Calabar Rain

Calabar rain, Mtchwee!!!

That was the frequent sigh on the lips of many persons whenever it started to rain in the beautiful land of my birth. The distress on the faces of those complaining was enough to tell you, a thousand and one plans were going to be suspended or achieved in wet clothings.

I grew up with first hand experience on how notorious Calabar rain can be especially in the months of June to September. The peculiarity of this rainfall remains how it starts like smithers, then feels as if it's ending yet continues and stretches into days and weeks before a faint sun is spotted in the clouds. A day could be declared bad luck if this sort of rain started before dawn and continued till twilight.

Everyone adopted a survival strategy for this weather including myself. Meeting up with my routines in spite of the rain forced me to own rain coats, boots and rubber shoes as umbrellas were always destroyed by the wind that accompanied the rainfall. My only grievance with this long hours of rain was when it happened during school session and when I had a pile of wet clothes waiting for sunshine.

During the long holidays and weekends, I recall vividly how my family looked forward to this lingering rainfall. It was the perfect excuse to stay in bed all day and have pepper soup for warmt. Under the sun or in the rain, My father always left the house early in the morning but was usually expected home earlier on a rainy day with chevon, goat offals and scent leafs for pepper soup.

On his return, he would choose an assistant from any of my siblings or my mum to join him make a fiery pot of goat meat pepper soup for the family. In minutes, the air in our kitchen would be inoculated with the strong scent of a good he-goat and in no time our spones and plates would be speaking directly to our mouths.

How we relished those moments, our noses always cried in enjoyment of the heat each scoop was giving us. One could see us moan with our mouths open due to the thrill of hot pepper soup. This pattern unconsciously became my family's approach to calabar rain and on some occasions we switched between goat meat and cat fish pepper soup.

Anticipating the rainy season and bearing in mind how selective I am with my appetite for food, I recently stocked my supplies with chevon, goat offals and scent leaf during my last visit to the market. Now, It's another day in June and although I am not in Calabar, it is raining calabar style in my location. What do you suggest I have for breakfast ???

We know the obvious answer. Nothing else can replace a bowl of an astringent goat meat pepper soup on a day like this, at least not for me.