What would you do in you lived in a country where there are pounding thunderstorms and sheets of white rain almost every afternoon? What would you do if you didn't have a car to get places in said thunderstorm? What would you do if your street flooded, and the street next to that, and garbage was floating in it.
Such is life in rainy season, or so I am learning. Last Thursday, it decided to pour at 5pm. Rain storms take on a life of their own. You never know if they will last for 20 minutes or six hours (speaking from experience). I waited until 5:10pm, and then decided I had enough of waiting. I left all my stuff at the office, and drove the 30 minutes home. Naturally this story does not end well. I was completely soaked, but good news was that my phone which made the journey with me, is still completely functional (I can't kill it, which means I can't get a new one).
Rainy season 2011 has been mixed and unusual. It should rain every single day at the same time without fail between May and September. In May it starts raining in the early morning for several hours and by September it's raining in the late evenings for several hours. I typically welcome the rain because the pressure will built up before rain and it's unbelievably muggy. If the rain doesn't come, it's a long hot evening.
A day can start completely sunny and within the span of one or two hours, a black thunderstorm will spit lightening and rain spitefully at you as it fills the streets with several feet of water (the drainage system in Phnom Penh is inadequate by far, partly due to "the reallocation of funds"...that's code).
However, this year, the rainy season was slow starting . We didn't get much rain until June, and even then it started in the afternoon instead of the morning. It hasn't rained everyday, and we'll go for several days with pressure and mugginess. This year there has also been massive flooding because of phenomenal deluges which last for half days instead of the customary several hours.
In rainy season, most clever people travel with a slicker, or poncho. However, I'm not always a clever person. My raincoat wards off. Many clever people put their belongings in plastic bags which they hide under their ponchos. But I loath plastic. Instead, we plan our days around the weather. It's acceptable to be late or not attend a meeting if it's pouring rain. The streets will empty with motos except for the brave souls in their ponchos.
Also worth mentioning, at least 70 people have died of lightening in Cambodia this year. Why children are not taught to stay indoors during storms is a mystery. Understandably, storms come on quickly and people are in rural rice patties, but still....but still...absolutely preventable deaths.
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