Rain Rain Go Away

Every now and then I have moments where I laugh and think, I can't believe this is my life and I am doing this right now. It usually happens when I am experiencing something new or something happens very differently here than it would in the US. Today I had one of those moments.

Now that we have 9 days left before the wedding, we have been very busy. Of course, I have my lists and am desperate to get things checked off. It hasn't helped that there has been a lot of rain, which slows things down when you have to walk everywhere or hop on a boda boda. There usually isn't rain during this time of year, but all over, the world is experiencing weird weather. Kenya is no different.

Today, George and I had a bunch of stuff to do and appointments to make. The weather once again was not cooperating, but I decided not to let that stop me. So, George's sister, Caro, and I headed out into the rain to get some stuff done. Most people just stop what they are doing when it rains and wait for it to stop. I am not that patient.

We called a piki piki (motorcycle) friend of ours to give us a ride. One of the stops on our list was the attorney general's office. By the time we reached there, it was pouring. We ran into the office and when we left ten minutes later it was pouring even harder. Again, most people would wait it out, but Caro and I didn't mind getting wet and so we pressed on.

Our piki piki friend thought we were nuts for wanting to go out in the rain, but he humored us and kept driving. Oh yeah...I forgot to mention, I was carting around my wedding dress on this wild rain adventure. When I bought it one month ago, the sales person just folded it and put it in a plastic shopping bag. I laughed when I saw it. This is not David's Bridal or Kleinfield's where you leave with it well protected. TIA.

Another item on my list was dropping off my dress to be tailored. It needs a few adjustments made and I had to go today to get measured and leave it to be fixed. Caro and I were the only crazy people on the road. Everyone else was sane and staying off the road or had hired taxis or tuk tuks which have roofs. Me... in an effort to save money, thought it would be better zipping around Kisumu in heavy rain, dragging my 17 year old sister in law to be along for the ride! And, my wedding dress was stuffed in a large purse. As we were driving in town, the rain pelted down so hard it hurt. I just closed my eyes, clutched my bag and laughed.

That was the moment where I thought, this is so funny and different than how we do things in the US. 3 people on a motorcycle, in the rain, with a wedding dress shoved in a bag. It struck me as so funny.

When we arrived at the store where I bought my dress, they looked at us like we were aliens. We literally were dripping from our entire bodies. Then I had to peel off my wet clothes and put on my wedding dress.

It was a fun adventure. Poor Caro! She said she had fun and I hope she really did. After we had lunch and got warm (kind of) with tea, we were off to the next appointment.

Overall, it was a very productive, fun day.