On October 2nd, the first major rain of the rainy season reached our home. This photo shows a portion of our back yard and what it looked like after four months without rain. It was very dry, and there had been several brush fires, large and small, in the area, even quite a few on the margins of town along the roads. Smoke, dust and ash had filled the air, and got on everything leaving a constant layer of reddish dust with black flecks on everything. There were definitely paths through the dust on floors were we walked more often.
The air during the dry season is very dry too, down below 20% humidity most of the time. The medical office at the embassy suggests drinking about a pint or so of water every hour. At school, the kids carried water bottles, and outdoor physical activity was limited. We were told that the Federal District state government actually closed schools for due to the dry weather for a couple of days last year, just like a snow day back in the U.S.
Despite the dryness, the leaves on the hedges were still green and the mango trees were growing fruit. There were even trees with leaves. One nice thing about the dry (o seco) was the lack of mosquitos. And the beautiful sunny days.
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