Just a little note about the weather.

Boring, no? Sorry!

It rarely rains here in Santiago, although it rains enough in the mountains which then feeds the city, so it’s not like a drought or anything.

I got here in January and it never rained once. After BA and their humidity-breaking storms that could be timed every 4-5 days, it was a big difference, but at least we didn’t have the second-skin humidity here in the first place.

I got to March and was actually missing rain. Imagine, a girl from Melbourne actually wishing for rain? Part of it was the build up of pollution which, in this “bowl” of a city, just doesn’t clear. Then, someone told me it was forecast to rain … in MAY!

I was starting to get used to it, and had forgotten where my umbrella was when, sure enough, on the second day of May, we got some rain. A sprinkle at first during the day, and a good downfall overnight. (Calm down Argentina, not what YOU would call a good downfall!)

The exciting thing is, we also got the first decent snow of the season in the mountains.

I was going to an evening English class and it was sprinkling. When I arrived at the offices, I was waiting in the reception, looking out the window towards the mountains when I thought, hey, I don’t remember that snow being there last night! I asked the guy on reception, who had his back to the window, if it was new snow and he turned around, looking equally as happy and surprised. He said it was snowing right at that time and, sure enough, when I Iooked closely, I could see the snow falling in the distance.

It was beautiful. Best thing was, after the rain had stopped the next day, with the added benefit of clearing away some of the pollution, the crisp white snow caps of the mountains were visible from the city. Almost makes me look forward to winter (almost!).

Since then, the weather has turned warm again, for a brief reprieve before the cold sets in. We had 28 degrees today, and a beautiful weekend last weekend. Nice enough to climb San Cristobal, the local lookout and home of the Virgin Mary.

People were out in full force. It was like a Spring day!

The sky is bluer, though the pollution has started to build again. The first day after the rain, a friend of mind compared it to getting the correct prescription on your glasses – you don’t realise how bad things looked until you see them clearly again!

Not sure when it’s due to rain again but at least I know I won’t be getting a wet and windy winter. Cold, yes, but I’m hoping the beautiful snow capped Andes will make it all worthwhile.