Suddenly it’s HOT.

I guess it kind of crept up on me. It has been hot for months now, hardly a day goes by without someone pointing that out. We all say it, we all agree. Mafana be ny andro. But now it’s HOT.
I don’t know quite when it happened, but we have turned a corner. It hasn’t been below 32 degrees in my house since mid-December. I sleep with the window open and fan on, if I can sleep at all. I sweat, non-stop, and the only thing I can eat for lunch is fruit. I try not to leave my house between the hours of 11 and 3 but I have class some days at 2, so I walk and sweat and suffer.
The nights are nice to be out in. The town cools to about 30 by 10pm and I don’t have to worry about hiding in the shade. I have early classes during the week though, so I try to not enjoy the night for too long. It is a struggle to get into bed. It is hotter in my house than outside, hotter in the mosquito net than in the house, and the foam mattress that has been killing my back also gets hot really quick.
What I am hoping for now is that when the rains come, they will cool us down and bring wind too. Swarms of mosquitoes may be more enjoyable than the heat, at least I can hide from them.
5 janvier, 2009
My hopes have come true, sort of. The rainy season is starting, but so far it means hard rain for two or three hours around sunset. This means (inconveniently) that it is still scorching hot during the day, but some of the nicest hours of the cool evening are taken up by sitting out the rain. I do sometimes go out in it at my own peril. The mud keeps my sandals stuck to the ground when I try to pick them up, but refuses to let my foot stay in one place when I step down. The roads are disintegrating under my feet. It is cooler at night though, so I have been able to sleep. You win some and you lose some. C’est la vie.
17 janvier 2009