Down here in the town where I live in the Sahara, the summer is in full swing. I haven't been here for a significant part of it, since I was traveling, and then I was off working in cooler, coastal climates. Given that I've used up all of my vacation time, and that I didn't set up any work outside of town for right now, I'm here in town for the time being.
The dar shebab (Darija, or Moroccan Arabic, for "youth center") is closed for part of the summer, so I'm currently working very little. I've been spending much of my copious free time reading, which I've been enjoying. I'm currently reading, among other volumes, an anthology of Christian poetry which includes works by Sir Walter Raleigh, William Blake, Longfellow, Tennyson, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
It helps to have something sedentary to occupy one's time. I've found that I don't have to move around a lot to start sweating in this heat! Even if I stay relatively still, nevertheless I start sweating, but at least I avoid sweating for a little while!
It's remarkable what a difference not many degrees can make. In the last week or so, at one point it was 98° Fahrenheit in my apartment. I was sweating profusely in such heat. In the summer, but especially in the highest temperatures, I've been utilizing my fridge and freezer a lot, letting water almost freeze and then drinking it. But in the last few days, the temperature has been inexplicably dropping. This morning it dipped below 91° in my apartment, and it's often been 93°. Even though the temperatures are still in the nineties, I'm finding the heat to be much less oppressive!
The dar shebab (Darija, or Moroccan Arabic, for "youth center") is closed for part of the summer, so I'm currently working very little. I've been spending much of my copious free time reading, which I've been enjoying. I'm currently reading, among other volumes, an anthology of Christian poetry which includes works by Sir Walter Raleigh, William Blake, Longfellow, Tennyson, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
It helps to have something sedentary to occupy one's time. I've found that I don't have to move around a lot to start sweating in this heat! Even if I stay relatively still, nevertheless I start sweating, but at least I avoid sweating for a little while!
It's remarkable what a difference not many degrees can make. In the last week or so, at one point it was 98° Fahrenheit in my apartment. I was sweating profusely in such heat. In the summer, but especially in the highest temperatures, I've been utilizing my fridge and freezer a lot, letting water almost freeze and then drinking it. But in the last few days, the temperature has been inexplicably dropping. This morning it dipped below 91° in my apartment, and it's often been 93°. Even though the temperatures are still in the nineties, I'm finding the heat to be much less oppressive!
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