Cold!

It's really cold in here today. I can barely feel my fingers as I type this blog. It's almost like being back working in foreign, wishing I was home in the sunlight. Except, I am home, where the average daily temp is 34 degrees, celsius. That would make it very hot outside, hotter when the sun is shining which it isn't today. Today it's kind of watery blue out, dark grey clouds so you know it's going to be raining at 3:00 and all the staff will be packing up to go home as soon as they can sneak off.

It's so cold that I'm wearing a shawl and eating cup of soup with my hands wrapped around the container. I swear my breath is coming out cloudy when I speak. Why is it, we live in the tropics and yet feel the need to air condition ourselves to the point that it is just as uncomfortable as if we were in the heat. But then, why do we wear lined suits emulating our brothers in the cold?

Years ago as a liaison for a WIPO consultant, we spent the better part of a lunchtime walking, yes, WALKING around Port of Spain so that he could see the town. There I was, stalking around in four inch heels and neat little blue suit on the uneven, vagrant lined pavements. It was exhausting and tiresome, not to mention hot. I didn't mind so much because I got to show my visitor, who was very interested, the original architecture of my capital city. There were the lace balconies on Frederick St., very like the one's in the French Quarter in New Orleans. The Red House, little old shop fronts mixed in with the newer buildings. Jean Paul was enthralled at our rich heritage and stopped to admire the Chang mural in City Hall. He wore light weight summer suits which were made of cotton and reveled in the brief off time that he had, sunning round the Hilton poolside.

I wish someone would tell the air-con Mafia that it's okay to turn it up to a more acceptable 28 degrees. That way we wouldn't maybe get ill so often from breathing in recirculated air and the requisite spores and the constant change from very hot to very cold as we go about our business. And for those of you who LOVE the cold, you might want to consider where you live, in case you hadn't noticed, the default setting is hot.