It's raining, it's pouring!

Never thought I would be so glad to see rain!  Last seen in Doha in April, eight long months ago, so it is truly welcome.  Right now, it doesn't seem to want to stop, as we are into our third day of intermittent rain.  Some of the showers are veritable cloud bursts, accompanied by thunder and lightning, and some produce the pity drizzle I usually expect.  I guess the phenomenon itself is not the talking point - it is the effects of rainfall that is the buzz around town.

The main topic, of course - you guessed it - driving.  First, we have drivers who execute kamikazi manuevers on streets that have turned into rivers  in their attempts to satisfy the thrills of off-roading.  They never miss an opportunity to explore the hidden depths of risky driving.  Like roadrunners, they make the most of sailing along at high speed, cutting a swath of water either side of their car that instantly soaks the poor pedestrian on the sideline.  At the same time they dump gallons of water on my windscreen, whose puny wipers do nothing for long seconds before I see daylight again.  See a puddle, aim right for it - it's like watching kids in a playground.

If it were only puddles, it might actually be ok, but these are rivers we are talking about here.  Entire streets that become submerged under 6 to 12 inches of rain water.  And then there are those speed demons who are oblivious to such common sense as driving according to road conditions.  These racers zoom down wet roads and then act surprised when they plough down the car in front of them, having left the usual nanosecond to slam on brakes - the usual method just doesn't cut it when you're navigating a lake.  Newspapers are reporting an increase in accidents over the last few days, but nobody seems to learn the lesson.  We are also exhorted not to travel unless we have to - sounds like shades of major snowstorms, but this is just a few piddly milimetres of rain.

Dotted along the sides of roads are the aftermath stories of smashed vehicles, and vehicles stuck in mud, and vehicles stopped dead because batteries have spluttered and coughed from too much water.  So we play dodgems around the dead cars, and the more sensible switch on lights, use wipers, and slow down a tad. You pray fervently that you are not on a street with potholes - if you confront one of those monsters in these conditions, who knows whether you will ever be seen again after being swallowed up and sucked in.  And watch where you park - unless you are wearing galoshes you will most certainly be in water and mud to your ankles.

The reason for this chaos, you may ask? - absolutely zero drainage so that when there are any major rain storms, the deluge has nowhere to go except follow the streets of Doha.   All we can do is pretend we are in a Middle Eastern equivalent of Venice for awhile, breathe deep and hope to escape unscathed until the next rains.

Insha'Allah.