The unusual view from our window last night.
Last night at 2:13 a.m. I was awakened by a strange sound. What could it possibly be? The sound was growing in intensity. I finally got out of bed to investigate the strange, ever growing noise. As I looked out the window I saw an extremely rare event: rain!
The rain was pouring down and tiny rivers of water were flowing down the streets. The windows were splattered with rain and the sound of dripping and splashing filled the air. Perhaps this isn't big news in much of the world, but in Lima its a rare occurrence. Lima, being one of the driest places on earth, doesn't get rain. In the last five years we can only remember seeing a few drops on the ground. Annual precipitation rates average 1/10 of an inch. The rain continued for more than an hour. I imagine we got several years worth of rain in a matter of a few minutes.
I couldn't help but think of the millions of Peruvians that must have suffered last night. Many have no real roof over their heads. Plastic sheets and woven bamboo roofs don't provide much protection during a rainy night. The bad news is that the "El Nino" weather patterns could lead to even more rain in Lima. I tucked myself back into bed and drifted back to sleep listening to the lovely sound of rainfall. It was hard to believe my ears: rain in the desert!
