The guys have Wednesday morning off, which means that I did too. I spent the morning catching up on my blog. In the afternoon, I decided to go into town so I could upload my blog using free wifi at a restaurant but as I stepped outside the house, Angelique (our house girl) told me to go back in because of the approaching storm. I looked up at the clouds, dark and ominous, but reckoned I could make it into town before the rain came. By the time I had walked up my drive, tiny spots of rain began to fall. I legged it down the hill and jumped on a bike. We drove for two minutes until we reached the bridge, where the bike pulled up by the curb and turned off the engine. I hate it when they do that. Within thirty seconds, the heavens opened at it chucked it down. I think this is the heaviest rain we've had so far. Within minutes, about a hundred pedestrians had gathered under the bridge to take refuge from the storm, along with twenty or so bikes. Then a truck broke down right in the middle. With every passing lorry, the situation felt more and more precarious. After half and hour of sitting the under the bridge, I had had enough and my patience was exhausted. I got of the bike, paid him half fare, whipped out my umbrella and headed into the storm. About a minute later, my trousers were drenched up to my waist and I wished I had listened to Angelique. The storm drains, which minutes earlier were stone dry, gushed with impressive waterfalls. The red, muddy water was laying thick on the floor, and every car that drove past me covered me with it, head to toe. It brought back memories of life in the West Country; I easily could have been walking through Exeter on a Summer's day.
When I got home, Angelique took one look at me and burst out laughing. She brought me some hot water and I showered for the second time that day. The storm took the power out, so I spent the evening sitting alone in the lounge in the dark. My laptop had no battery left, so I hand-wrote a couple of reports for uni by candlelight. I’m definitely in Africa.
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