It's hot here in Chad. I'm not sure what I'm used to, since I've been itinerant for the last couple of months. When I left Malawi almost two months ago, it was the hottest part of the year, with the temperature reaching higher and higher, waiting for the rain to break the rising heat. Temperatures were in the 40s, which was not too bad on the African scale. But it was bad enough on my personal scale.
From there it was a couple days in Paris, right before the holidays, which was cold compared to Malawi, but nothing to write home about. The next few days in New York, however, were legitimately cold. There was snow on the ground. But luckily, the weekend that I spent with my family was the one pocket of 'warm' weather in an otherwise flesh-achingly cold holiday season.
Then it was on to San Francisco, with its reliable 15-degree mix of sun, fog, wind and clouds on a daily basis, year-round. It does drop down to about 10 degrees at night, but that just lets you wear a nice jacket. It was good to put on different clothes from the 5 outfits that I had been wearing for 6 months. I love jacket weather.
Then it was the reversal of that process, spending a couple days in New York, where the weather had managed to get even COLDER (I came prepared with a down coat, which is now mocking me in my African sauna), then through Paris for a 4-hour layover in the (completely climate-controlled) airport. An easy flight to the field put me in Ndjamena for a nighttime arrival, and since I was braced for the heat, it was not at all bad.
Then the next few days happened, which were hot. Nothing horrible, but hot. Then I went about 500km farther south. To the field.
Where it is hot.
And the hot season is about to start.
All of the fans are in storage, since it's not as hot as it gets yet. I think it's time to bring those guys out. Supposedly, it gets to be about 50 degrees here. In the shade.
Did I mention how nice San Francisco is this time of the year? But there's not much opportunity to do what I do there. Not too much endemic malaria spiking in the wet season. Not too many cases of meningitis threatening to tip the scales into an epidemic. Not too many threats of cholera when it rains.
From there it was a couple days in Paris, right before the holidays, which was cold compared to Malawi, but nothing to write home about. The next few days in New York, however, were legitimately cold. There was snow on the ground. But luckily, the weekend that I spent with my family was the one pocket of 'warm' weather in an otherwise flesh-achingly cold holiday season.
Then it was on to San Francisco, with its reliable 15-degree mix of sun, fog, wind and clouds on a daily basis, year-round. It does drop down to about 10 degrees at night, but that just lets you wear a nice jacket. It was good to put on different clothes from the 5 outfits that I had been wearing for 6 months. I love jacket weather.
Then it was the reversal of that process, spending a couple days in New York, where the weather had managed to get even COLDER (I came prepared with a down coat, which is now mocking me in my African sauna), then through Paris for a 4-hour layover in the (completely climate-controlled) airport. An easy flight to the field put me in Ndjamena for a nighttime arrival, and since I was braced for the heat, it was not at all bad.
Then the next few days happened, which were hot. Nothing horrible, but hot. Then I went about 500km farther south. To the field.
Where it is hot.
And the hot season is about to start.
All of the fans are in storage, since it's not as hot as it gets yet. I think it's time to bring those guys out. Supposedly, it gets to be about 50 degrees here. In the shade.
Did I mention how nice San Francisco is this time of the year? But there's not much opportunity to do what I do there. Not too much endemic malaria spiking in the wet season. Not too many cases of meningitis threatening to tip the scales into an epidemic. Not too many threats of cholera when it rains.
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