Here Comes the Rain Again....and Again and Again

After a number of phone calls to various family members, all of whom have expressed their envy of our unending sunshine, I feel the need to put the record straight. It is peeing it down here- not just a slight shower or two, but a full fledged monsoon!

I can finally say, after a few weeks of occasional showers interrupting the heat, blue skies and sunshine, that the rainy season well and truly arrived last week. As befits a former British colony, the arrival of rain- not unusual in what is called locally the “rainy season”- was met with utter surprise, lack of preparedness and a complete breakdown of civil society!

It all happened quite fast, around early afternoon last Wednesday. Taking a break from work, I was looking out of my office window when the sky went from slightly cloudy to black in about ten minutes. The heavens then opened with rainfall of an intensity I’ve not seen outside of India. I then spent the rest of the afternoon watching the demolition of civilisation as we know it.

First of all, we realised that the cut price drainage system bought from the Chinese by the government had a major issue- it didn’t work! Within half an hour the roads were more or less flooded as the entirely blocked up drains took on their usual chocolate fireguard characteristics.

This caused traffic to build up slightly- no problem to the traffic police who patiently man every crossing waving through cars and trying to get bribes off unsuspecting westerners. Trouble, however was that these officers, not quite getting the concept of “to protect and to serve” had ran off searching for cover at the first sign of rain and didn’t reappear until the rains stopped. The result, as seen from my office was complete chaos and gridlock within minutes of the first drop of rain. In terms of an inability to deal with inclement weather, this had me in absolute awe- and I used to be a London commuter remember!

Anyway, after spending a happy afternoon watching the mounting chaos- cars stalling in the rain, running out of petrol in the traffic jams, starting driving on the wrong side of the roads to get anywhere- the painful truth dawned on this smug onlooker. I was going to have to get home in this!

Actually, I was not meant to be going home immediately. Elna, our receptionist had invited me to her sendoff party (the custom here is for the bride’s family to have a party to say goodbye to her before she gets married) just ten minutes drive from our house. It was due to start at half past six so, being prudent under the circumstances I headed off at half five.

By half past six I had got precisely two hundred yards from the car park. By eight I had managed the (normally ten minutes) drive to the turnoff for home and then decided to call it a night. Any guilt I had vanished the next morning when I spoke with a colleague, Chris. He told me that it had taken another hour and half to get from that turning to the restaurant. I would probably have got there at around half past nine- four hours late to a restaurant twenty minutes from the office! Chris told me that further along, the road descended slightly. He had been following a local driver and figured that if the local car could make it then Chris (in a Nissan Patrol) would be fine. Chris decided to take another route when the car in front of him ended up with water coming over the headlights and onto the bonnet. With the true local optimism, the driver in front pressed on but Chris turned back and took a longer route!

Since then, the rains have been quite regular- once a day or so we get a huge barrage of rain and then sun. We’re quite enjoying it to be honest. After three years in Cairo, rain is almost as welcome as snow. For Kieran especially it is a rare treat and he is quite often found running round the compound in the pouring rain wearing nothing but his pants! The power is failing quite a lot as the rain affects the decrepit infrastructure but our generator is holding up quite well. Actually, with the drop in temperatures, we nights are becoming quite cool and we can often manage without the AC units too!

We’re told the rains will stop by the end of the month- we’ll probably have a good British dislike of the rains by then but, for now, we’re quite enjoying it!