Rainy Season

We're in the height of the rainy season now. I thought summers in DC were humid, but this is truly something else. The rain seems to have a pattern. It's usually not raining as I walk to the bus in the morning, but you can see the rain clouds rolling in. Around lunchtime, when I'm hungry for my stir fried veggies and rice, it starts pouring. Sometimes there's a nice breeze that comes with the storm, which is refreshing. By the time the rain stops enough to walk to the restaurant, the streets are muddy and littered with deep puddles.

It rains again around 5pm when I'm leaving working, but because I travel in a songtaew, it's not so bad. I'm constantly in awe of the people on their motorbikes. Some wear ponchos, or hold umbrellas above themselves while they drive with one hand and some have just forgotten protection altogether. The best I've seen (and I've seen this a few times) is when the driver puts his hand up in front of his eyes to block the hard rain, as though he's playing Hide and Seek, driving with one hand and peering through the other hand just enough to go in a relatively straight line. One time I saw a passenger holding both hands in front of the driver's face. Neither were wearing helmets.

Rice paddies filled by rain in Mae Hong Son

The streets turn into rivers when it rains a lot and it can get about one foot deep on some of the little sois (side streets) so you're literally wading your way back to your apartment, trying to keep your flip-flops on your feet while watching out for uneven ground and holding your dress/pants above water level. Being from Seattle, I thought for sure rainy season would feel normal to me. Grey, overcast, damp, green...sounds like home!

But rainy season in Thailand is better. Sorry Seattle. It's warm, I get to use an umbrella without people wondering why and my sandals and feet dry immediately! Like Seattle it's so peaceful when it rains. In true SE Asia mentality, people are in no rush, so in particularly hard downpours they just pull over to the closest cover and wait out the rain - three minutes, fifteen minutes, thirty minutes - it really doesn't matter. Everyo       ne stands beside their bikes and umbrellas, watching the rain fall.

As we were coming into rainy season, I was actually quite upset about it. Every time it rained I asked someone, "Is this like what it's like in rainy season?" (as if it was a movie that I didn't want to watch, but wanted to know what happened). I was worried that rainy season would leave me feeling depressed and cooped up. But then a friend said something to me that I can't stop thinking about. She said that she loves the rainy season because after it rains, everything looks so clean. And it's true! Thailand shines after the rain. The mountains, grass and trees are so green and the ornate gold Buddha statues and embellishments on the Wats sparkle, leaving me in awe that I live in this country.

I have drawn one parallel to Seattle rain, however. It began when I woke up on Wednesday morning and looked out my window to see clear blue skies. I was immediately in a wonderful mood and throughout the day, I noticed everyone else was too. Blue skies and sun during rainy season in Chiang Mai is like one of those absolutely beautiful, but admittedly rare sunny days in Seattle. Everyone appreciates the good weather and you can't help but be happy!

Rain water flowing down the steps of Doi Suthep