Jeddah Rain: A Blessing Or Otherwise

"If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with a little rain" - Dolly Parton.

I thought I was awakened by a strange noise today. The not-so-lovely timing of its arrival has added to my misery. Already had an early feel of dawn light slowly creeping up the hollow windowsill. Yet sleep was not coming. It's been two weeks and this stubborn cough seems to enjoy its vacation in my anatomy. When its rage finally settled like a rabid dog so exhausted,  had no idea already it was raining cats and dogs outside. Yes, thunders and lightnings have put up a race to scare Jeddah residents another time, and the massive downpour had most cars outside stuck in deep mud. Feeling grouchy and head throbbing, I had to keep my balance and reach for the window glass to see  heavy rains pummeling the pavements.

Curiosity aside, I will be condemned had I not gone out to take this stupid thing for scanning at the internet cafe. This obnoxious thing called Body Temperature graph that some nice people had wanted me to add up to the slide I am making for them free-of-charge, really tested me. Of course it's borne out of generosity to be able to help out, but really the troubles of playing long jump not to get wet and swim in the sewer almost killed off my patience. Before deciding to venture outside, I was kind of waiting for some nice people to place some planks or sort of as walkway outside of our accommodation to avoid wading in the floods. Unfortunately for me, our building watchman chose rather to hide his skin. (He is only most visible when harassing my door  for that 10-riyal water duties when the tank gets dried up.) So  I thought I had to crawl on top of the cars lining up by the roadside for me to get out of the building. That was gross! (Next time I swear to cut down a bit on my generosity. It only spells trouble and getting no appreciation at all. :-)

Although raining in Jeddah can be considered a rare occurrence, many would still prefer a rain-less Jeddah especially motorists. The difficult part is, the troubles it could cause are beyond annoying. Some motorists could easily get into fisticuffs or sandal-whipping with patience hardly a virtue on the roads.  Just a litttle rain could be potent enough to clog roads and highways, gifting taxi drivers an opportunity to rip off hapless commuters. Accidents also come in abundance. After the floods, potholes and sagging cracked roads emerge, courtesy of substandard works done by the contractors. So, it's not really a happy moment in Jeddah when rain pours out, though I want it to be always raining (to validate my reason of no-show in work :-).

All things considered, it was not the best idea to venture outside to see whether this rare phenomenon has wreaked havoc the scale of November 2009 Jeddah flooding. That few hours of rain considered normal by tropical standard already claimed scores of lives in Jeddah. And that is what every Jeddah resident is praying for not to happen again. Thanks to that disaster, corruption in the government has been brought to light as the real culprit behind the deaths of those who drowned in areas where no drainage system had been put in place. The simplest of thing that the Jeddah government is able to implement has not been done because of the corrupt city officials who pocketed the budget for drainage projects that could have saved many lives. Who would have thought anyway that flooding in the midst of the desert could kill those who were caught offguard by the deluge in highways and residential areas?  Now, those who were found responsible  have already made their cells their homes.

If rain is a blessing, I hope and pray that Jeddah will rain the whole time of next year. But if it is otherwise, let it it fall some other time. I remember sometime in 2004 when the whole company accommodation was awakened in the middle of the night with hailstones as big as poultry eggs. I and my roommate scampered for the heavenly  pieces that tore through the balcony and kept them in the freezer. We were so amazed at the gorgeous find that is considered rare in this desert country. Sadly for us though, what appeared to be snowy white in the dark had turned muddy brown on daylight. So the next thing we did was discard them from the freezer and had them pelted on the kitchen sink. We couldn't be blamed for picking them up like snow virgins in a frenzy. :-)

This quotation from James Whitcomb Riley has caught me, "It is no use to grumble and complain; It's just as cheap and easy to rejoice; When God sorts out the weather and sends rain - Why, rain's my choice." And for a hosts of reason, rain will be my choice too. Rain reminds me that nature always gains an upperhand against man's conceit, be it nourishment  for a dry land or a curse when she asserts her fury. Happy New Year  to all!