hujan.

last week was so very rainy.
it certainly was a big introduction to the rainy season.
i got back from jakarta and, while i was happy that i could breathe, i immediately noticed that everything seemed somewhat more damp than when i left, only a week before.

last week i was sitting on one of our many daybeds, looking at the rain, while every pair or undies that i owned was on the washing line, with no hope of getting dry any time soon. even moving the line inside did not work, as the air seemed damp. (i believe that is more commonly referred to as humidity).

this rainy season thing is going to be interesting..

the first of the 'road to singapore' (may i just point out that i had nothing to do with naming the tournament. thank you.) soccer tournaments organised by my work was held three sundays ago. it was sunny at the beginning, and the kids were there at 6.55am (for an 8am start) already warming up and playing. then, by 9am, the rain had begun. unfortunately for the kids, this was also the time when the soccer club hosting the event had planned to hold their opening ceremony, which saw all the spectators sitting in the stands, all the 'important people' (including ayuk and i, the only representatives from our organisation..!) sitting under a very fancy tent complete with gigantic banner and fabric sashes, and all the kids lined up on the field behind their team sign. official people (many of them) read speeches (from the comfort of the fancy tent..!) while the kids stood and got rained on..and rained on..as the rain got crazier and crazier, and the field began to flood, all i could do was sit there with my hand over my mouth.


ayuk was saying 'they have to let them in!' and finally one of the officials decided this was a good idea. the kids ran for the stands, where they hung their soaked soccer tops over the fences to try and dry them. we stayed under the tent and ate the second package of food brought to us by the soccer club, until the ground under the tent flooded and we had to move into the stand. upstairs in the stand i was amused to notice that the graffiti, scrawled in pencil, was very similar to that found in similar locations at home (penises. 'for a good time call..'. i <3 wayan 4 eva. etc). luckily eventually (after a meeting and some frantic texting to our boss in singapore..) someone did a ceremony to make the rain go, and then it did. so the kids could keep playing. and we didn't have to postpone. which i was happy with. i am not sure that many of the players' families were too happy, however, when seeing the state of their soccer kits after a day playing in the mud..

so, rainy it is.

it feels somewhat like rain and soccer have taken over my life, often combined in force. twice last week i had to leave my house early to get to soccer events, and, as it had been raining all night, had to take off my shoes and walk through the pool of water that my little street had become, in order to get to the little car i was renting.

(photo darkly attempts to show my street, 5.30am, post-wade..)

the dampness also brings with it those tropical things i had so far been pleasantly surprised not to have encountered: birkenstocks going mouldy, sheets/sarongs/clothes/pillows/everything smelling weird..
the other day i went to put on a skirt (one of my favourites) that i had not worn for a few weeks, and then wondered why it smelt a bit musty..and then i discovered it was covered in something that looked like it had been splashed with milk (CC's excellent description): a thin layer of mould/mildew. yuk.

however there are apparently solutions. i do not want to go too indo-style and get one of those super strong smelling 'fragrant' packet things and tie it to the fan to blow a breeze of weird citrus scent through my house, disguising the mustiness, but luckily there is another option: special magical amazing ball things that 'dehumidify'. i thought they were just a myth, but luckily (although initially not at all luckily, i guess) one of my friends, B, had her car filled with water in the Brisbane floods and used some of these magical balls to dry it out. while she reported that the balls did not make her car work again, they apparently did the trick damp-wise. so yesterday CC and C went to hypermart and came back with two special containers of 'bagus' brand extra power dehumidifying magical balls. they claim to help when
'the humid air will cause mildew, unpleasant odour and moth on your stuff'. 
i hope they do.

today, however, it is sunny. after super-rainy last week i have such a renewed love of the sunshine, even when it makes me so hot and feral i have several showers a day and have started to wear my hair up in a top knot just for practical reasons (and that is a whole other story..).

i must go and hang my washing out...