The Nothing

16 June 2008

What can only be described as “The Nothing” visited today. If any of you remember the movie “The Neverending Story” you will know exactly what I mean. The morning started as most do, with a quick bus ride and long walk to my garden in the heat. When I got there, I started watering, pulling weeds, transplanting etc and then went on a short walk with my counterpart, Seyrene, to check on a banana grove next to the garden. As I ducked under huge banana leaves the temperature seemed to drop dramatically. Then a cold and strong wind made the banana leaves dance frantically. When I came out of the grove I looked up and saw it. Hanging low in the sky were the dark and daunting clouds swallowing everything in their path. Seyrene looked up and said, “Taw bi, mungi new” (the rain, it comes).  By the time we walked back to the office, it was dark and the rain came down in cold sheets. The energy that the rain brought was exhilarating. Being the first rain of Dakar, a few of us just stood there looking up at the sky letting the drops crash on our faces. One of my coworkers even raised his hands to the sky and began singing praises to allah in Arabic. The contrasting green of the garden and trees with the black sky was so calming. I felt as though I needed to write a poem. Sorry, I didn’t. The rain hung out for 20 minutes or so then flew away just as quickly as it had come. I’m assured the nothing will become an unwanted guest after awhile, but I feel as though we could become great friends. I mean, who doesn’t like a visitor who turns brown to green!?