“Are we still on for today?” She calls me asking about our book club meeting which is supposed to take place in two hours. I panic thinking that she too will cancel today and we will be left with only two of us meeting to rehash the novel we had all just finished.

“Yea, why wouldn’t we be?” I ask curiously.

“I just wanted to know due to the fact that it’s raining cats and dogs outside.”

I chance a look out the window and note that it is indeed pouring. The thunder I heard earlier had obviously evolved into a full on rain shower and not the practice air raids I had taken it for. Only in Egypt would rain constitute as a valid reason for cancelling anything. And yet, even as she speaks on the line, I wonder if I should indeed cancel. You will call me superstitious but there is something about rain in a desert country that begs for wonderment. Every time it pours from an overladen sky it is as if God is speaking to us to slow down and to gaze. And so I deliberate if I should honour this weather fluke as an excuse to stop and go inwards.

 When I was younger it never used to rain. Rain was this miracle that happened every once in a blue moon and stopped time and space when it did. I recall sitting in class in either fourth or fifth grade and it raining outside and us begging our teacher to let us go outside and play in the rain. It worked. The teachers themselves, coming from rain-plenty countries probably did not get our fascination with the water showers and simply humoured us young Egyptians. But having been in Egypt long enough I bet even they were shocked when it started pouring from the sky. Rain was that earth-shattering. In recent years rain has become less of an anomaly and maybe more of the disturbance that it seems to be perceived everywhere else. Global warming, I guess. I recall a few years ago, when I was still living in the U.S, there was a three-day thunderstorm that buried cars and upheaved houses in Cairo. In Egypt it is in particular the roads that we take issue with when it rains, as they seem to come to a complete still stop every time.I don’t know why the Egyptian government won’t invest in a proper sewage system, but I guess even they can’t believe that rain has actually become a factor in our lives.

The fuse box blows and I see that the decision is taken for me. It would be hard to host people in the dark, although candlelight would add a nice romantic vibe to our literary evening. Rain has always meant romance for me. Sitting on the windowsill in the living room reading old books. Noah and Ali dancing and kissing in the rain. Jane Bennett catching her death and then being taken care of by the Bingleys. Back when it didn’t rain, I would always picture myself indoors in the rain, trapped with a character of my fantasy, outside of time and space. There is something about the cessation of outside action that brings the inner workings of people forward. There is a sense of comradery in our smallness (compared to what is going on outside).  

Throughout time rain has meant different things to different people and until this day it is still used as a seasonal measurement in many parts of the world. When I first tried to book a flight to Costa Rica I was warned to avoid “rainy season” as it would limit me from being outside. I didn’t take it seriously until I did some research and realized how intense rainy season actually is. Many cultures still live by the rain, waiting for the sky to open so that they can grow their crops and nourish themselves. While man has made intense progress, with countries like the UAE engineering their own weather, rain is still seen as something sacred in countries where it is sparse. I’m sure you have heard of the fabled rain dance that is performed to influence the weather. Many North American tribes have upheld this as a ritual and it is even comically referred to in an episode of How I Met Your Mother. Personally, I believe in the sacredness of rain. While it is “just weather” it is also an integral part of the circle of life and so I give it the respect it deserves every time it graces us.

Currently I’m stuck indoors with three candles on writing by the light of my laptop. It is beating down hard outside and my entire family moves to congregate around a light source and be together in the dark. Not just in the dark, but in this special time where we are reminded again of how minuscule we really are.

What do you do when it rains?

Do you have any rain-practices?

Do you believe that rain is a wonder or a bother?

Not soaked but still yours,

Girl With One Earring

Photo Credit: Hatem Fawzy