Refreshing Rain!! :)

الحمد لله انها تمطر

This morning during Parent/Teacher interviews, we had a surprise in the form of precipitation - a very heavy downpour that lasted a good 20 minutes. It was incredible! The weather in Kuwait has been a bit odd this year. For a country that gets very little rain, we have seen a lot of super light sprinkling sessions this year! However, no actual downpours. These are very rare and are somewhat important events when they occur, as was the one today. The interviews were stopped mid-interview and we all went out into the open-air courtyard (under cover of course!) and just watched and listened to the rain for some time. The sound was deafening as the rain struck the tin eaves and canvas covers. For once, the rain cleansed as it fell. Because of all the dust in the air, the rain droplets normally collect it all as they fall and it literally rains mud.

Many of the Arabic staff stood with outstretched hands and eyes closed. One of the Islamic teachers came over and told me what they were doing and why. Apparently in Islam, when it rains like this in a country such as this one, it is a very special moment and there is a rain prayer that is to be said thanking God for the rain and asking for whatever they need. They believe that because it is a special time with the rain, that God will hear their special prayers and will grant them their request, big or small. Hence all the women lined up with palms outstretched towards the heavens.

One thing about downpours here, on the odd chance that they occur, one usually finds out quickly how good the seals are on the window panes - it turns out mine are pretty much non-existent!! I came home to wet floors, wet rugs, and wet, muddy streaks that lead down the wall from the window to the floor! Gotta love the enormous amounts of sand dust that seep into even the cracks in the window panes! At least the rain cleaned that out??? LOL Ah well, it's a good thing all the floors over here are ceramic tile and all one has to do is dig out the mop!

So I managed to capture a short snippet of the rainfall on my little digital camera. Seeing as I can't figure out how to edit a movie in Quicktime format, it's raw - so I apologize for that, but it gives you an idea of how loud it was and what it looked like! :) Again, pretty standard downpour for back home, but for here, amazing! :)