Rain, rain, go away!

I used to love rain.

I loved how its pitter-patter could lull me into a deeper sleep as I snuggled warmly under my blanket. I loved the grey and colder weather that it brought. I perked up whenever rain was in the forecast and happily anticipated the approach of clouds the color of gunmetal. I loved how even the air smelled freshly scrubbed after a lengthy downpour.

But that was then. When I lived in southern California where it's dry almost year round and a rainstorm is like manna from heaven.

Now in Jakarta, I dread rain.

We are smack dab in the rainy season here. I could and should have loved the intense tropical thunderstorms. It is an awesome sight to behold, it comes swiftly, dramatically ushered by strong gusts of wind that shake the tree branches. Then the heaven opens... and oh, how it pours! Sometimes it rained so hard and fast that it looks like sheets, not drops, of water coming down. I even could love the lightning and thunder, how the sky lit up for a split second, followed by a loud CRACK! a hearbeat later, then the air shakes with deep rumbles that you can feel in your chest.

But rain in Jakarta always precipitates a host of problems. You see, the area where I currently live is prone to flooding (and the city itself as a whole has suffered devastating floods in the past several years). Last year, barely two weeks after our arrival here, we got our first taste of it.

Moreover, any downpour in Jakarta would immediately seize up the already congested traffic, practically paralyzing many parts of the city. Even a short shower could flood many streets to depths from just inches to deep enough to stall motorcycles and cars. Then there are the gutters, canals and rivers. Back-to-back heavy rain in the past few days already filled up the canals running through Kelapa Gading. In some stretches of it, the water level is almost flush with the top of the embankment. Spillover is a matter of 'when', not 'if'.

Additionally, the house we reside in is an older type and there are numerous leaks whenever the rain got stronger than a gentle shower. Just a few days ago, in the midst of an intense storm, my husband and I woke up before dawn and scrambled to mop up the growing puddles on the floor, positioning large buckets underneath the leaky spots and shoveling water out of the second story balcony onto the courtyard below. The leaks were going fast and furious. When the sun rose we could also see that parts of the streets were under water. Thank goodness it soon drained away.

Pre-dawn storms that soothed me back to sleep in southern California now keep me awake as I anxiously listened to the drip... drip... drip... wondering and worrying if it would grow worse. I fall back to sleep only fitfully.

Friends have warned us that if a rainstorm stretches into many hours without stopping (like it did for 16 hours straight last year), it's time to move the furniture and valuables to higher ground or to the second floor (if there's any). Then make plans to evacuate. Yeah.

* . . . sigh . . . *

I used to love rain.