WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS.

Costa Rica has two seasons: dry season and rainy season.

People have warned us about the torrential downpours that start right before school lets out and lasts for a few hours. It wasn’t until about the end of April that we got to experience these waters on our own. Up until then, the 70 degree Fahrenheit weather was the same every single day. When we woke up around 5:30 am, it would already be light outside, the sun would be out (and stay out) all day long until the sun set around 6:00, and Santa Ana would have a nice evening breeze in time to cool down the apartment for us to go to bed.

Then, the rain hit.

We were getting near to the end of the school day and the dark clouds swallowed up the sky. It poured. There was thunder and lightning in the mix which I appreciated, but it wasn’t quite as enjoyable when we had to step out from under the roof to walk the 15 minutes to our bus stop. By the time we made it to the bus stop, we were just walking straight through puddles because it was impossible to become any more wet than we already were. Brett’s jeans had soaked the whole way up to his thighs and my sundress and sandals didn’t stand a chance against the shower.

We waited at the bus stop for twice as long as we normally did that day. When a bus would come, it would be so full of people that it didn’t even bother to slow down unless someone needed off. When we finally caught a ride, our drowned-rat selves got on to find perfectly dry human beings staring at us. How they survived the rain was beyond me. I sat down in one of the only seats open, trying now to get my neighbor all wet, and Brett stood beside me. I watched the water drain out of his backpack onto the floor.

Now a days, we know to bring our rain coats and tiny, little, rusty, broken, red umbrella for us to both squeeze under because it’s guaranteed to rain 9 times out of 10. We’ve seen water flooding across the road and down the sidewalks. One day, we had just made it to our bus stop and were waiting for the bus when I tilted my head back and lost my sunglasses to the raging river in the ditch behind us. When it rains here, you either run for cover or just continue walking because you know you’re doomed.