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Mvula

You know, I used to really hate the rain. It meant getting soaking wet at cross-country practice. It meant a yucky walk to school in the mud. It meant needing to carry an umbrella amongst so many other things. When I woke up to rain, it would automatically put me in a bad mood. But my mind has completely turned around regarding rain.

I remember my first month in Bondo Village—there was a full week when it didn’t stop raining. Cooking outside was a challenge, and I was struggling for entertainment. I was so bored and miserable. I spent a whole day doodling in a sketchbook with literally nothing else to do. I specifically remember this one time when I was talking to my neighbor and asked her if she liked rain or sunshine to which she replied rain. I couldn’t believe it. I told her I preferred sunshine, ‘like a little sunshine child’ I thought. Whenever it was sunny, I practically sprawled out on my porch, soaking up the Vit D and enjoying the warmth on my skin (it was also cold season so I guess that explains some things).

Nowadays, when there’s rain, I practically jump with excitement! I’m thrilled for a variety of reasons. First—I have water! With a tap in my courtyard that works extremely inconsistently, a lot of times I don’t have enough water stored up to wash clothes or dishes or mop my floors. When it rains, I can put all my buckets outside under the roof edge and collect rainwater.

Secondly, it’s relaxing. Aside from when it storms or downpours, the sound of steady drizzle on my tin roof is soothing. Combine it with some chill music, and I’m in for a stress-relieving morning. It also means that not as many people are out and about outside, so there’s less noise and people don’t come to visit me to chat as often (which is kind of nice sometimes because I don’t have to be constantly prepared to welcome visitors). A rainy morning means that I can focus on my work and feel comfortable in my house because it’s not so hot.

Third, seeing water outside streaming to the ground and dripping off of the plants is just beautiful. People live much more in rhythm with natural cycles here in Malawi as there’s really not much escape from nature—no air conditioning, outdoor kitchens and ‘outhouses,’ and gardens and animals right outside houses. Farmers rely on the rain to bring them food to feed their family as well as surplus to sell as income. With droughts and dry spells plaguing the country in recent years, light, steady rains are truly appreciated as they soothe the thirst of the dusty ground and plants. The sun is also ridiculously strong here and easily burns the plants. Regular rain is essential to keeping them alive. It also promotes huge growth in any and all of plants and crops in our village. Tea requires a lot of rain and water, which is why it is mostly grown in Mulanje and Thyolo districts (where it characteristically rains 8/12 months of the year).  So when there’s rain, I know that the estates will do well and that people in my community who have tea plots where they sell their tea to the companies will make decent money off of a good crop of tea.

I woke up this morning at 5 AM, hoping to go for a run considering yesterday evening my run was cut short by an approaching rain shower. However, when my alarm went off, I heard the soft purr of rain on my roof. I rolled back over and continued to sleep for three more hours knowing that the dirt roads in the village would be torn up and muddy from the constant rain and the wheels of the massive tractors driving up and down collecting tea. Although I wouldn’t like for this to happen every morning, occasionally, a peaceful night’s sleep and a relaxing morning drinking cups of tea, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain into buckets on my porch, and writing blog posts can be insanely revitalizing.

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