Rain

Living in a very hot country of the Persian gulf, makes you somehow forget of bad weather, change of seasons, heavy clothes .
A place where the sun always shines, is a joy for the heart .
Waking up in the morning with the sun for the greatest part of the year, gives a different taste to life .
Even if one has problems or is a little bit sad, the sun means there is always hope behind the corner, that things will change .
Buildings and infrastructures in Arab countries, at least in past times, were not planned in order to support heavy rain collaterals .
But bad weather is there, for at least two or three weeeks every year, and that is where problem starts .
If it is just little rain, then it is awesome to watch children running outside the houses and dancing around, showing happiness and surprise .
When it is hard rain or some storm, then complications start to arise .
Problem is that there is no or few drain channels and dikes, so if you are in the middle of a storm in your car, that can be quite a nightmare cause your vehicle will turn into a ship .
Houses also, are not always built with the necessary precautions, so you will take a bath in the living room .

I remember my first storm in 2007, coming all of a sudden, through an sms sent by the police to all residents .
Tropical storms can be predicted no more 12-16 hours in advance, so there was not much to do .
Some flew outside of the country, but it was difficult as well, since the airport was assaulted .
Some others moved to other areas, where rain was supposed to be lighter .
Most of us ran to malls and supermarkets, to arrange at least the essential food .
When I got there, everything was finished, I mean everything practical to eat .
No bread, no canned meat, no nothing .
People had gone completely crazy .
Homo homini lupus finds its meaning in times like this .
So I ended up with some frozen stuff .
The lady who used to help me with cleaning in the house , left a big bowl of biriani ready .
That covered half of the week .
I always regretted not to let her stay with me, cause she was living on ground floor, and those flats got the worst damages .
It started exactly when and how the MET had predicted : early morning, before prayer, few drops then more .
I remember I woke up thinking it was the birds . Doves are your closest neighbours in the middle east .
But it wasn't them. It was rain .
Strange but true, the internet kept working and I was lucky to stay in an area not affected by electricity breaks .
It kept on raining for at least five days .
I used to collect water in my bedroom every 3-4 hours .
Moved to sleep in the living room and far from window, to avoid thunders .
I was lucky cause I was on the third floor, so I didn't have mud .
Then finally the sun was back .
On tv I could see what happened outside .
The wadis (big holes close to the roads) and valleys full of water, houses fully covered by water .
Part of town was destroyed .
I started crying like a baby .
I first had gone to that country some years back . I had seen it growing, developing . And now it seemed destroyed .
I couldn't imagine it could come back to life .
Then at the news, they said that the ruler had gone around the capital, stopped here and there and spoke with the people, telling them words of encouragement .
It was not easy for the deads and for the living , but today the place is beautiful again .
There are nights I still dream of it and wake up crying.
I didn't want to leave, but I had to .