About rainy weather and crocodiles
„We love it, but at the same time we feel cooooold and get sick!“, says Adjoa while we are sitting in the kitchen. She talks about the cool rainy weather of the last two days. Compared to the weather here in Ghana before it is rather cold, it rained a lot. Rainy season started.
Adjoa tells stories about old women who spend the whole day sitting with blankets wrapped around their bodies and warm socks on their feet. I have to smile because the weather is definitely not as that cold. „This is European weather, so you are used to it. But we feel cold!“, she says. „So we make a fire in the house and drink tea“. Immediately I have to think of cold winter days in Germany, sitting inside in front of the fire whilst it is snowing outside. But from snow we are definitely far away. Only sometimes, at night, you should wear long clothes because it would be too cold otherwise.
But it’s vey wet outside. In front of the Trainingscenter there is a big lake now, with frogs and fishes. And then there is the alligator, that James, one of the AIM.-workers has seen on a piece of wood in the Trainingscenter-Lake. As i wonder whether this is true and whether there are really crococodiles in that place i started asking friends for their opinion. Prince, our neighbour even says that there are alligators in the small river next to our house. „They like bushy places“ – exactly like around the volunteers’ house.
When i meet James the next time, I ask him again about the alligators and as I ask how long they can get, he shows a length of about 20cm with his fingers. We have to laugh and tell him: „We thought you are talking about real crococodiles!“. Also James starts laughing. The animals he was talking about are called „alligator lizards“ and don’t get much taller than 20cm. Alligators or no alligators, still some places are mutating to real paradises for crocodiles. In a lot of places, the water gathers after some rainy days. The rainy weather and the puddles in the streets are a welcomed opportunity for some people to spend the day at home in their beds. When it rains, people stay at home and only leave the house if they have to. Because nobody wants to walk through the puddles in the street.
Although i was at first still wondering what the problem about getting dirty feet is, I now understand that feeling of disgust – those puddles can contain lots of diseases.
