The sun was a great red orb hanging low in the sky last night in a sunset that lasted a full 30 minutes. In fact, that sun had been acting strangely all day. Yesterday at the end of our walk to the waterfalls that we never saw, as we were laying like lizards on the smooth rocks next to the Likabulula pools, I opened my eyes to peer up at the clouds. Through them I saw a full white, bright circle that I initially mistook for the moon, even though I suspect that the moon is a waning crescent at the moment. Once again it turned out to be the unusual sun.
After a series of extremely hot days, the weekend has turned out to be cooler and cloudy after a night of strong dry winds that knocked the electricity out on the Phalombe road, the wires loosely draped across the road, electric poles on either side slanted at unnatural angles. The road was marked, as it always is when some unknown danger lurks just beyond, by the green leafy branches torn from a nearby tree. Even those few drivers who actually possess the orange reflective safely triangles that they prop appropriately in the road, augment these triangles with the requisite fresh branches.
This particular electrical hazard was also highlighted by the presence of two market laden cyclists who standing next to the fallen wires, staring warily. One man bent to roll up his pant legs (for safety reasons?) as our jeep slowed down to walking speed and we too contemplated the danger before us. Before anyone could decide anything, the driver rolled over the wires as Brima the doctor from Sierra Leone, made an abrupt sizzle sound. We all laughed nervously having successfully navigated our way across.
On this very same dry, dusty road, which had been searingly hot the day before, I took a drive with Clifford. We were going to visit the District Health Officer from Phalombe whose office you will recall is at the convergence of three equally unpromising dirt roads, all of which I have now traveled (and can confirm the relative lack of promise despite the frequent though often inactive signs of construction). After an uneventful, though bumpy ride out and a fun meeting with Daniel Mpemba—the sharpest and youngest of the officers with whom I have worked—we were back on the road to return the way we came.
Only this time the road was alive with brightly dressed people carrying umbrellas against the paralyzing sun, dancing and singing in celebration. They were to be found in large masses of people fully occupying the road, completely oblivious to the fact that really the road was designed for use by cars (or all wheel drives as the case may be). However, we only passed two other vehicles (one of them twice) during the entire two hour journey, you can forgive the crowds for thinking the roads were there property alone.
I knew immediately that we were encircled by people celebrating the initiation of young people into adulthood. I had been outrageously jealous that Heike (the German Doctor without Borders) had seen initiation ceremonies centering on serious faced boys surrounded by ecstatic and occasionally drunken revelers. Today was the day of girls, I realized, as I saw hooded young girls dressed in their finery being led by older sisters or younger aunts to the place of initiation. It is the first time I have seen large numbers of women NOT balancing heavy loads on their heads. No wonder they were celebrating!!
After a series of extremely hot days, the weekend has turned out to be cooler and cloudy after a night of strong dry winds that knocked the electricity out on the Phalombe road, the wires loosely draped across the road, electric poles on either side slanted at unnatural angles. The road was marked, as it always is when some unknown danger lurks just beyond, by the green leafy branches torn from a nearby tree. Even those few drivers who actually possess the orange reflective safely triangles that they prop appropriately in the road, augment these triangles with the requisite fresh branches.
This particular electrical hazard was also highlighted by the presence of two market laden cyclists who standing next to the fallen wires, staring warily. One man bent to roll up his pant legs (for safety reasons?) as our jeep slowed down to walking speed and we too contemplated the danger before us. Before anyone could decide anything, the driver rolled over the wires as Brima the doctor from Sierra Leone, made an abrupt sizzle sound. We all laughed nervously having successfully navigated our way across.
On this very same dry, dusty road, which had been searingly hot the day before, I took a drive with Clifford. We were going to visit the District Health Officer from Phalombe whose office you will recall is at the convergence of three equally unpromising dirt roads, all of which I have now traveled (and can confirm the relative lack of promise despite the frequent though often inactive signs of construction). After an uneventful, though bumpy ride out and a fun meeting with Daniel Mpemba—the sharpest and youngest of the officers with whom I have worked—we were back on the road to return the way we came.
Only this time the road was alive with brightly dressed people carrying umbrellas against the paralyzing sun, dancing and singing in celebration. They were to be found in large masses of people fully occupying the road, completely oblivious to the fact that really the road was designed for use by cars (or all wheel drives as the case may be). However, we only passed two other vehicles (one of them twice) during the entire two hour journey, you can forgive the crowds for thinking the roads were there property alone.
I knew immediately that we were encircled by people celebrating the initiation of young people into adulthood. I had been outrageously jealous that Heike (the German Doctor without Borders) had seen initiation ceremonies centering on serious faced boys surrounded by ecstatic and occasionally drunken revelers. Today was the day of girls, I realized, as I saw hooded young girls dressed in their finery being led by older sisters or younger aunts to the place of initiation. It is the first time I have seen large numbers of women NOT balancing heavy loads on their heads. No wonder they were celebrating!!
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