Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

Let’s talk about the monsoon!  Technically, Vietnam has a tropical monsoon climate.  Apparently, this means there are two seasons – the southwest monsoon (April to September) and the northeast monsoon (October to March).  The southwest monsoon brings warm and wet weather.  The northeast monsoon brings cool and not so wet weather.  At this point in time, I can only speak to the southwest monsoon.

I expected this monsoon to be torrential downpours for days on end.  If it did let up, and the sun came out, it would be hot, bright and sweltering.  I’ve found this to be only partly true.  It has not rained every day since I arrived, but there have been some amazing downpours.  When the sun comes out, it does dry up (faster than you can sing “Eency Weency Spider”) and it is sweltering and bright.

There was no outdoor recess the first day I had students – due to the torrential downpour.  By lunch time everything was fine and everyone went out (we were nuzzled down for our incredibly calm and peaceful Quiet Time – all students soundly asleep).

I’ve enjoyed floating in the swimming pool as the cool rain pelts me.  It doesn’t really matter whether I’m in the pool or not, right?  The point is to get cool by getting wet.  The hard part is the splatter of water that sprays into my eyes.

During the staff Scavenger Hunt back before students arrived, we were told – “it is monsoon season, plan on getting wet.”  My team had barely moved when the sky opened up and rain poured down, people ducked under awnings and passed out umbrellas and ponchos.  By the time I figured out how to get the poncho on and over my day bag, the rain had stopped.  As my team finished up and went to the restaurant for the final step in the hunt, someone let the cork out.  Torrential doesn’t begin to describe it (and finding words that I can substitute for torrential are becoming harder to find as I write this).  A colleague and I missed crossing the street with our team.  The time it takes for one stoplight cycle was the difference between dry and sopping wet.  My spouse (on the secondary hunt) was still “on the hunt” when the skies let loose.  He said when he got to the restaurant, he walked straight to the bathroom, stripped all his clothes off and wrung everything out (3 times).

The response of the motorbike riders when the rain starts is interesting.  Some decide to just ride it out (“I’m almost there”).  Others pull off the road, open up their seat, pull out the poncho, maneuver it in place, adjust it over the passenger(s) and motor on.  Still others, park the bike in some sheltered area and wait it out.  This can make it difficult for others to move around during the rain, if the motorbikes are parked on the sidewalks or in the street.

Yesterday, we were downtown shopping.  We could tell it was on the verge of raining.  The plan was to continue doing the shopping until the rain started.  Then we could have some lunch and play some cribbage, while we waited it out.

We were headed to the post office, moseying by the interesting shops (it is a high tourist area).  An Art gallery caught our eye.  The woman working inside said, “c’mon in, wait out the rain.”  Two doors down, I could see the curtain of water moving toward us.  How did she know the weather would change that quickly?  With little time to spare, we ended up ducking into a shop no bigger than our master bathroom, with 3 other people.  There was barely room to move around, as we looked at EVERYTHING in the shop to avoid going out in the deluge.  I bought 3 postcards and then we stood at the door, noting it had let up a little bit.  The woman working in the shop kindly offered, “the shop next door is much bigger.”  It was as if everyone has a monsoon plan.

We ended up across the street, on the steps of some office building, enjoying the cool weather, marveling at how others were handling the rain.  There were 4 people shuffling under one umbrella, others were skipping along enjoying the coolness (Western tourists), and some had 50 cent ponchos that probably last one monsoon deluge.

I’ve enjoyed watching the rains from our 7^th floor balcony.  The sound of all that rain hitting the banana tree leaves in the field behind us is distinct.  I woke last night to the bathroom door banging – it was because of the raging storm outside, with the open bathroom window.  I walked into the living room to look outside and the blur of the night was notable.  Today, I’ve seen the same thing, several times, as the strength of the rain prevents the buildings in the distance from even being visible.

I do find myself wondering what that other monsoon season is going to be like.

This photo allows you to see motorbike traffic - you can use your imagination as to what it looks like when the rain comes down ....