The Sun Will Come Out???????

Winter and early spring make up the rainy season here in Albania and in a country where hydro-electricity is the main source of power I know this rain is needed, but I am getting really tired of it.  The sun did come out this past weekend but the unseasonably cold temperatures resulted in snow falling on the mountains outside of Tirana and gave me no indication that spring will make an appearance any time soon.  Other than those brief hours of sunshine I think it has rained a part of each and every day for the past two weeks and forecasts predict more of the same for all of the week ahead of us.  This weather is getting really old very quickly. On the "good" days its been gray and overcast with showers but most of the days and nights have been filled with heavy soaking downpours.  The rain has been coming down so heavily that the already saturated ground can't absorb any more.

On the "good" days its been gray and overcast with showers but most of the days and nights have been filled with heavy soaking downpours.  The rain has been coming down so heavily that the already saturated ground just can't absorb any more and this results in muddy runoff and pools of stagnant water.  Trust me, it really isn't a pretty sight.

I find the rain in Albania particularly hard to deal with since it just makes an already difficult way of life all the more so.  Our house is concrete and despite rugs, wall hangings, and heat that we probably turn up too high, it always feels damp and cold inside.  No matter how many pairs of wool socks and layers of sweaters I put on, I just can't seem to make myself comfortable.  My primary complaint about the Albanian rainy season, however, is that it severely limits what we can do.  While the country is filled with hundreds of amazing places to see and visit during dry weather, wet weather options are limited.  Tromping around a castle, old ruins, or sidewalk-less city streets just isn't any fun--and due to all of the stone, can be downright dangerous-- in wet weather.  Indoor venues, from restaurants to shopping malls, and movie theaters are cold, dark, and more often than not despite the ban on smoking inside, filled with smoke.  This is hardly the type of environment I want to spend time in.

So when will the rainy season end?  According to meteorological forecasts, not any time soon.  Like I said the rain is supposed to continue for the foreseeable future.  Rain, rain go away.