There must be dust: Part 2

The dry season is well upon us, and it sure is dusty! It is also rather hot, ringing in at 35 deg C (95 deg American) this afternoon. But today, I realized 2 unexpected advantages to this extreme weather:

1. You can tell how far people have traveled. Clean = short distance, dusty = considerable distance, dirty beyond recognition = at least a few hours on the road. One of our patients today tried to swindle an extra travel reimbursement by claiming a long commute to clinic. This was news to us, as we thought she lived nearby. So the study nurse examined her feet (clean) and hair (not even lightly dusted) and concluded that she must actually live quite close. When we confronted the patient with this irrefutable evidence, she laughed and confessed - okay fine, Dust Detective, you saw right through me! She left the clinic with a sheepish smile and no swindled money. The rest of the clinic chuckled, knowingly, like this happens all the time. And I enjoyed seeing how this little bit of local knowledge has become a new lens for me to tell something about the journey of the person I'm with.
2. The water runs warm. Our tank in the village usually provides a steady stream of cold water for bathing, showering, and other activities that make me shiver - but these days, it's solar-heated to a perfectly refreshing temperature! Ahhhhh.