When it rains, it pours

Pours right in the bathroom window, as it turns out! It's the rainy season in Durban, and Thursday night (Dec 4th) we found we had a problem. Our flat is on the second floor, and as is the case for many older buildings, it's been added onto. There is a narrow sort of alley between the flat and another part of the building, and at the end of the alley is the bathroom. There's a gutter that's intended to catch the rainwater and direct it down a pipe, but instead, it was overflowing and directing the water right at the window -- which as it happens, wouldn't close all the way. So, into the bathroom the water came.

Windows here are all casement style. They always have burglar bars, but do not have screens. There are occasional insects that wander through, but nothing like what we would have at home. The temporary solution for our mounting flood was to climb on the toilet, reach outside and hang a garbage bag from the top of the window, then pull it closed as tightly as we could, in order to direct the flow down and away. Surprisingly enough, this worked pretty well!

On Friday we got in touch with the sister who watches out for the flat, and she contacted a repair person whom she has used before, George. George came by briefly on Saturday, and arranged with us to come on Monday, which he did. The gutter now flows the right direction, and the window now closes, so all is well.

The flat is truly very nice and we are enjoying it. It's very open and light. There is currently no "aircon" (as South Africans call air conditioning); a brother and sister are donating a used unit, which they hope to get installed, but it's unclear what the timing might be. Summer is underway, and some days are pretty hot already. Everyone says that January and February are brutal--highs in the upper 90's and above, and very humid.

As we are posting this, it is a cool, cloudy morning, having rained all night. Yesterday was blistering, followed by cloud buildup in the late afternoon and an evening thunderstorm. The thunder really echos off the hills. Durban is very hilly - driving is reminiscent of San Francisco.

Driving, parking, shopping all are becoming more comfortable, and we are beginning to learn our way around. In the next post, we'll tell you about two children's events in Lamontville last weekend.