's anything like last year, it will rain almost every day in August and the millet harvest will be bountiful. N'shallah. In other news, we're all pretty weirded out that we can say things like, "If it's anything like last year..." because we can't believe it's already been that long. In addition to disbelief, most of us are also suffering from the Peace Corps one-year slump of legend. Apparently, the one year mark is a danger zone for quitting due to a general feeling of "Holy cow, I have to do this ALL OVER AGAIN??" and the lack of productivity in general during rainy season. We're hoping the arrival of the new kids (who hopped off that Air France plane bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on July 10th) will inject some much-needed energy into our lives. On verra la vie en vert.