"We never truly know how to appreciate something...

until we have lost it forever." So goes the proverbial phrase.

If you've lived in the UK for an extended period of time, you must be familiar with the absence of sunlight. Clouds, more clouds and even more clouds constitute the daily picture. Entire weeks can go by without as much as a glimpse of the Sun. And of course... the R A I N. Always. And loads of it. Naturally, as any self-respecting UK resident, I have been known to ever-so-often whinge about it, during my 4.5 years there.

Big parenthesis opens here: for what seemed like a century, but in reality was about a year, I used to live in a particular shitehole of the West Midlands called Coventry. I'm only going to tell you two facts: (1) Coventry is further from the coast than any other city in Britain. For someone who was born and raised by the sea (like me), that's a killer; (2) there is the British expression "to send someone to Coventry", which means to completely avoid someone and deliberately pretend that they no longer exist. Now, couple these two facts with the UK weather... 'Nough said? By the way, Coventry's only saving grace is the fact that it's only 95 miles (153 km) northwest of London. That means a couple of hours coach ride, with usually extremely cheap National Express tickets. Then I moved to Kenilworth. And I was happy(-ier). Because it has a castle. And a bit of water. And a bloody good cocktail bar. Big parenthesis closes here.

Now, one might say that I am a man of extreme solutions, as I've left the UK and moved to Chile. Mind you, not any part of Chile; I've moved to the North. That means the Atacama Desert. That means the driest place on the entire planet. And you know what? I actually miss the rain. There. I've said it.

I've been living here for 15 months now. It has rained twice. Actually, no, it hasn't. You can't call that rain. A few drops fell for a few minutes. I'm pretty sure no descriptive word for this exists in the English language. If I'd wanted, I could have counted the drops. But I was deep in trance, so I didn't. I was however able to enjoy the hilariously panicked expressions on people's faces as they were running for cover. So, yes, I guess I'm now whingeing about the lack of rain.

But not all is lost. For one thing, I found the sea again! Which means long walks by the waterfront. And that's neat. Also, you really get to see the literal application of the phrase "donde el desierto termina en el mar". Let me tell you, it really is impressive.

Small parenthesis opens here. However, don't even get me started on the city's nickname "La perla del Norte". In the words of the great Dr. Evil: "Riiiiiiiiiiiiight".

Small parenthesis closes here.

The other good thing is that the Tropic of Capricorn is just a few kilometres to the north. That means that during the Winter Solstice (around December 21st), the Sun passes through the zenith (this is the point in the sky directly overhead). As a result of the Sun's rays coming vertically down at you, you get to experience the slightly unnerving effect of objects casting no shadows in broad daylight. And that's also neat. 

And yes, I've just turned my rant into an Astronomy lesson. I'm good.