Africa? I thought you were joking: It’s raining cocks and bulls

Solo said this phrase to us one rainy day, Ben laughed and explained that in America we use the expression ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’ but that he liked solo’s version better. Solo smiled and said O yes, that’s what I meant ‘Its raining cats and dogs’.

We are now at the halfway mark of our rainy season and it’s raining every day or almost every day. The rains are not so great because of sicknesses. We are weathering the storms fairly well so far, neither of us has been seriously sick. We’ve just had strange things grow on us – that sounds worse than it actually is, let me explain. Ben has had a form of heat rash grow all over his legs for awhile, but as soon as he gets an antibiotic and sleeps in air conditioning it heals up within a couple days. I had a blister that was about the size of half a pinky fingernail become infected and took a month to heal, and now I have a larvae growing on my foot. This little bug lays an egg and it hatches in your skin and itches. You know that it is this little larvae guy because he makes a squiggle line in your skin. The Peace Corps doctor thought it was so neat he took a picture for his records, always a good sign. It’s not a big deal though, they give you a cream and it leaves your skin in a few days. I considered posting a picture of the squiggle guy, but decided that would be gross. However, if you are actually interested in seeing a picture of the African larvae growing in my foot skin, that can be arranged.

Malaria increases during the rains too, Sibou and our host brother Lamboy have both had it this rainy season. Both are doing fine, but malaria is a big problem here. I think every Gambian we’ve met has had malaria more than once.

But with all the bad things the rainy season brings, the rains are a necessity here because of growing rice and coos, both for consumption and to sell. And it is nice because it cools things off and everything turns from brown to green and our village is very pretty!