Raindrops keep fallin' on my head!

I awoke this morning to a strange sound. I wasn't sure at first what it was. It sounded like thunder, but it seemed out place in Saudi Arabia. I heard it again and jumped out of bed, pulling back the blinds covering my window. It was raining!
What a rare way to wake up in Saudi Arabia. It only rains once or twice a year, at the most. Sometimes it doesn't rain at all! I remember seeing dark clouds the day before and thinking, "Those look like rain clouds. I wonder if it's going to rain soon?"
I jumped out of bed, made sure I had on some decent clothes, and grabbed my camera. I ran barefoot into the street in front of our apartment building at 7:30am, letting the rain soak through my hair and clothes. I felt like a kid as a stood in the street with my tongue sticking out, trying to catch the raindrops. Some of the other teachers came out with their cameras to enjoy this rare experience. We called out excitedly to each other, "It's raining! It's raining!", laughing like little children.
I'm usually not one to stand out in the rain back home...unless it's during the eye of a hurricane...but I gained a new appreciation for a rainstorm today. I never thought I'd be that excited to see rain! I ran up to our roof to try to get a better view of the streets outside our compound. No one else on the compound seemed to be out. We had been told that when it rained here, it usually only rained for about 10 or 15 minutes, but it has been raining off and on all morning. The streets are even a little flooded. After I decided that I was wet enough from the rain, I went back inside my apartment to see what time it was in Florida. Was it too early or too late to call home? It was about 11:30pm, but I checked Skype just to see if anyone was on. I just had to tell someone back home that it was raining in Saudi Arabia. Luckily, Taylor was still on after having a late night shift as an RA. I Skyped him and told him the exciting news of the rainstorm. He didn't seem quite as excited as I was, but you never can appreciate rain as much as when you're in the desert. Here are some pics and a video of the first rainstorm since I've been in Jeddah:
Enjoying the rain in my pajamas and bare feet.
My flash was on, so the raindrops almost look like snowflakes.