Rainy Season

I don’t think that it was just my imagination when I looked up Ecuador online, and read that the weather was supposed to be “spring-like” year round. And yet, here I find myself shivering in the V!VA office, wearing shirt, sweatshirt, scarf, and rain jacket, wishing I also had a hat and gloves. If you can believe it, it’s actually colder in here than outside.

So what does the rainy season entail? Well, every afternoon, without fail, it doesn’t just rain – it POURS, often accompanied by thunder, some lightning AND, every now and then, HAIL. I experienced my first hail storm this past weekend. On Saturday, after a rare sunny morning (which I took advantage of to go for a jog in the park), it began hailing around 1 in the afternoon. I mean, in a matter of minutes the terrace outside of my room was COVERED in little white balls – it looked like snow on the rooftops nearby. And it sounded like a mob throwing rocks at my windows.

As I mentioned, my room is on a terrace, accessed by a sliding glass door. It’s not very well insulated, and so most of the time I'm in my room is spent under the covers. This all reminds me of my apartment in Chile, where I spent part of the winter. We had no heat there either, but at least I had my hat and gloves…

By the way, I apologize to the few people that actually read this blog for not having written in a while. Lately I’ve been consumed with sickness (nothing serious, just the general colds and slightly feverish states that often accompany prolonged periods of cold and wet) and/or graduate school applications. Therefore, there has not really been anything exciting to comment on. As far as work goes, I’ve been given more editing tasks, for which I am grateful. At the moment I’m becoming an expert in the wildlife of the Galápagos Islands. On a sadder note, all of the writers/editors/interns who were in the office when I arrived are now gone – the last one, Allison from Arizona, left today. Other writers/editors have come in to replace them – but I am now the only intern – which, on a positive note, means more copy-editing for me – yes, I do actually enjoy copy-editing.
I’m sorry I don’t have any exciting trips to tell you about. As I said, it’s the rainy season, I’ve got applications, and next weekend is the Census, which means that everyone, citizen and non-citizen, has to remain in his/residence on Sunday the 28th from 7am to 5pm – there will be no public transportation, and you will be fined (I think it’s just a fine) if the police find you outside during those hours. Oh, and there’s no alcohol buying or consumption from Friday night until Monday afternoon. Talk about hardcore. Needless to say I won’t be able to take a trip next weekend. I guess I’ll have to settle for seeing Harry Potter :-).