Well, the rainy season is upon us. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean the scorching 40 degree temperatures have ceased. Well, I suppose for the most part it is much cooler, maybe 35 now, either way, its still pretty hot out there.
We weren't sure what to expect from the rainy season. We had seen pictures of Sukhumvit (the street we live off and one of the main streets running through Bangkok) completely flooded and people walking in water past their knees, but we were told any bad flooding won't happen until September or so - ohh the things to look forward to!
We were also told, that for the most part the rainy season is basically sunny mornings, then a quick (hour or so) downpour, then nice weather again. Of course, this is before global warming has an effect.
From what people keep telling me, this rainy season is apparently like no other anyone has ever experienced. The past few weeks have been dominated by gray, cloudy days with rain lasting the better part of the morning, if not all day. The TA's at my school tell me that it is very unusual for this kind of weather. My poor kids at are stuck indoors most mornings because it is simply too mucky to play in the yard. Oh well, we were blessed with some gorgeous sunshine and blue skies today (Friday). That makes up for the adventure yesterday of trudging through ankle deep runoff and dodging waterfalls from the buildings trying to manoeuvre me and my poor umbrella to the skytrain! It was definitly an early morning adventure, and yes, I was soaked by the time I got to school.
I will say one thing though, the storms we get here are WAY better than back home! Ryan and I often watch the lightning from our balcony, although we have started watching from the window since a few have come a little too close for comfort. We are very careful to run indoors at the first sign of lightning because it seems like everything in this city is a giant lightning rod.
For the most part the rainy season hasn't dampened our experiences too much. For the most part the rain doesn't last too long, so you just have to make sure you are not in to much of a rush when you go anywhere, the traffic pretty much stops when it starts raining, or just be willing to get a little wet.
The other exciting news of the week is the earthquake that hit. Aparrently there was a 6.1 that hit Laos at 4pm Thursday afternoon. The effects were felt all through Thailand and made it all the way to Bangkok. We were told Thailand doesn't see many earthquakes and if Ryan's trainees are any example people don't like them at all.
I was totally oblivious to the earthquake having felt nothing, although I did sneak in a nap after work so maybe it did affect our building. But when Ryan got home he told me his whole floor started moving! His trainees were terrified and wanted to go home, but Ryan didn't see what the big deal was. He said the floor started swaying and at first he thought it was just him - like his equilibrium was off or something. Then one of his colleagues shouted "Mr. Ryan! Its and earthquake!" Nothing was shaking or anything, the floor was just swaying and it was over in a minute or so. His trainees did not want to go back to work though and just wanted to go home! We learned later that buildings in Bangkok are not built to withstand major earthquakes like they are in Japan and other places, but this one was really no big deal. Ryan called his colleagues on the 15th floor and they said they felt nothing. Ryan is on the 22nd floor, so we figure the higher up you were the more you felt it.
While there was no damage or injuries, the quake was pretty big news. All my parents asked me about it the following day at school, and it was all the talk in the canteen. But all I kept thinking was "man, thats twice now that Ryan has felt an earthquake and I missed it!"
