Rain

24 November 2009
Today I woke up to the familiar sound of rain falling. Familiar in another life. Here in my desert home in Northern Peru it’s a very foreign sound. I awoke and thought the sound I heard was the water coming from the tap someone left open until it ran dry yesterday morning or maybe that I was delusional. I looked out my window through the mesh I duct taped in to keep the bugs out and looked at my “backyard”, which is really a small area we call a corral where we raise ducks and guinea pigs and noticed that the ducks were drenched and the dirt floor was now mud. At first I was glum; trekking around in the rain is not my favorite thing to do because then you’re stuck in wet clothes. But then I realized I’d finally get to break out my spiffy raincoat to wear as I made my way to the special school. I stepped out of my room and grabbed my tea cup, since it oddly wasn’t yet on the table. No sooner than I set the cup on the table, my host mom comes running into the “dining room” fretting that the water isn’t boiled yet because she thought I wouldn’t be getting up early. Confused, I stood there; she knows that on Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to the special school at 9 and am up somewhere between 8 and 8:30. Then, with a chuckle, I realize it’s because of the rain. Because it’s raining, there probably won’t be school. I must have looked surprised or incredulous because she tells me, “Ven. Mira!” as she directs me to the door to look at the lake forming in front of our door and rain continuing to come down. With a laugh I think, “What the crap… we’re not in Cajamarca!”, and follow instructions to go back to bed despite wanting to go play in the rain. Cajamarca is another department, in the mountains of Peru, where it is currently wet season and volunteers make good use of their raincoats.
Later, as we’re eating lunch, my host mom asks if it rains like that in the states to which I say yes. My host sister asks if we have thunder and lightning storms, and I tell her I LOVE THEM. Then my host mom asks if I like to go out and play in the rain. I LOVE PLAYING IN THE RAIN! Laughing and slightly embarrassed, I tell her that I wanted to go play in the rain, but didn’t want the neighbors to think I’ve completely lost it. She told me I should have gone and played in the rain anyway and that she likes to go stand in the rain and get wet. So now I know, the next time it rains cats and dogs in the desert I’m taking my host mom to go play in the rain.