Quirky things

Whenever I would ask someone in America, “Do you think it is going to rain?” The answer was always, “I don’t know. Maybe. You never know.”

I mean, really. How often can the weatherman even get it right?

Well, here in Africa, it’s a different story. The nationals are VERY sure of themselves when predicting the weather. No doubts. Whatsoever.

Today, riding the motorcycle back from the kindergarten class Doug and I attended, I asked the driver if he thought it would rain today.

“Today? No. It won’t rain.”

“Oh, really, because I was wanting to wash clothes.”

“You can wash. It won’t rain.”

Thirty minutes later, there was a serious downpour that lasted a good 45 minutes.

Which led to this:



















and this...



The weather forecasting around here goes something like this:

"It will not rain if the wind is blowing, because the wind blows the clouds away, so it can’t rain."

"Don’t cut down too many trees. They bring the rain, so if they are gone, it will not rain."





Another quirky thing is cell phone usage, especially when and national is calling a mundu (foreigner).

If the nationals want to talk to you, they will “flash” you, which means call and hang up (believe me, I was a little concerned about that term when I first heard it), and then you are expected to return the call so you can pay for it.

Interesting.