Rain in Dhaka, at last!

The first rain of the new year finally fell on Dhaka on March 29th. The air grew even heavier and then some cautious drops descended from the sky. After a twenty minute drizzle the air smelled noticeably different. The dust was pulled down by the precipitation but you could still smell the trash and filth.

The next day it smelled like rain in the afternoon. It had been pretty hot all day but as I walked into the exercise room I could feel the rain coming. Thunder rumbled across the sky and then it started pouring. The temperature in the air must have dropped fifteen degrees but it was still warm when hail started to batter the metal roof of the school. It was about 75 degrees outside but hail the size of golf balls continued to fall for almost an hour. Walking home (and getting very wet) I saw kids picking up the balls of ice and eating them off the asphalt.

There was also wild lightning for about two hours. One strike came down directly across the street from my apartment, sending sparks out into the night. Today the sky was bluer than its been in a few months with all the dust and filth pulled out of the air. It was almost like fresh air.

We hadn't seen rain in Bangladesh in about four months so I guess the rainy season is now coming. At least that will clear out some of the mosquitos, hopefully.