It rained today. It's the first time I've seen rain during the day in Africa. I was teaching a class at ENA. 30+ students crammed into a room with no electricity and no screens on the windows. A chalk board propped up against the wall sitting atop a desk. Then it got dark. Very dark. And it's not supposed to rain until Feb/March. But it did. AND IT POURED. And the lightening bolts were so big you thought you could touch them. And rain started shooting through the windows attacking my students.
"Uh. What... uh... what is the normal procedure..?"
"Teacha'. We don't understand you. Slower please."
"Uh. What do African teachers do when this happens?"
Stares.
"Ok." Too dark to see. Thunder too loud to hear. Wet students pushing desks around the room searching for shelter. "Uh. Class is over. You can stay - or you can go."
Everyone laughs. "But, Teacha' - it is raining."
"Fair enough."
So we sat in the dark, huddled together, and sang Bob Marley songs to the beat of the raindrops on our tin roof and waited for the storm to pass. In the flooded and muddy streets of Lome, cabs stalled, motos searched for higher ground and barefoot women wearing brightly colored fabric carried buckets of pineapple on their heads.
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3 comments:
i'm really serious now, when you're done writing your book, you need to write and direct a movie! i swear this stuff is goooooooood. do you sometimes pinch yourself to see if its all real...
Thank you, Soulla - and Yes... I do.
Your mom was telling me about this today! What a great story!...Oh and your mom says she misses you terribly and can't wait to see you! I'm sure she tells you..but I just thought I would too :)
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