Tuesday, April 29, 2008

It's really hot.

The hotness.

It is so hot.
It is so hot that…

My bar soap has liquefied.
My hut is a boulangerie.
My bucket water is too hot to wash my hands with (one of my trainees actually burned herself when using the loo).
I have visions of jumping into my family’s freezer.
The egg that broke in the plastic bag cooked slightly while in my purse.
You can’t touch anything metal.
Children can no longer go barefoot.
I wake up at midnight in a puddle of my own sweat.
I’m drinking almost 3 gallons (yes, gallons) of water every 24 hours.
We are making applesauce in a Nalgene bottle using only sunlight.
The World Meteorological Organization said that “ for the week of March 21st, Matam, Senegal (next to me) was the hottest place IN THE WORLD).
I’m looking forward to frying an egg on the concrete in my shower.
I daydream about instigating mass migration to the coast.

And finally…

My thermometer read 136 F at 4pm yesterday (in the sun) and it’s only the end of April. In case you’re wondering, May is the hottest month, which means that yes, it will actually get hotter.

As a COSing volunteer recently texted me,
“This place is so hot it doesn’t deserve to be inhabited.”
I agree.

2 comments:

EllenJulia said...

I wore a sundress today even though it only got up to about 60. I was freezing unless I was standing in the sun. I can't even imagine 130 degrees. I also can't imagine drinking 3 gallons. I struggle through a single nalgene. Kudos.

A guy I was talking to today said that there is a hip-hop movement in dakar? I was wondering if you knew about it/had seen anything.

Caitlin said...

Yes, 130 is a bit rough. I sort of stand there wondering why I haven't already spontaneously combusted. And yes, at 80 degrees, I'm cold.
As for hip-hop, I have no idea. It's very possible, though I'm so far away from Dakar that I wouldn't even know where to go to find it. I do know that Ghanaian high life music is awesome. You should check that out.
I'll let you know if i see or hear any. But as of now people are pretty into Shakira and Akon.