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Let it rain!

It was Thursday, November 22nd 2012.

I was getting ready to go to work when I glanced outside and I noticed that it was darker than it usually was at that time in the morning here in Dubai.

I walked out the doors of my apartment building when all of a sudden I saw...drops of RAIN! 

Dubai is in the desert. People have told me so many times that rain is a very rare thing here. I've only been living here for 3 months and already, I've been able to witness rain twice! Now, to be honest, the first time was just a few tiny drops, but this time...DOWNPOUR!!!

I was driving to work with two of my friends and colleagues and the rain was insane! For a short little while, I felt like I was in a rainstorm back in Canada. Unfortunately, most people here don't drive like the people back in Canada. On our way, we saw 2 accidents, many cars driving just as fast as they would in good weather conditions, but also many cars pulling off to the side because they're not use to these driving conditions. It's scary seeing all these people drive around you with little to no experience driving in rainy weather.

When we approached our school, we noticed that many roads were flooded! Yes, FLOODED! Obviously, because they don't often get rain here, they aren't exactly well equipped for such a downpour of water! We had to drive through some pretty big puddles to get to the staff parking lot. As we were driving in, we could not help but think that maybe, just maybe we would get a day off school! We were planning what we would do if we arrived and they sent us back home. A nice breakfast out was part of the consensus! 

Flooded football pitch.

Once we entered the school, I noticed that there was water everywhere! A classroom had been flooded, the football pitch was drenched and the little path between the primary and secondary buildings had become a river. Later on that morning, I witnessed some classes taking advantage of that little river. They created paper boats and had them floating in there! How cool!?

Paper boat floating in the rain that had fallen and created a river between buildings.
 In the end, the sun came out, they managed to clear out the water after a few hours and everything was pretty much back to normal (besides the one classroom that flooded).

So, although most people would think rain is not that exciting; witnessing the rain in Dubai on Thursday, November 22nd 2012 was an incredible experience! I’m already looking forward to the next time…if there will be a next time…

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