After the rains

I came home to a moldy house. The walls of the living room and the ceiling resemble a Jackson Pollack during a grey period. In one corner, there’s a huge patch of cracking and peeling paint. This is proof that this year’s monsoon was a good one. So good that it won’t go away… it’s now the end of the first week of October and the rains are not letting up. I wake to grey skies in the morning and the rain usually starts in the late afternoon with a few drops which eventually become a downpour.

It’s noticeably hotter than one month ago and the humidity in the air is palpable. The laundry doesn’t dry, and the drawers in my wooden chest of drawers must have somehow expanded because no matter how hard I tug, they will not open! I’ll have to wait for drier times before I can access their contents again.

I showed my landlords the artwork on the ceiling and they were quick to take action, calling in the builder to take a closer look at the cause of the problem. Most houses here have flat roofs which means that water seepage is a common problem. The roof needs to be waterproofed and the ceiling and walls repainted but this can only happen once the rains stop.

The cat doesn’t seem to mind the rain. She comes home in the middle of the night – soaking wet – and then tries to get in under the covers!