The 8 Stages of Rain

We have had a lot of huge thunderstorms recently, and as I sat in my house without power and water, I had a lot of time to think. Thus, I came up with the emotional lifecycle of rain here in Paraguay. Enjoy.

1. Excitement: It has been hot for days, and as those clouds roll in you can’t help but get excited! Cool winds, refreshing temperatures, and a chance to just chill in your house without any obligation to be productive. Plus, you are getting really in to a new book and are looking forward to having a whole day to just relax and read. Bring it on!

2. Panic: After an hour or so of intense rain, the streets look more like rivers and the floor in your house is soaked from all the leaks in the roof. Then, you get hungry. Of course, you aren’t stocked up of fruits, veggies, rice, or pasta; so you resort to popcorn for every meal of the day. I hope this doesn’t go on for too long…

3. Boredom: You have been in your house for the past 4 hours and the power went out about an hour ago. Thankfully you charged your phone and computer, but you know that will only last for a couple of hours. You have a momentary freak out when you think you don’t have candles left, only to find a couple of stubs left behind from the last power outage. Awesome, this should last me a good... 45 minutes? Crap.

4. Depression: The power is out, the water is no longer running out of the faucet, everything in your house is wet, you haven’t gone outside in hours, no movies to watch, too dark to continue reading your book. Why was I so excited for this again?

5. Acceptance: Well, I suppose this will be a good opportunity to do some thinking, relax in my bed, and get an early night’s sleep.

6. Happiness: You wake up and find that the rain has stopped! You immediately shower, compose yourself, and head out to get some groceries and to chat with the neighbors about how bad that storm was. Can you believe we didn’t have power or water for 24 hours? I heard parts of people’s roofs came off with that wind! Feels great to get out and be social again.

7. Humiliation: Alright, this is not a universal stage, but is almost always one for me. I run outside to go get food or whatever, lose my guard for one moment, and find myself on all fours covered in mud. Kids are laughing, dispensa lady cracks a joke, and we all laugh it off. There goes the norte making a fool of herself again…

8. Desire: Another hot week has passed. I’m sweating profusely every minute where not even a cool shower helps. I have been busy every day and I have hardly had any time to relax. Can it rain again, please?