When we got back on Sunday we headed straight to dinner in our muddy clothes. This caused no end of amusement to the others. Although Claire from Tiko's just looked at my t-shirt and asked if the splatterings were just part of the pattern. Little did I know that they wouldn't come out in the wash the next day, so they are now the pattern on a once plain t-shirt. Oh well!
After dinner we had the, now almost daily, fire pit at Nat and Will's. The boys displaying their amazing talents with balancing logs, getting damp wood to light and using t-shirts to fan the flames. It's an art that no girl is allowed to comment upon.
On Monday (bonfire night) the venue moved to Fi and Rory's for the first fire there. Geoff had been doing an operation so we were late (standard) but there was no doubting we were in the right place - the whole world was full of smoke. In fact it was spreading at ground level rather like a fog. The light breeze was moving the fog away towards the football field thankfully, there's only one house between Fi and Rory's house and the field. Helpfully this isn't occupied by anyone important...ahem.... like the Acting Medical Superintendent - whose garden was already filled with a dense fug so it was barely possible to see his windows. A little investigating identified the source of the smoke to be a beam brought by the Dutch students - it seems that Creosote burns rather smokily. Do you think it's carcinogenic?
To commemorate the occasion there was a small Union flag next to the fire, which it transpired had been put in the middle of the territory of a 'Scorpion Spider'. These spiders use their long front legs to catch prey and can be seen running back and forth in S shapes, especially in the light from porches. I previously mentioned that they are the fastest invertebrate in the world. This one kept running over Fi's foot. She didn't seem to enjoy the attention!!
On Tuesday night we went to Nat's to pick up the video Will took in time lapse from the bonnet of his car on Sunday. We are planning on making a video showing our footage from a different car, Will's bonnet cam and Nat's view from inside the Prado, we just haven't got very far yet! Anyway, Nat's porch is well known for being a bug and Scorpion Spider haven so we approached with caution. Disappointingly there were no spiders to be seen only really stupid beetles. They are gold and like bullets, about 1-2cm long and they can't fly for toffee despite their practising. Typically they fly into your head or shoulders and feel like something much larger, so in the dark you feel compelled to squeal before you can see what it is!
We shut the screen door and looked out. Then Nat spotted that there was, in fact, a large and juicy spider on the screen - on the outside. We wanted a better look but weren't keen on going back out with it still alive. Nat Doomed it. Nothing happened except a lot of beetles inside the screen went mental. She Doomed it again. Nothing happened. Then she and Geoff started to get a bit agitated - what was with this invincible spider? When it set off up the screen that was enough and they retreated. Of course I was too humble to point out that they had both slightly mocked my fear of a similar spider when I was a) ALONE and b) it was actually INSIDE. Anyway, it died after a few steps and I used our torch to knock it off. It hit the ground with a loud splat - unexpected!
On Friday afternoon the heat was getting a little tiring but clouds started to form in the sky. Presently I could hear a gentle patter on the roof of Pharmacy. A shower! A few large drops were falling from the sky. Occasionally it would ease off a bit but the clouds seemed endless. I knew I needed to get to the Chada to buy Geoff some talk time and it had been a frustrating day so at just after 4 I set off. This was the heaviest point in the rain so far and no one else was out and about. I enjoyed the walk - it's only water after all and I'd been really rather supremely hot before. Plus, it seemed to be drying quite quickly on my clothes so I wasn't actually getting drenched. It stopped as soon as I got to the shops and everyone else materialised again. As soon as I got back to the hospital the spitting started again - I didn't like the look of it. Abraham and I decided to call it a day. His 'driver' had come and was waiting in the porch. Abraham said we should run for it :) or rather, he requested his driver run for it! I was glad I'd passed over the reins because I was worn out from pushing him in the heat.
I moved quickly back towards the house and got inside. The rain was beating on the tin roof. Then suddenly it became deafening. Hhhmmm, I wouldn't be able to sleep through this! I closed the bathroom door (the only place without a hung ceiling) - that didn't seem to help. What on earth was falling from the sky? I looked into the garden to see it covered in hailstones! About 1.5cm across - aaahhh, that would do it. We had just received our parcels from home (sent 2 months ago) so I plugged my electric toothbrush in with glee and set about videoing the nurses over the way screaming about the hail and then torrential rain. All of a sudden the sky lit up with lightning - hhmmm, I unplugged everything! nuts!
It was still light outside so I could get good photos of the paths turning to rivers and a large pool of water forming outside the nurse training school. Then I remembered that I have a husband who was still in the hospital! he he he! So I was nice and offered to bring him his waterproofs and wellies. However, the rain stopped before 6pm so this was not needed. Rory tells me authoritatively that in the hour of rain a good 3" fell. All I would say is that the annual rainfall for the region is 1.5m and I have some difficulty believing 1/20th could fall in one hour of intermittent rain. You can come to your own conclusions of course!
Saturday was spent at Nat and Will's having a bbq in honour of his parents coming. It was great. Then when Geoff headed in to do some operations (specifically the 39th and 40th of the week - at home he never got above 15) we went to Tiko's to see some puppies. Two week old German Shepherd puppies are very cute but somehow I returned without one stuck up my t-shirt - shame!
The heat is back so the only thing to do is sit outside reading a good book. And if it feels like there's something crawling over your foot during the day - there probably isn't, it's more likely a drop of sweat heading down from the back of your knee. Nice!! At night the day after some rain, it will be a flying ant and you should eat it! :D
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