Rain rain go away!

The camera is in the shop, should have it back within 3-4 days. So get ready for a visual overload.

I was spoiled during my first few days here in Macao. (If you have been following my posts, you may have noticed I switch back and forth spelling Macao with an o and an a. This is because both spelling are used. The a ending is the Portuguese spelling and the o is the Chinese spelling. I am more inclined to spell it with a u, however I am beginning to adopt the o version, in lieu of Macao no longer being under Portuguese rule.) I digress. So my first two or three days were sunny and not too humid, great for traverse the islands of Macao. I was planning to spend weekends at the beach and days enjoying the sun. How great it was going to be well...I should have kept my thoughts too myself.

The day I went sailing at Hac Sa beach had been cut short due to an amazing thunderstorm that rolled through. I really enjoyed this, because they don't really seem to have thunderstorms in South Carolina. I think I heard thunder (by the way I still think Thunder would be a sweet name for my first son, Thunder Danger McCauley. Danger would be his middle name because I have a friend, Andrew Moyer, (I will hold you to this) who said he would give me $2,000 if I gave my kid the middle name of danger. Effectively invested from the day he is born, this could be a nice start to a college fund...just sayin) back to where I was. I think I heard thunder maybe twice, and it was weak thunder at that. Not what I was used to back in the Midwest (I won't get started on this, but Indiana and Ohio are not a part of the mid-west) The thunderstorm in Macao was great, it took me back home. Not only did I get to enjoy a thunderstorm, I got to enjoy some wonderful conversations with the sailors on the covered porch of a Portuguese restaurant. What a deal.

Since that day, the sun has shown its face maybe a couple times...the sky's are constantly overcast, and sometimes foggy (I think it was fog, possibly could have been smog but I'm not sure). Starting two days ago, the flood gates were unleashed upon the island. I awoke Wednesday morning to the pounding of wind and rain on my window, with rolling thunder in the background. I was once again excited to hear the storm, but not so excited for the walk to work which was luckily only about 5 minutes. I purchased a wonderful Mountain Hardware Gore-Tex raincoat prior to heading to Macao, and this has turned out to be a wonderful investment. The rain was crazy intense, you could not see more than 20 feet in front of you, and the flash flooding was intense. There is very little green space on the island, mostly consisting of buildings and streets, so when you get this kind of a downpour the water does not have anywhere to go. At times I had water nearly to my knees. I wished I didn't have to go to work and that I had a boogie or surf board, because I am pretty sure they would have worked. (The entire coat worked wonderfully at keeping the rain out, except for the embroidered Gore-Tex log in the right wrist...I find this rather ironic, but I can deal with a wet wrist.)

It calmed down by the afternoon, but continued a steady drizzle for the rest of the day and through the evening. I awoke today to a similar roaring thunderstorm and heavy rain. Same story, trudged my way to work, upon getting there I realize...oh crap, I forgot my time card. I went to tell my boss thinking maybe she;ll give me another card for today, or we can amend it later. I should have known better, the response was "Maybe you should walk back and get it, but I will verify that you were here on time." Well then, not the answer I was hoping for...at all, but whatever, off I went. (I will not expand on this idea either, but oh man)

Well, I need to get to bed, so stay tuned for the next update on couch surfing and the internship.

In good health!

Brent