My dad just left after a quick visit to hug me and help me
get organized to begin our adult programs with ACEC.tz. There were little things he wanted to do
while he was here, like get my janky but perfect little car fixed. More
mornings than not, it has trouble starting. Five months ago, I moved 1.5km off
the main road and up the hill where it gets really cold at night and my little
’97 Suzuki Vitara does not appreciate that. When it doesn’t start right away, I
have to spend on average 25/30 minutes trying to start it, warming it up,
picking weeds, trying to start it, getting the shamba care taker to come try,
pick some more weeds, try it again, cross my fingers, then close my eyes and
hope it will catch as it tries to turn over. It always does, but it’s a pain
sometimes. Anyways, my dad experienced
this one day and was over it after just that one time :P so my friend took my
car the next morning to get a full service. Apparently at home that would have
been a few hour job. I got my car back three days later. Dad was surprised, I
wasn’t…what did he expect?!
On his last morning we woke up to complete cloud cover and
pretty heavy rain followed by drizzle. Since I moved and have a car, I don’t
have any taxi drivers on call anymore so I texted my motorcycle driver and
asked him to send someone because my car was still at the workshop. The only
issue is that in order for him to send someone, he had to go down the hill and
find someone then direct them to my house. What’s the problem with that? In
downpour, a motorcycle and mud road isn’t an ideal combination. What was
supposed to be a busy day that started early in the morning actually turned
into lounging around the house until about 2 when the rain cleared up enough
for my motorcycle driver to go and get us a taxi. Our hope to go to the project
was squashed as it was raining too hard out there all morning. Last time I went
out following downpour, I got stuck on the black mud road and slid right into a
patch of maize. Thankfully I just had to pay six guys to take off their shoes,
roll up their pants and spend about 25 minutes pushing me out. If that had
happened in the taxi, we would have been doomed.
Dad and I were talking about how our day had to change
because of all these factors, and I realized again that these things aren’t
just “the way of life” for friends and family in the States. When it rains in
the US, sure it’s annoying but you put on your rain boots, grab the umbrella,
get in the car and go on with your day. There are two options for my day when
it rains… First, stay home until it stops and hope power comes back on or
doesn’t go off. Second, put on my sandals because they’re the only shoes I
have, open my gate, take my car out, close my gate, turn on my one functioning
windshield wiper and grab my rag so I can wipe my window when it gets foggy
because I don’t have a working air system. I go down my road avoiding the mud
that will pull me into a ditch and drive over rocks that take a toll on my
tires for a full 1.5km. On a sunny day, it takes me 8 minutes to get from my
house to the paved road….double that on a rainy day. If I go to Hill Crest on a
rainy day, I do that exact trek down my road, turn left at the main road then
do the dirt road trek again up the other side until I get there. There are four
ways to get to Hill Crest on a dry day. There is only one way to get there in
the rain by car…if it hasn’t been raining the entire night. If I am going to
town or to use wifi, it’s a more pleasant drive than a dry day because there
are less people running into the road and less motorcycles weaving through
traffic, but I still have to keep wiping down my windshield. Also, my windows
are all tinted (it’s safer that way) so in order to see out my side mirrors, I
have to roll down my windows half way which means I’m getting rained on. My
roof is a little leaky so if it sits in the rain for a long time, my seat is
wet.
It’s all fine, none of it even phases me anymore unless
there’s someone (Shayna) in the passenger seat barking at me for how bad my
windshield wipers are. I suppose that’s fair, being able to see is important. One
day she even had to throw water on my windshield while I was driving because my
windshield was dusty and there was just a sprinkle of rain; not enough to clean
off my windshield but actually making it harder to see. So she had to find a
bottle of water, lean out her window and get enough water across to my side so
that my windshield wiper could do its’ job. Maybe that’s why wiper fluid is a
thing? I’ll probably never know for sure as long as I’m here.
What I just described is how I get my day going on a rainy
day. Me and my car in the rain. Life doesn’t stop for me (unless my car won’t
start) but life stops for many when it rains. I have the luxury to grab my
wallet, stick my purse in my car and go do some shopping in the rain or shine.
If a vegetable stand near Hill Crest runs out of vegetables on a rainy day,
chances are that shop owner’s day is over and they will miss out on a day of
income. To restock a little vegetable stand, the (usually it’s a woman) mama
has to put all her stuff away, find someone to watch the kids or just leave
them and walk the 20 minutes on the mud road to wait for public transportation.
She will take it to the stand in town which is another 20 minute walk through
town to the main vegetable market which is only mostly covered in tarps. I
haven’t been to the market on a rainy day but I imagine it’s a fairly miserable
place to go, especially when you’ve got to manage to get bulk vegetables back
to the village by walking, riding, walking, etc in the rain and mud. Some
people can afford to pack up a motorcycle and get home with their vegetables
that way, but many can’t spend $1.50 when the alternative is $0.20. Motorcycle
drivers don’t get as many customers, as people generally just aren’t in a rush
to get anywhere when it’s raining. If kids don’t have a rain jacket or rubber
boots, chances are they won’t go to school. People hanging in town trying to
sell things to tourists don’t get the same opportunity as a sunny day. These
are just a couple things that change with the weather, and something else that
has just grown to be the norm for me. As well as one of the handful of things I
hope to bring attention to that may be foreign for y’all in the States!
