Rainy Season

So it's technically the rainy season - which basically means that it rains a lot and you never really know when it will rain. In any given 5 minutes, it might - or it might not - rain. So I try to be prepared and carry around a rain jacket and an umbrella most of the time. I also always carry my bike poncho when I'm riding my bike. A bike poncho, in case you don't know, is a very flattering plastic garment (mine is dark blue) that looks much like a regular poncho. Except that it has an extra-long front that goes over the handlebars and basket of your bike. Mine doesn't exactly function as it should - I think it's too small in the front or something - so my basket never stays covered. It's not a problem, usually, except that I can't carry things in my basket when it's raining. 

I don't really enjoy biking in the rain, but it has been frequently necessary. The poncho is hot to wear, and the hood doesn't stay tied well, so it's either falling down over my face or scooting back off my head. There's also this little visor thing on the front of the poncho that, I suppose, is supposed to keep rain off your face. Except that it's made of the same plastic as the poncho, so it pretty much falls down and covers my eyes - and makes the water run straight down my face. The other significant drawback to wearing a poncho is that you have no peripheral vision, and if you turn your head, the hood doesn't always turn, so you end up staring at the inside of your rain poncho. However, even with all this "mafan" (that means "trouble" in Chinese), it's worth it to not end up at your intended destination completely soaking.

But on Wednesday, a storm blew in. It was the kind of storm that I imagine accompanies monsoons. Lots of thunder and lightning, and buckets of pouring down rain. We were at school, and had just finished up a staff meeting/ dinner when it started. Most of us waited before leaving, thinking that it would stop soon and then we could bike home. (Those who decided not to wait, actually ended up turning around and coming back to the school.) I went back to my classroom and did some grading for almost an hour and then got tired of waiting. The rain seemed to be slowing down a bit, so I thought it seemed like a good time to go. By the time I got out of the courtyard of the school, the rain had picked up again. I didn't care and I wasn't turning around. 

So I rode back to my apartment with sheets of rain pouring down my face, splashing up and soaking through my shoes and my pant legs. The rain also sometimes came down a at nice horizontal angle, so even my arms under my poncho got a little wet. I could hardly see because of the rain, so I squinted and tried to ride in a straight line to avoid running into someone (because of my lack of peripheral vision...). I also went as fast as I could, because I figured that the least amount of time getting soaked in the rain was the best. In several places the rain water had gathered to make puddles that were at least up to my shins when I was pedaling on my bike. And "rain water" may not actually give the right image. It was rain water - but it was also some raw sewage from the over-flowing sewage drains. There was less traffic than usual, but it was rush hour, so there was still plenty of traffic of all kinds - bikes, mopeds, cars, busses, trucks, motorcycles. Mostly I just wanted everyone to keep moving, because I did NOT want to stop at any point and put my feet directly into the water/ raw sewage floating below.

But I had to laugh because the whole thing was completely ridiculous. I looked completely crazy - this soaking wet American girl, riding down flooded streets in a city in the middle of China, dodging dogs and people and traffic. It was just too funny, so I laughed out loud. 

When I got home, I took a steaming hot shower and tried to not think about what "raw sewage" might have included. I don't think my shoes will ever really be the same, although they have finally dried. 

It's rained a little since then, but nothing like that. Everyone has their suspicions... it didn't rain at all (not one drop) the week before, when the olympics were going on. Apparently chemicals - or something - was shot up in rockets into the air to keep it from raining during the games. We're pretty far away from Beijing, but we're south, so if the weather patterns tend to go south, it would actually make a lot of sense. Who knows. Maybe that's just a rumor....

But I know one thing. I 'll be very glad when rainy season is done!