The Rain

It is still rainy season here in Brazil, and that is quite apparent every afternoon. It is really amazing, the amount of water that comes from the sky. Everyday I am just as amazed as the privous day. I wish these videos had sound because I don't think that the picture really does it justice.

But more than the amount of rain, the speed at which it comes and goes also amazes me. You should never, under any circumstances ever leave your house without an umbrella, no matter how beautiful and sunny the day appears to be. After work one day, I was walking out of the Caxia building fumbling through my purse to find my MP3 player, I found it under my umbrella and breifly thought to myself as I turned on a song, what a waste it was carrying the umbrella today, because I was heading home and it was a beautiful day, sunny, bright, blue skies with big puffy white clouds. I specifically remember this fleeting thought as I walked towards the bus, because that song, had not even finished when the skies became grey and the downpour began. I laughed to myself as I pulled out the umbrella, thankful again to have had it with me.

Another day however, I was getting off the bus, headed home for the day and it started to rain. It's not a long walk from the bus stop to our house, but this time the rain was coming in sideways... or from all sides... I didn't know which way to hold my umbrella. I hadn't even made the first turn went I was drenched. From my knees down it looked and felt like I had been wadeing in a river... and my socks were begining to mush under me with each step. I thought for a second and realized, that it would be a lot easier, more comforitable, and faster if I just put the umbrella down and ran. So that's what I did. It was the end of the day and there was nothing else I could do about it. I looked like a wet poodle when I finally did arrive home and I laughed as I stood in the rain trying to open our gate. Those clothes were hanging for three days before they were dry.