I love love love love love love love love love love rain. :-)
Maybe it's because I'm a Northwestern girl at heart. Maybe it's because I grew up with Kansas tornado weather. Maybe it's because I've spent many hurricane seasons in Southeastern Tennessee. Maybe it's because I am currently living in the rainy season, and loving it. :-)
This country is not one of the ranked rainiest countries in the world, but it definitely takes on it's share of storms and flooding. Unfortunately, I don't even get to see the brute of the storms, as I live in the South, which more or less serves to be an inlet, guarded by the islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Storms that do make it into our 'cove' bounce off the Chinese island where Haikou is first and splash into Middle Vietnam. How the Paracel Islands have made it so long, I'm not quite sure. Fortunately, aside from some ordered soldiers, no human virtually lives there.
Suffice to say, the rain from the tropical storms most definitely send ample showers south. Enough of our streets and alleyways become flooded (always at inopportune times, of course lol) to make the tropical living conditions real enough. Last night, as I was headed back home, the rain had mostly stopped, and as I didn't really want to pay for a taxi, I opted to walk. Fortunately, about half-way home, a motorbike taxi picked me up, as the rain shifted a bit heavier again. Many times, I wouldn't care. However, yesterday, I forgot both my umbrella and my rain jacket, was already halfway sick, and had my laptop in tote. If he hadn't have stopped, I would have had to stop and wait for some some other motorbike, taxi, or stoppage of rain.
This country is not one of the ranked rainiest countries in the world, but it definitely takes on it's share of storms and flooding. Unfortunately, I don't even get to see the brute of the storms, as I live in the South, which more or less serves to be an inlet, guarded by the islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Storms that do make it into our 'cove' bounce off the Chinese island where Haikou is first and splash into Middle Vietnam. How the Paracel Islands have made it so long, I'm not quite sure. Fortunately, aside from some ordered soldiers, no human virtually lives there.
Suffice to say, the rain from the tropical storms most definitely send ample showers south. Enough of our streets and alleyways become flooded (always at inopportune times, of course lol) to make the tropical living conditions real enough. Last night, as I was headed back home, the rain had mostly stopped, and as I didn't really want to pay for a taxi, I opted to walk. Fortunately, about half-way home, a motorbike taxi picked me up, as the rain shifted a bit heavier again. Many times, I wouldn't care. However, yesterday, I forgot both my umbrella and my rain jacket, was already halfway sick, and had my laptop in tote. If he hadn't have stopped, I would have had to stop and wait for some some other motorbike, taxi, or stoppage of rain.
Now, I also knew that the entrance to one side of my street frequently floods, but since that is coming off the main road, I wasn't thinking about that entrance. We (and where I would have come at if still walking) came in from the back alley entrance, which apparently I don't take enough when it rains. It was flooded. Much more so than the front entrance usually is. Maybe 2 or 3 feet deep. Maybe 25-30 yards longEnough for my driver to stop, turn the motor off, assess the situation, and fiddle with something before deciding to trudge into the deep water. I would have understood if he hadn't have wanted to. A motorbike of girls pulled up beside us and watched to see what we were going to do. He did it. It worked. We got through. And somehow his bike seemed okay. :-)
What I love even more that rain: storms.
Here some pictures of storms that I snagged off the internet a while ago--just looking for pictures of storms for my desktop.
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