Torrential Downpour

Rainy season has definitely come. I don't particularly like rain. Probably because I'm not used to it. I grew up in Southern California where we see rain a few times a year. When it does start to sprinkle all the news channels start broadcasting "Storm Watch" with updates every 10 minutes from real people standing out in the rain. Let me tell you- that is not rain. I have a new definition of rain.

In the States you don't just wake up one day and decide that winter has begun, but it did seem like one day we woke up and rainy season had come. Rumor has it that they seeded the sky or the clouds or something to cause it to start raining and thus to bring rainy season. I'm not sure how this works or who decides this or if it is even true. "They" said dry season had gone on for too long. Some people didn't have water because of the drought.

It now rains not just a couple times a week, or even everyday, but several times a day. Torrential downpour. When I was at my training over the summer I heard people who had lived here talk about torrential downpour and I didn't really know what that meant. Now I do. I've never seen rain fall from the sky that hard and that much. I think I've already seen more rain in the past month or so then in my entire life. Often times it starts around noon and might rain for an hour, then starts again as school is ending and rains all afternoon. Then it usually stops for a while and starts up again in the evening and rains all night.

One day, at the beginning of rainy season, I was sitting at the staff table where all the teachers eat lunch. This eating area is outside but covered over the top. All of a sudden out of nowhere it started coming down. I sat there watching it rain harder than I had ever seen it rain. I was in awe of the power and amount of water coming out of the sky, feeling the mist from it all on my face, not wanting to move and step out into the pouring rain.

The worst is when it comes during 7th period. Because our school is out of space, I have to teach in different classrooms throughout the day. Seventh period I teach in what we call the upper house. I am in this little classroom which has a tin roof directly adjacent to it. On days when it starts pouring during 7th period it bangs on the tin roof so hard I can't hear myself think and my students can't hear me unless I scream over the noise of the rain. Rain is loud. Profound conclusion, I know. I guess I never knew that before: rain can be really quite loud. Anyway, today during 7th period the torrential downpour came and began making a ruckus. One of my students, shouting over the rain, asked if he could close the door. I agreed, knowing that this wasn't going to do any good. The door to our classroom isn't really a door but just a frame covered in screen, along with all the windows. Not too helpful in keeping out the noise. Another student just rolled their eyes at the ridiculousness of it all, unable to think because of the noise.

In the midst of all this rain I find myself without a rain jacket. For some reason I came to the tropics without proper protection, i.e. a rain jacket of any sort. As I was packing I was thinking I was going to be so hot that there would be no way I would need a jacket. Man, was I not thinking. It's actually cooled down quite a bit with the arrival of rainy season. Especially in our apartment which also has windows covered in screens so that they are open to the outside and the cool night air comes right on in. So I came to Indonesia without a jacket but surely that's no problem. I'll just go out and buy one. Except everywhere I look I can't find one. It's like they don't sell rain jackets here. So here I am living in the tropics without a rain jacket. That's my story about the rain.