It finally rained!

As you might remember (see post: "I must be really thirsty."), as of mid-Dec, there had not been a single drop of rain since my arrival to Arequipa in mid-August. 

While we were gone to Huaraz for 10 days, we heard rumors that there had been a day of rain here. But as there was no evidence of such an event, I decided to wait to see for myself. After all, it is "rainy season," so more should be on the way...right?

Well, now almost two months more have gone by, and I haven't seen much more than a 10-minute drizzle. 

Except last week while we were in Puno, it rained a LOT here. Finally! And the evidence was impossible to refute--Misti the volcano had put on what Arequipeños like to call "his poncho":

The mountains off to the north had done the same thing:

But within a day, the poncho was gone. All evidence of rain had been dried up by the desert sun.