Rain in Haifa

I love rain. As a child growing up in Korea, I loved playing in the rain (of course mom wasn't happy to see me all wet and to have to do laundry on a rainy day!). I discovered my love for rain, all kinds of rain, but especially the summer monsoon in the tropical climate of Southeast Asia after I moved to Bangladesh. When I lived in Bangladesh (1995-2001) and Thailand (2003-2006), I learned to live with rain and to love it, not simply cope with it. Due to the lack of civil infrastructure, heavy rain during the monsoon causes a lot of "inconvenience" to urban dwellers in many cities in Southeast Asia mostly coming from poor transportation design and poor sewage systems (I won't mention the details). But once you accept the reality and the goodness of the rain, little inconvenience becomes all part of your story!

When I lived in Vancouver, Canada (2007-2012), I also loved the forest we have in British Colombia that the rain forms and nurtures. In fact, BC has the third largest rainforest in the world which makes Canada a tree-rich and water-rich nation. Vancouver has often been named as the most beautiful city or most livable city in the world because of this natural beauty. However, I also learned that "the weather inside your head" can affect your mood, your schedule, your relationships, and just about anything all around you, more than the actual weather. I've never heard more complaint about the rain anywhere I'd lived before than in Vancouver. I've also heard a mental disorder (depression) called SAD (seasonal affective disorder) due to the lack of natural light because of the long hours of night and rain in winter. It is "sad" that the rain has become for many people not only an inconvenience to city life, but also a cause of mental disorder. I am not criticizing anyone who struggles with this kind of depression, but just want to point out the power of the cultures we live in today.

I didn't plan to come to Haifa just for rain, but I became excited when I learned that mid-November to January is the rainy season with January being the heaviest rainfall of the year (they get all the rainfalls during these two or three months for the whole year). And no one could plan such a timing as my arrival in Haifa 3 days ago that the first rain of the year welcomed me!

It's been only three days since I arrived in Haifa, but I am already loving my morning coffee and prayer sitting in my balcony while I wait for the rain to watch! Hopefully I will soon understand the patterns of nature in this part of the world in this Mediterranean rainy season.

Here's my attempt to capture the hourlong-rain-show in the sky today with a few photos from my balcony this morning!