Summer has officially arrived............and it’s a strange affair. Throughout May the temperature was slowly creeping up, but as it was only a degree or so at a time it kind of went unnoticed. Right up to the point that you left the house, walked through the pizza oven and got into the car.
Just when we thought it would just keep getting hotter, until the birds fell from the trees ready cooked and nasal hair crinkled with each breath, June arrived. May ended with an official 51°C (55°C indicated on the car). The following morning, the temperature had dropped to a paltry 37°C and all was well. Right up to the point you left the house, walked through the turkish bath and got into the car.
37°C isn’t bad, but allied to 75% humidity, it gets a little uncomfortable. Walking from the car to the aircon comfort of the shopping mall you see people everywhere doing the expat shuffle - trying to look cool and in control whilst glancing over the shoulder to check for dark patches in the butt cleft. The blokes add a little shimmy to ‘free-up the boys downstairs’ and the women heft the handbag a little higher and glue their arms to their sides.
The rest of June has been a mixture. Some days the hot, dry desert air wins the battle and some days it’s the cooler, moist sea breeze. Throwing back the curtains you can get a pretty good idea of what to expect. If you can see the garden but not the mountains it’s hot and dusty (floppy hat and factor 50). If you can’t see the garden it’s condensation on the outside of the windows and it’s going to be a drippy day (double deodorant and baggy shorts).
Apparently this to and fro lasts about a month before the sea breeze wins and holds sway for July and August. Come September, it starts all over.
One unusual aspect of the hot weather is the tap reversal, and it takes some getting used to. The ‘cold’ water tank is on the roof and as a result gets mighty hot. The ‘hot’ water tanks are inside, in 24°C air-conditioned comfort (with the immersion heater switched off). You end up turning on the cold tap for your shower, then adding hot to cool it down. For the first couple of weeks of the really hot weather, as people make their bleary-eyed way to the bathroom, I imagine I can hear the yelps of surprised expats echoing around the city as a counterpoint to the morning call to prayer.
