Tuesday, July 14, 2009

This is why I'm hot

Egypt is not the hottest place in the world. Trust me--this one time Andrew and I thought it would be a good idea to go to Dubai in August. That? That was hot. Phoenix, Arizona is definitely hotter than we are out here as well. Then there are places like Death Valley and Al Azizia that are just plain, old hot. So Egypt isn't really all that hot.

The problem is that it never cools down (not that cools down in Phoenix or Dubai, either).

I have little gadgets on my iGoogle homepage with the weather forecasts for Orem, Cairo, and High River. That way I never have to waste time asking questions like, "How's the weather?" because I already (basically) know the answer. I will admit, though, that it makes me tinge with jealousy a little when I see that our coolest temperature for the day basically matches the high for Orem.

How am I supposed to cool off our house at night if it's still well above 20 degrees at 2 AM? It just doesn't work.

And then there's the added insult of having few places to go to cool off. There's just no guarantee that anywhere you plan on going will be cool.

Some grocery stores are air conditioned. Others aren't. We don't buy eggs, bread, or dairy products from non-air conditioned stores, just in case they've been sitting out too long. Most other stores are not air conditioned. You just walk from one hot place to another all day long.

Andrew's office at school--out in the middle of the desert--hasn't had working air conditioning for over a week now, so he's currently holed up in the library putting in his time. Because the air conditioning works there.

The only rooms with temperature control in the entire Egyptian Museum are the Mummy Room and the King Tutankhamen Room. And you have to pay to go into the Mummy Room.

We have air conditioning but it's terribly expensive to run and is old and clunky. We run our units sparingly. Central air does not exist here.

And that's why I'm hot. Not because it's too hot...just because it never goes away.

We have the same problem in the winter. Not because it's too cold, but because it never goes away. 50°F in the winter might sound balmy, and it is...when you're outside. But when it's the same temperature everywhere you go? It's almost like living in a fridge. Let's just say I never thought I'd be wearing layers in Egypt.

I'm not wearing those layers now!


  1. Maybe if you didn't know what the weather was elsewhere it would be better? Take a cool bath, even a sponge bath every couple of hours?

  2. Did we seriously both blog about the weather today? Weird. You're right that part of the reason the heat can be so aggravating is that it never goes away. Well put.

  3. @ Bridget -- Too funny. It's so relentless. The minute we turn off the a/c we can feel it creeping back in under the gaps in the doorway and cracks in the window. It's grip is impossible to break. Alas...

    @ Mom -- Funny...I actually sometimes do spray Rachel off with a spray bottle...and my face. The poor baby is always covered with heat rash (and also baby powder, because of the heat rash).

    My friend Lydia found a lifehacker post about the "Egyptian Way" to sleep, which is kind of laughable. Except that it might be a good idea to wet the sheets down (I also mist those off before we go to bed sometimes, which is infinitely easier than taking the sheets on and off the bed all the time).

    Currently, though, there is no "cold side" to our I thought that tip was funny. We miss that side of our pillows.

    And Egyptians don't do that. They stay up all night and then doze during the day when it's so hot you basically pass least, from what I've observed.

    They also spend a lot of time chilling in their cars with the a/c full blast. It makes me wonder if gas is cheaper than electricity...

  4. I knew a few Elders on their mission who would shower in their underwear and then go to bed like that to keep cool. I think I did that a few times when it hit 46-48 degrees celcius.

  5. I could whine that it gets up to like 80 degrees inside my office sometime....but I bet I wouldn't get much sympathy considering.....

    just sayin'.

  6. I just found this link
    Really, the "egyptian method"? maybe this could help!

  7. Right...because there is a "cold side" on our pillows. I laugh! Ha, ha, ha!

  8. Freezing your sheets?! What freezer in Egypt has room for your sheets!?

  9. Ummm...also, it cracks me up to imagine every single Egyptian sleeping spread-eagle on their backs.