Ready, Set, RACE!

One of my favorite games I played during rainy season is one against the weather. It usually starts out with me biking a distance from my hut, usually at least 4 kilometers out. I might hear a rumble. On the cue, I’ll turn around slowly to see what awaits me in the distance, grey and black clouds approaching. This is when the game starts; it’s a race between the rain and me

 

As soon as realization hits, I bike as fast as my little legs will allow me. The thunder, in response, will boom louder as the clouds chase me back to my hut; a taunting and a threat. If I turn out to be the winner, I will arrive nice and dry in my hut. I’ll be able to sit in my comfy sling chair, I can make a hot cup of tear, snuggle up to a book and listen to the falling rain; the rain I just beat. If I’m really lucky, it’ll be a rainstorm that allows me to put an empty water bucket under my neighbor’s iron sheeted roof and collect water so tat I won’t have to fetch it later.

 

BUT, if I lose, I better hope I’m carrying (a) a rain jacket (b) a dry sac to put any electronics I’m carrying and (c) a charming personality to help me find refuge on someone’s porch or house.  Today, I lost. Lucky for me, I brought all three things with me.

 

On my way to visit the chief, the cultural mayor in my catchment areas, the game was on. Before leaving my hut, I knew it would be a close race, but ready for the challenge, I took the risk. Once I reached the palace, the chief’s wife greeted me, and we chatted for about 10 minutes before I felt the first drop. In Zambia, after the initial drops, a downpour is sure to ensue, fast and not wasting a minute. My counterpart and I raced to the nearest house, stored our bikes in the insaka and ran for shelter inside. A humbling experience was when the chief’s wife (Bana chief)gave me a stool and sat on the ground. If that wasn’t humbling enough, she then took my dirty rainbow flip-flops and cleaned then with the citenge (fabric used as a wrap), the one she was wearing. For the next half hour, 6 of us sat in the main room and talked until the rain died down. We talked about things from life in the village, to the guinea pigs that lived in the house. While part of me wished I had ended up the winner in this race against the weather, for pride’s sake, looking at the people I met, the time I got to spend with them, and the kindness I received, I realized that I would have won either way.

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