rainy weather and teary eyes

i woke up today to pouring rain. not just the drizzly stuff which normally comes and goes during the day, but a real cats and dogs downpour. it’s funny because, once again, the weather kind of fit my mood. today was gladi-gladi day, except no one was going home dry. at their discharge education time, they were given the option of not having the ceremonial celebration, but they all wanted to. whether to celebrate their time here or to simply keep up appearances, i do not know. but we sat there, sang our songs, presented the girls, and prayed over them. but we dispersed very simply without the traditional singing and procession around the courtyard. it was, all in all, very sad.

then they all went and gathered their things, and the tears started to flow. first seray, then me, then isatu. we all stood rather awkwardly by the door, crying and pretending not to cry. you see, crying isn’t really popular here, but until today i didn’t really understand why. apparently for some people here, crying because of hardship, etc. is essentially a statement of distrust and unfaith in god. also, there is always someone who has had it worse than you, and to cry is disrespectful to that person’s experience. it was definitely hard to stand and listen to person after person berate seray in front of me for being emotional. i tried my best to force the tears away, and, as a result, have had that headachy feeling all day.

surprise, surprise, it’s raining again. we had, all in all, six hours of dry weather today. just enough time for some of the bigger puddles to drain a bit before being filled up again for the night. i have to say though that i quite enjoy the rain and rainy days. at home, rainy days can be so dismal. but here, it is such a part of life that most things generally continue on as normal. there is just less noise. the din of music, honking horns, and other vestiges of life are generally dimmed by nature’s music of wind and rain. and i love falling asleep to it at night. plus, it cools everything off so wonderfully. the moments before and after the rain are my favorite. i even donned a little cardigan the other day. a perfectly delicious moment. :)