Monday, June 8, 2009

Changing seasons

The rains are coming to the Alibori! And with the rains a return to slightly more tolerable temperatures. The rains come very quickly up here, and so far only at night. The wind can guest up to 30 mph ( a couple villagers lost their roofs) and the rain comes down hard. The standard roofing in Benin is either tin or thatched. My tin roof sounds like a snare drum and it is impossible to sleep. Because the rains are starting to come people are starting to ready their fields. Corn and peanuts are being planted. Whole families gathered around 50 kilo sack of peanuts, shelling them so that they can be planted. Rainy season is for large crops only, no gardens...tomatoes have not been seen in my village for a couple weeks, neither has lettuce or fresh hot peppers. I started a Morigna growers association to try and stay busy...the Beninese Red Cross thing so far has not materialized. We have 46 gardeners and lots of seeds to start a tree nursery. Be they end of rainy season the Moringa trees should be good for transplant. I went to the top of a very tall mosque tower with my buddy Elliot. We measured it out to 27 meters but the guys building it said it was 31. I will put a photo up by the end of the day.

3 comments:

rchadsey said...

Hooray rainy season! Rains have returned to Miami as well and every afternoon is full of hard thunder. My tomatoes are turning my backyard into a true jungle! Let me know if you receive another package from me - mailed almost 3 weeks ago and full of tomato/pepper seeds for you & your friends. If not, I have another package almost ready with seed duplicates that will be sent next week.
We love you! We thought about you when we saw the G.I. Joe preview. The movie comes out at the end of the summer!

mother said...

MY SON! IT WAS GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU. WE TOO HAVE HAD A RAINY WEEK WE ARE ALL THANKFUL FOR IT STERLING SENT AWAY FOR HUMUNGOUS PUMPKIN SEEDS FOR YOU TO PLANT. DID YOU KNOW THAT THE BIGGEST PUMPKIN WEIGHED IN AT OVER 1400 LBS. I HAVE BEEN BABYSITTING RACHEL AND NICKS POOCHIES, MOLLY AND PETEY. I WILL RETURN THEM TOMORROW TO MIAMI. DO THE MORINGA TREES BEAR FRUIT? READ YOUR OTHER EMAIL SON. LOVE YOU!XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

mother said...

Michaelboy! important info on your email Please read and respond. Thank you! OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Tomorrow is the last night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It's between Red Wings and Penguins. Go Wings!