From dry to drenched in 300 yards

Oh, the weather:

You've all probably heard of the dry and rainy seasons in tropical climates. I've never really thought much about that - as a Northwesterner I've grown up with the 4 very distinct seasons, and thought that pretty much the rest of the world experienced similar climates. I remember the wonderment of a college friend from Los Angeles, on her first sight of "red trees" because she had never in her life seen the colors of autumn leaves before.

Well, today was my "a-ha" day on what the rainy season means in Guatemala (or at least, Antigua). In the 3 weeks we've been here, we have understood the rainy season (which lasts from about May to about September) to have a pretty consistent pattern: clear and dry in the morning, with afternoon showers and the occasional downpour in the evenings. One night last week both Steve and I were awoken by a mighty rainfall that pounded our bedroom roof with such intensity that I thought it might spring a leak.

The consoling factor in this weather pattern is that despite the rain, it doesn't get cold. The effect of this on me cannot be understated; I am a weather wimp who gets too hot or too cold very easily, and in these 3 weeks I have never needed anything beyond a long-sleeved shirt. (I do have a thin rainslicker which comes in handy - if I remember to bring it.)

Well, today I awoke to a full-on view of the volcano Agua, which is somewhat rare; it usually has a little topping of clouds. I thought this would bode well for the day, and as I walked to language school there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was like a sparkly summer morning. I decided there was little chance of me needing my slicker, so left it at home. During a snack break at the school, we ran into our friend Hugo who was discussing his plans for the afternoon. He mentioned sort of off hand that he wanted to be done quickly, because it was going to rain about 1 or 1:30.

Now the afternoon rains are pretty consistent, they occur almost dailly at an amazingly consistent time - usually around 2pm. So making a prediction on rain isn't that hard, but I thought today seemed a little special; it doesn't rain every day and this one seemed just a little bit better than most.

You know where this is going. After class Steve and I had lunch at a little cafe, then started walking home about 1:15. I could see the dark clouds coming, but didn't think too much about it because we've rarely actually been caught in any sort of strong rainfall. I stopped by our rental agent's office to say hi, and those extra 2 minutes sealed our fate. We had about 4 more blocks until we were home; it was going to be close. Turning down the last street before our gate to the development, I saw a couple drops of rain. Big drops. Heavy, splashy-looking. I asked Steve, "You think we're going to get caught?" He said, "No, this is a different rain. No way." Now I was quite sure we were going to get it, so I thought I'd just toy with Steve. "You sure about that?" Yep, he was sure.

Not more than 10 steps later, the heavens opened and honestly, for sheer volume I've never seen anything like it! (That's saying a lot, being from Seattle.) We had to run about 300 yards to our house, and in that time we went from being completely dry to DRENCHED. I ran with my backback over my head and both it and I got soaked. Like, change your clothes soaked. (Our kids later told us that on their drive home from school, they saw people in one of the streets with water up to their knees.)

Since Steve outran me, he was facing me in the doorway as I ran in. Big soggy smile on his face. A Seattleite should never predict Antigua rain.

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