Ode to Hot Season:

Until earlier this week, it was hot in Niamey . . . but however, on Monday, I felt a slight switch in the air and I say now that really, hot season has arrived!!!

It is the season to:

• drive your vehicle with knee and fingertips
• turn off the water heater - turning on just the cold water tap still renders a hot shower!
• lay on the cement floor with ice packs when the power is off - in front of an open window hoping that a slight breeze may enter the stifling room
• dream of sweet rain to break the heat if only for a moment

And speaking of rain . . . .

Today, the rain came! (In an odd and off-season manner.)

So - Ode to Rain:

Raindrops so huge and cold, you refresh my soul as I dance on the sand so recently hot to burn my feet! I wish you could stay, but alas, it is back to the oven and one more month of extreme heat remains until I shall again dance in your sweetness. Until we meet again!

Tomorrow, I am sure, we will return to the land of heat and unending sun! Possibly a slightly more humid heat as well, because of the rain today.

Though I enjoyed my few minutes of dancing in the rain, the scant appearance drove home the reality of my Fulfulde language class one day last week. I learned the vocabulary surrounding the grain of choice here - millet; the verbs for planting, growing, sowing; and discussed the market prices.

The market price of millet increases at this time of year - the villager's graineries have run dry and in June they will need to purchase grain to plant. As they will need to purchase on credit, the farmers also quickly sell following the harvest in order to repay their creditors - who purchase their grains at a highly reduced price.

The rains of today could further complicate matters - for in the village, they may or may not know months in our set calendar system. If they do not the names of months, it may be on the Muslim calendar which follows the lunar cycle (thus, each month falls at a different time each year). For them, their life follows the rainy season (so much so that their age is actully an accounting - literally and linguistically - of how many rainy seasons they have 'seen'). As a result, today's rain may create the idea that rainy season has come.

My language helper told me of a similar occurence - in April 2004 when it rained one day. Many Nigeriens went and bought seed grain on credit and planted their fields believing that rainy season had come. The grain sprouted and after a few weeks of continued hot season, the plants died. Come the rainy season in June, these farmers had to purchase more seed grain - on more credit - and thus doubling their debt to be repaid following harvest.

My prayer is that, though as beautiful a relief of heat it brought, today's rain will be insufficient to spark hope of the rainy season that is at least one month away yet and mass planting of fields will not commence. These people live in a cycle of debt and poverty that is already difficult enough to survive as it is without incurring the debt of two plantings.