26. Rain

Rain, wind, rain, clouds, rain, and more rain. It's raining today. Not constantly, but in showers where some showers are light while others come pounding down. The wind also comes in squalls. One moment there isn't even a breeze, and the next the palm trees are bending to the wind. The clouds sometimes keep us enveloped so that it feels as if we are on an island in a white expanse of nothingness. Other times, they just press down on us like they are made of lead.

I haven't really been feeling well the last couple of days (since the volcano trail hike), so today I stayed inside, watching the rain. At one point during the morning, however, Kristina knocked on my door and needed help in moving a couple of the horses. She said the horses were quite desperate, so I quickly changed my shirt and went outside. Then I realised it was raining buckets. We tried to be quick moving the horses, but I still ended up completely wet through. When the horses were moved, I rushed inside to dry off and change. I felt so chilled from the rain and wind that I put on my warmest clothes. I had been feeling a cold coming on, and now I was coughing. So I put on my woolly clothes and sat inside, looking out at the rain.

So I spent my day on the internet. And I've discovered a funny thing. On YouTube, most of the advertisements are: "Find your foreign husband." So that's what every girl in the Caribbean wants - a foreign husband. Oh well...it makes sense. But still, I find it funny, because I am a foreigner here. I'm not looking for dating sites to connect with Europeans or people from the United States or Canada. I don't know if this is just me, but when an ad pops up beside the video I'm watching with a picture of a beautiful woman from the Caribbean, and text saying: "Find Your Foreign Husband!", first I think it's funny. Then I think it's sad. Are there really that few possibilities for young women here? Do you have to marry someone and move away from here to make your dreams come true?

I know this isn't something I can do anything about, but it's good for me to see that not everyone has the same possibilities in life as I have. Not everyone can travel and see the world if they want to. Or choose their job and get an education of their choosing. I'm really lucky to have been born in Norway, with the privileges that has to offer. I think we should all take some moments now and then to reflect on this and be thankful, and then try to think of ways to get the privileges you treasure to everyone who wants them.

Books read: 18
Pages read: 4852