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!