It’s been raining for almost a week here in Antigua.  In all of my short three years here, I cannot remember seeing the island this rainy. It is quite charming, actually.  Who would have thought that this dry little rock had it in her?  It’s weather like this which certainly puts in a bid for the island as a most hospitable place to live. I’ve worked like a possessed man all of this week and have gotten through many things- personal and business- which had been left sitting for quite some time.   Indeed, this has been my most productive week since moving to the island.

That I could never be a sun lover is a foregone conclusion. I’m very much a rain person. I love the wet, the dark and the cold.  There’s something about all of that which re-energizes me, gives me hope and makes me want to accomplish so many things.  Of course, I couldn’t say the same about the natives here.  There’s a joke on the island that rain is the thing most feared by natives. I’ve learnt that it’s not much of a joke-joke. It’s a rather serious joke.  There seems to be something in the local DNA which makes the people almost classically witch-like.

Forget their dislike and fear of “dangerous people”. Forget prized possessions burning in a building. Forget politicians behaving badly. Forget raining bullets. Let it rain and you’ll see an Antiguan cower as if the sky was pouring sulphuric acid and he/she would immediately melt if but one drop touched his/her skin. I’ve observed that look of disdain carpeting their faces whenever that first drop appears.  Most times, that look is tempered only by recognition that the island does need the rain and the belief that to curse the rain is to spit in the face of a higher being.

I’ve also observed how some personalities change with the rain. Some are quite the Mogwais. You enter a business place and they are very pleasant- willing to assist you until next year, if necessary. But, the first drop comes and in a blink, they become the surliest gremlins you can find for miles around.  They get impatient and mutter things in the local dialect about wanting to be at home in weather like this.

Of course, others are the opposite- they go from surly to sweet and so forth.  With my staff- ordinary and managers- I’ve noticed that whenever it rains heavily, they avoid looking me directly in the eyes. But, hide their eyes as they might, something in their movements lets me know that being at work for me in this sort of weather is far from their cup of tea. Or maybe…it’s just being at work for me. Period.

 (V).Damien