Not going to lie reader, wasn’t sure that I was going to be posting anything today… didn’t know if my spirit was up to the task or not. I know what you are thinking, “how can she not be happy, she’s in the CARIBBEAN!” Here is what I say to that, shove it. It’s not all tree lined streets with palm trees, and a perfect temperature where it’s not tooo hot and it’s not toooo cold. The truth is, most of the time you’re lucky if you find a tree on your street. You spend most of your time walking around trying not to step in dog shit (which no one picks up here), or missing the rats scurrying across your feet/path.
Okay, confessional. I am a Midwestern girl. I LOVE cold weather. I LOVE snow. I LOVE having to wear sweatshirts or a comfy sweater to keep warm. I NEED to be able to curl up under a blanket to sleep. My body temperature even runs lower than normal (I’m in the 96/97 range).
Here is what I grew up with
Now here is what I am dealing with now (no this is not me, it's an example!)
For someone that thinks summer is the worst time of year (unless you have AC, which I didn’t for MANY years), living in a country that is in what a Chicagoan would consider a perpetual heat wave, it’s just a little hot for me and my blood (which I’m sure is now back up to normal people temps or even higher).
I have a 2 story loft kinda office. You sweat walking the 20 stairs up to the “loft/finance” section of the office. You sweat coming down the 20 stairs! I walk to and from work everyday, remember that was a requirement for my apartment? I gave up wearing makeup the day I got here (even though I have my entire pack with me) because it just melts right off me. Who wants some fancy MAC foundation, eyeliner or mascara running into your eyes? Seriously you are just asking to increase your already high chances of getting hit by a car because you have make-up dripping into your eyes (Plus, let’s face it, we all want some color!). Plus with the dog, I now feel compelled to not kill her on some level of humanitarian level.
Okay, I’m digressing. Basically, if you haven’t gotten it this far, it’s HOT here. It makes it hard for me to work, like seriously hard. I can’t concentrate… I even am afraid of taking my Adderall because I’m sure I’ll just sweat it right now. I’m pretty sure that as hard as I work, I could be doing more in a lovely air-conditioned office space with me having to wear a sweater to work. You should see me right now, gazing off into nothing; remembering the days when I would have to wear gloves in my office because the AC was so high. Sigh.
I’ve figured out the poor way to sleep at night, which I’ve found to be the hardest things to do when you’re hot… actually it’s next to impossible for me. You take a cold shower, and thank the heavens that there is PLENTY of that around here (well actually not, we ran out of water last week… another story I think). So you go and you take a freezing cold shower before you go to sleep. The trick I’ve learned is that you have to get under the water in the first 5 seconds or you wuss out and you’re done for. Getting your back wet is the worst part of it, thus you have to start there. You’re going to sweat the most on your back, and if you skip that part, well… nothing is going to change. But yes, getting wet in a freezing cold shower and then jumping out. You do an initial pat down, not one of those pat downs where you try to get your skin to be completely dry. You need to leave a fine layer of wet on you. You then run to your room, ignoring your dogs completely confused look, and you drop trow in front of a fan…. a powerful one! Please make sure that your window curtains are closed and or doors to your room are closed. Would not be a good idea to give you 80 yr. old. next door neighbor a heart attack (especially since I know what the hospitals are like here and probably many 3rd world countries).
Yup, that is the method to the madness. Taking a cold shower and then standing in front of a fan to get “air-conditioned” and then falling asleep immediately. It also helps to have an ice cold drink right when you get home… and if you drink it in front of a fan with as little clothing as possible, that also should help. I will never take for granted the subtle rattle of ice in a cup ever again.
So there it is, a short guide on how to stay cool when you have no air-conditioning and are living in a never-ending blaze of heat. I should also mention that doing nothing and staying put is another great alternative to staying cool, but you have to make sure that the quality of materials that you are laying/sitting down on don’t actually heat up with you. That one my friend is a hard one to figure out.
Well from my desk to yours, with a cold drink in my hand (Gin and tonic), I’m wishing you many a cool morning/day/evenings (and I’m secretly hating you if you do).
J
P.S. Just want you to know that I love you, because this posting took over 45 min. with my sucky internet to get up here.
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