-^-for posterity-^-

so, we found out why we're having so much rain. we have asked a number of people and they all say the same thing. the reason we're having so much rain is because we're having a storm.

the first time someone told me that we were having so much rain because we were having a storm, i thought they were joking and almost laughed. their face was too serious for a joke so i assumed it was poor english. then someone else told me. then another person and finally the head of the english department told me in her immaculate english. something was going on.

we went out with my mom this morning in the constant rain in order to buy some jewelry and brooms. don't ask me. we traveled through soaked streets and brown puddles and arrived at the gold shop. it's a small shop with large mirrors and lots of gold. we stood there staring at the shiny objects like raccoons looking at a piece of crumpled up tin foil. my boss mentioned that this was storm number four.

we moved on and went shopping for brooms. my mother saw vietnamese brooms once and fell in love. they are wide and wispy with a thick handle. they sweep well and are light. she bought three of them. while she was buying them i sat next to an old man and talked to him. i asked him about this storm phenomena. he told me that this was storm number four. i asked how many storms there were going to be and how long this one would last. he didn't know exactly how long this one would last but he did know that there would be at least twelve storms this rainy season.

before storm number four the skies were hot and sultry. the sun growled at us fiercely. clothes would dry in a matter of seconds. we decided to do some wash. we washed all of my pants and most of my shirts in the bathtub and hung them out to dry. we hung them out just as storm number four was approaching. oh, how naive we were to think that we could outwit storm number four. how innocent we were hanging up pair after pair of sopping wet pants as storm number four made her slow and massive approach.

the sky opened and storm number four unleashed her furry. her furry has been made evident. our clothes were made wet again. we brought them inside and tried to wait out the storm. day one without pants. (well, i did wear pants, i just didn't have any of my own pants)

the storm continued, sometimes violently and sometimes sobbing. my pants lay folded but wet. we gave up hope of actually drying them outside so we scattered them about my room. we hung them on windows and chairs and door frames. we draped underwear on beds and desks and socks on bathroom sinks. my room looked like a gypsy paradise. my room was dank and musty. we turned on the air conditioner. we turned it on full blast in hopes that it would suck the moisture out of the air and dry everything faster. day two without pants.

the room became cold and damp. the clothes remained wet except they were now cold. the room still reminds me of a gypsy something or other. maybe a wagon with lots of happy people dressed in colorful rags playing tambourine’s and banjo's and dancing in circles and selling beads and shiny pots. we're going to ho chi minh city in three hours and i don't have any pants to wear. they're all cold and wet and hanging from my window sill. three days without pants.