Thursday

Rain in the night and we awoke to a very cool, some would say cold, dull day. No electricity and no water in the taps. The latter is not so much of a problem as we have large barrels of the stuff in the toilet, the bathroom and the kitchen and luckily we had filled them up. Still, if there isn’t any water in the next couple of days it could be an issue. We are following the ‘if its yellow let it mellow’ policy until the cistern fills. The lack of electricity is more of an issue. Christine without an early morning cup that cheers really does not the face the world with equilibrium. The first lesson was somewhat of a struggle. Breakfast brought no return of power so toast was off the menu and water had to suffice.

At about 11.15 a.m. the hamster must have recovered from his night on the tiles and power was restored. We dashed home and made some coffee to warm us However it has flirted with us throughout the day, raising our hopes only to dash them again. My computer lesson was a fiasco as students logged on to the desk top machines only for the power to fail. The power would then come back on and then fail again. Those on laptops had at least got batteries to keep them going.

Naomi had managed to cook an excellent hot lunch – a pasta bake that was delicious and we wolfed it down. We decided to take our tea out on the porch, but it was so cold we ended up swathed in a blanket each.

No postprandial today. Then it started to rain. Absalom arrived with some much needed supplies of loo roll and drinking water. We came in and got on with marking as our students were moving wood from the wet of Fareth’s garden into the dry of the container next to the College kitchen. I slipped up to the photocopying machine while the power was on and managed to get the sheets done that I will need for tomorrow’s lesson. I walked back in the dry and then Dvotha arrived for a chat. It started raining again and Thomas arrived full of bounce and eager to tell us about his experiences at the Tearfund conference he had just returned from. Devotha left and we settled in the lounge as the heavens opened outside. It also became very foggy and we had to have all the lights on in the house. We talked about the conference and his visit and he managed to put some more mbs on the internet modem for me.

We are still cold, but at least we have power so the dinner should be hot! The rain is much needed, but really, this is meant to be the dry season for goodness sake!

In an unexpected turn of events Christine was the Victrix Ludorum in the Scrabble this evening. Shattered I have taken to my bed as the rain continues to pour down, matched only by my tears.

Friday

Our last day of teaching at KCTC. How quickly it has come around! Weather is not improved. It rained during the night and it is still damp this morning. We have power but still no water – ironic really considering how much of it is falling from the sky. It is still decidedly cool.

We teach as planned. My lot want to know how to set out an email and a letter and when I get into the computer group I find they want to know the same, along with a C.V.. I duly oblige.

Lunch is an interesting combination of spaghetti and hard-boiled egg plus Naomi’s renowned aubergine stew. We sit indoors to read our books as it is too cold to sit outside and anyway it is still raining.

Thunder rolls around us as well. It seems that the wet season may be underway. We mark and then we move onto other admin tasks. Christine decides to iron any thing and everything in the hope that it will warm her up!

Thomas arrives full of energy, to tell us that Bishop Darlington has almost lost his voice, so he would like to meet us Tuesday morning, to give it time to recover. Let us hope that he has no preaching engagements this week-end. Tomorrow Thomas is taking us to a wedding some 15 – 20 minutes away at which he and Christela are to be witnesses. We hope they have warned the happy couple that a couple of Muzungu are turning up!

Following Thomas comes Nymulinda, so I spend some time going through the life history / begging letter he has written to correct his English. He seems very pleased for he is an eager student. Christine is heating up the second half of a delicious baked pasta dish that Naomi made when the power goes out. This is a mixed blessing as it also puts an end to the thump thump of the speaker system from the school. The lights come back briefly, enough to make dinner a possibility, but the speakers are also reactivated. Just as we are about to eat, the lights go off and this time it is for quite some while. We eat in the gloaming of the solar lights and a torch, while listening to last nights’ episode of the Archers. Incongruous, well, perhaps.

Just as we are about to wash up, Fareth appears carrying a beautifully hand written note inviting us to dinner tomorrow evening. Of course we invite him in for chai and biscuits and we have a good chat. He had been in his home village all day organising the planting of his shamba as it seems the wet season has arrive early. Looks like we are in for some very wet days ahead which would be fine if it wasn’t so blooming cold and there was some more water in the tank. According to Fareth the electricity supply isn’t strong enough (?!) to work the pumps that bring the water up from the river to the hilltop tank opposite our house. No one seems to know when the electricity will be up to snuff. This afternoon I pout a basin under the token three foot of guttering and managed to collect a flush full which has now been consigned to the cistern. We are maintaining the mellow/yellow policy until normal service is resumed.

Scrabble time is rapidly approaching. Christine clearly feels she is in with a chance after last night so I must be on my mettle. Let battle commence!