A Change in the Air

Before arriving in Ghana I thought I had some idea of what to expect from the weather: Heat.

Well, I was wrong. Sort of.

You know that line, “It’s not so much the heat; It’s that gosh darn humidity!”

My first days (uh…weeks, uh…months) in Ghana were about sweat. And I don’t mean the “I just finished working out so I’m all sweaty and need to take a shower” sweat. I mean the “I just took a shower and toweled off but I’m still wet” kind of sweat. The “what the heck? I’m soaking wet and all I did was eat a cookie” kind of sweat, the “I drank four liters of water today and haven’t peed once” kind of sweat, the “when I wear a colored shirt my nipples are outlined by a white circular salt stain” sorta’ sweat. Get the picture? It ain’t pretty.

Before arriving here Cori planned to keep a weather diary – you know, record the daily weather and post it on this blog, looking for trends and whatnot. We purchased a pretty fancy wireless weather station: it has a remote hygrometer and anemometer. It’s pretty neat!

We had read and heard about this seasonal dry period known as harmattan: when the prevailing winds shift to the north east, bringing dry, dusty air from the Sahara down to the coast. It is supposed to kick in around Christmas, and when it does, the Ghanaians told us, we would suffer: cracked lips, burning eyes, brittle hair, etcetera. We would frequently ask the Ghanaians about the temperature of the harmattan. Some would tell us it would become much cooler. Others would say hotter. But they all emphasized how dry it would be. Miserably dry. So dry, they said, that you would have to put “this type of, cream, on your lips.”

“Chapstick?” I replied.

“That is it!”

From my conversations with them I have concluded that most Ghanaian’s do not understand how humid Ghana is compared to the higher latitudes. It’s jungle humid here. In Wisconsin, chapstick is nearly equivalent to car keys, wallet, and call phone in terms of things you will find in people’s pockets or purse. It’s a way of life.

They also said the harmattan would come after a big rain. So we anxiously waited.

We had a big rain the second week after we arrived. The next day, no change.

Three weeks later, lots of lightening and heavy rain. In the morning, hot and humid. Ugh.

So, Cori continued to track the weather and we noticed a pretty clear trend: it wasn’t changing. At all. At times I have seriously questioned if the weather station is working properly. We realized there would be no point to posting a weather log online because it it would look something like this:

High Temp	Low Temp	Dew Point
96	80	79
95	80	79
95	79	78
95	80	79
96	81	79

December passed. No harmattan.

January came and went. Ditto.

Some people told me “Harmattan. In da nort. Dey have eet in da nort.”

I secretly wished I was living in “de nort.”

Could it Be?

Saturday night it started raining around midnight. At 1AM I was awakened by the downpour on my tin roof. Shortly the power went out. At 3AM I was awakened by the power coming on (I had accidently left my bedside lamp switched on when the power was out).

Sunday morning it was pleasantly cool: about 77.

The high temperature Sunday was a chilly 83. I didn’t use the a/c once! Even opened all the doors and windows.

Around 5PM Sunday I asked one student if he thought it was cold (it was 81 at that time). He said, “yes, very cold"

When I got out of bed this morning I went to the thermometer: 75

“I’m still dreaming” I thought. “Please don’t wake up!”

Now it’s 9AM and still only 84 degrees. Normally it’s well above 90 by this time of the morning.

Could this be what I’ve been waiting for?