Two Seasons!

The windows in our 3rd floor apartment during a steady rain fall!

Here in Arequipa, Peru we have two seasons, Rainy season and Awesome! We have just made it through the rainy season. Many weeks during the rainy season it rains everyday. The total amount of rain isn't more than what we are used to in Ohio. The part that makes rainy season here so different than what we are used to is the fact that nothing here is made for rain.

You would think after one bus gets stuck the other drivers
 would learn!

 Most of the buildings here are not made to keep out the water. But even worse is the fact that there is not a storm-drain system. A light rain can quickly cause the streets to fill up. Some of them quickly become impassible. The photos to the right I was able to take because the bus I was on for my ride home from work got stuck giving me a close up angle to take these shots. You might notice the smaller white van is up against the concrete median. Originally it was stopped about 3 ft from the concrete, then one of the larger buses came and weaved between the two buses. As the bus came through the force of the water displaced slammed the van in to the concrete.

Not 10 minutes after our bus stalled out there was a group of people that took off their shoes rolled up their pants and walked through the knee-deep water and up the hill to get on another bus. I chose to wait it out and see what would happen. After about 45 minutes a dump truck backed down in front of us and puled us out with a long cable. After I got off I ended up walking home because all of the buses that were coming by were quite full. 

I bet you are wondering why I didn't just roll up my pants and stroll through the water like some of the others. Well the picture to the left was taken on a side street about 50 yards up the hill from where my bus got stuck. This is another big problem. The water in the streets is not just rain water. Many of the drains on top of the buildings run into the sewer system and cause them to overflow. The best part is when you are in a taxi with the windows down because that is the only way for the driver to keep the windows from fogging up and you get splashed by a passing car. A little something I like to call a "Peruvian Swirly"!

Now here in Arequipa it is pretty much back to blue skies and Awesomeness for the next 9 months!