Here come the Rains...

There are two season in Liberia.  1) Hot and humid and 2) Rainy and muggy..I am not a fan of the rainy season which is starting and will last until October 15th.  Yes, that's right here in Liberia we know the EXACT date of when the rains will end.  Of course, they never end on that exact date-but if you ask any Liberian when rainy season ends-the response will be October 15th.  Not "well, sometime in October"-it is always Oct. 15th.

Taya taking in her own rain water harvesting...

I am not a fan of the rainy season-many who live here like rainy season because it "cools" down.  Nope-it's just wet and muggy-and not to mention muddy and messy.  I am a sunshine, dry season, bring on the vitamin D type of girl-rainy season gets me down (isn't that a song?).  With the rains and winds increasing-I find myself getting mentally tired, pensive and sorta 'funky' (not in a good way). Projects are harder to get to with roads evolving from dust to mud-the supply chain slows down-even getting from your vehicle into the office leaves you soaked.  As I type this the thunder is yelling at me "HERE I COME!"

This rainy season comes right after training and running the London marathon.  After running/training for a marathon -many runners find it hard to get back into the swing of training again.  We are told to take some time off to let our body recover from the pounding we have put it through for the past months.  I have done that.  I took a good two weeks off and then starting running small small.  I started to do a little "boot camp" with my boys -doing sprints on the beach, carrying one of the boys fireman style-sprinting up and down the steep beach.  We even did it in the rain!  Then we went swimming.  You must understand that the ocean gets tossed around during the rainy season which leads to sand and seaweed polluting the once clear waters.  My ears don't like that...and soon I was struck with a very painful ear infection...blasted rainy season!

A typical scene in the rainy season-black clouds are coming!

I couldn't run for a good week -as when the wind blew through my ear the pain would shoot straight through my head.  Soon I was becoming grumpy.  The rain. No running. Half way point of a crazy busy year. I know, suck it up Bev!  However, even with my grumpy pants on due to rainy season-our projects continue.  That is what amazes me during my 8 years here.  SP Liberia projects push through.  Yes, it takes longer, yes, we get dirty, and yes, at times we just can't go to where we want.  But the work goes on. 

This past week we had a workshop on how to plan ministry within our projects.  Before it started we had an opportunity to present what we are currently doing-how the lives of our staff have been impacted working with SP and how they are now impacting their country. It was very encouraging-even though I missed the presentation (WASH meeting)-I had a pre-viewing of the presentation that Joni had done such a great job putting together.  Yes, it is rainy season and yes, it's half-way through a very busy year.  But we are still moving forward, our staff and projects are impacting people every day, we stumble but we get up and push through the mud, rain and frustrations. 

Tomorrow morning, rain or shine-it's time to get up and go for a run.