Monsoon!

I am breathing in, I am breathing out.

Breathing in, breathing out … breathing in, breathing out.

I try to note my breathing this way every day, but lately I have found myself interrupted by the thought “Holy cow, it is still raining.” As if I’m surprised that it hasn’t just miraculously stopped, which, I guess, one day it will.

But as much as we all sing, “Rain rain go away, come again another day,” Costa Rica seems to keep ignoring the first part and doubling down on the second. So far the “come again another day” has equated to nine consecutive days of 18+ hours of rain. In the mountainous Central Valley where we live, this has caused numerous mudslides, so much so that a state of national emergency has been declared. Schools are closed, shelters are open, and some families have lost everything, including their homes literally sliding down the mountainside. Officials from El Salvador are here to help. National parks are closed. Pets need adopting. Electricity and internet have been sporadic, but that seems to have corrected itself for now.

We are safe where we are, and our home is very sturdy and not right on a mountainside. But the roads leading into and out of our home are narrow and tucked between mountainous terrain. Driving, which was already scary, is now downright treacherous and is highly discouraged. Some of the slides are on nearby ridges, where some of our friends live.

I was unable to see a friend who came to Costa Rica on a cruise last week, but I was thrilled to hear that at Port Limon, they had a beautiful sunny day. So hard to believe, though. I can’t even remember what that is like. In other parts of the country, tourists are stranded (although this is not a terrible place to be stranded, even by bad weather.) Britain has issued a Costa Rica Red Alert advisory, advising its residents that travel here is unsafe for the time being.

It just won’t stop raining. This. Is. Truly. Scary.

When I lived in the states, my weather issues were hurricanes and tornadoes. When we moved to Costa Rica, we were advised by U.S. Embassy staff that we’d be trading hurricanes and tornadoes for earthquakes and mudslides. We have experienced a couple of earthquakes enough to feel so that isn’t new anymore, but this … the Ticos here are saying this is as bad as it’s ever been.

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” my friend Diego said. “The rainy season should be coming to an end.”

Maybe rainy season is actually ending, but it is giving way to monsoon season. Rain deluxe.

I love sleeping to the sound of rain, but the peace of that gives way to instant stress when I wake up with the first thought, “Oh my god, it’s STILL raining.”

Everything is just so damned damp. Our yard is soup, and I am beginning to feel like the last soggy corn flake in a bowl of milk.

But it’s important to keep in mind that this is just a part of what it’s like to live in this NatGeo commercial. Rainy season gives way to dry season (and I guess sometimes monsoon season,) and the cycle will begin again. Soon, in the middle of dry season, we’ll be praying for just a spot of rain.

If it weren’t for the danger involved in the mudslides, I’d be content to comfort myself with blankets and books (and coffee and wine.) But we are trying to keep up with what is happening with email, social media and the Tico Times. We are hurting for our neighbors on the next ridge over who are bearing the brunt of this weather.

We are ok. But please hold a high thought for them.