welcome to our winter wonderland

Bogota doesn't have four seasons like we're used to in many parts of the US. From what I can tell from our 6 (!) months here, it's pretty much cool and often rainy year-round. There's a dry season and a rainy season but that apparently got all out of whack this year because of La Nina. So the dry season, which everybody told me would start at Halloween, really didn't start until around December 15, which was really depressing because it rained. And rained. And then rained some more. Perhaps you read about the flooding in Colombia in your local paper? Even though we weren't flooded on the 6th floor, I felt soggy for months.

What's even more depressing is that it's started raining again. Not everyday but enough to forewarn us that the sunny skies won't last forever. These storms are just magnificent when they pop up - lots of dark, heavy clouds roll in over the mountains, the thunder starts and the rain follows. And when I say rain, I don't mean a nice little rainstorm that feels like you're standing under one of those newfangled rain showerheads. I'm talking full-blown, no-holds-barred gullywashers. The other day I was out when it started raining and by the time I got home (covered by my ever-present and uncomplaining umbrella, my pants were soaked from the knees done. Soaked to the point where I could wring out water from them. Soaked to the point where dear sweet Ruth told me I needed to changed immediately because apparently pants that are wet from the knees down lead to a stomachache. (I just report the facts as I'm told them.)

One thing that I've see more of in the last 6 months than I've seen in the last 39 5/6 years is hail. These hailstorms are always so powerful and always make me grateful to be inside in my apartment (and not inside my little car where the roof would surely be dented by the force).

Yesterday afternoon, it went from sunny to a hailstorm in a matter of minutes. And this wasn't just your average hailstorm, where a few rocks come into the skylights of your closet like we had a couple weeks ago. Bogota looked like a winter wonderland when it was happening and after it was all done. I've had to borrow some photos from my friend Cammy because her apartment overlooks a school where she could get better open shots than we can get from our apartment. Welcome to our Bogotano winter wonderland!