Doggone Hot

Lots of expats lately commenting on the absurdity of the heat these days.  When the locals are even shaking their heads saying “hawn lai” (meaning “very hot”), you KNOW it’s hot.  I find myself humming Cole Porter’s “Too Darn Hot” from the Broadway musical Kiss Me, Kate … (sometimes admittedly doing that bent elbow, loose wrist snapping my fingers to the beat thing they tend to do in Broadway musicals).

Sure, sure, we live in the tropics, so it’s always warm.  After 5 years of it, I’m calling it “warm”.  To the average non-tropically-acclimated person, I can safely describe it as always hot … bringing to mind some days the expression “hot as hell”.  Generally speaking, it’s in the 90s on a daily basis, sometimes high 80s on a comfortable day and sometimes low 100s on a particularly hot day.  And sometimes I feel as though I’m walking around in a giant sauna on days (of which there are many) when it’s just too hot and then the humidity makes it feel even hotter.  Earlier this week it was 92 “but feels like 102”.  (I'd definitely vote "Ugh!" ... every day this week).

 According to weather.com, the humidity was only 66%.  It felt a lot higher than that to me.  And I bet to this pathetic looking dog that I passed by on my way to the noodle shop for lunch … and back … the poor doggie didn’t move at all either way no matter who was walking by him.  He found a shady sidewalk spot and was there to stay.  When the soi dogs don’t even flinch when passersby come within inches of them, it’s a sign that it’s just too doggone hot.

Sometimes when I walk outside and immediately start sweating, I wonder “why the hell do I live here?”  I recall times during our first year in Bangkok (in early 2010) waiting on the platform of the BTS (Bangkok’s “sky train”, an elevated train system that is like a subway, but overhead) with tears collecting on the edges of my eyes as I stood sweating in my work attire and wondering why we have to live somewhere so freaking hot (the overly emotional reaction likely attributable to pregnancy hormones).

Amazingly, the Thai women never seemed to sweat during these city schlepps, even on the hottest of hot days.   This phenomenon possibly attributable to the pace of life here (see posting Sabai Sabai).

To battle the heat, yes, of course, we have air con throughout our house, but not the “central air” systems like U.S. houses have.  Separate air con units jut out from the walls in each room.  In our current house which was built many decades ago, the units are big old off-white things.  We try to use them only when necessary to keep the electricity bill within reason.  There is no question about night time – we sleep every night with the air on, as do our children.  We try to be more conservative during the day, which isn’t hard since we’re generally not at our house during the day and have ceiling fans throughout.  And, generally speaking, household help do not like air con – as they are from the tropics, they are acclimated to always being hot and find the slightest dip in temperature (e.g., below a balmy 85 degrees Fahrenheit) to be cold.  I recall instructing our nanny in Thailand to turn on the air con in the room where she was playing with our then infant to make sure our American-blooded baby didn’t overheat.  

Although it’s hot all year, there are actually 2 seasons: dry (about October to June) & rainy (about July to September) with temps ranging from the 80s to about 110 and humidity fluctuating all year.  When it rains, it RAINS.  The rainstorms can be lovely except for in Bangkok when you are commuting during one.  The drainage systems in some parking lots cannot drain the torrential rains fast enough thereby leaving shallow ponds of water to wade through on the way to public transport from the office.  Not pleasant in the least and the cause of many a ruined pair of shoes.  In Vientiane, the rains are lovely but the cause of even more ridiculous driving than as described previously (again, see Sabai Sabai).  I need to get a photo of the painstaking efforts made to drive motorbikes and not get soaked … the poncho is very popular here, but so many go at it trying out the old umbrella while driving a motorbike … it’s quite a sight.   

Hopefully I’ll snag a photo to post before the rains end while I continue my quest to get through to November and even more so December, when we enjoy very pleasant days with the humidity at its lowest of the year.  It’s warm (in the 80s and 90s Fahrenheit), sunny, and comfortable, thereby making it high tourist season and high happy season for expats.  In Laos, the temperature drops low enough to necessitate wearing a sweater every now and then (into the 50s F).  The Lao bundle up in jackets & scarves and then just add a pair of socks under their flip-flops/sandals to ride out the “cold” days … and they start shaking their heads and saying “nao lai” (very cold).  Meanwhile, the expats smile big smiles, stop commenting on it being “SO HOT”, remark often about the lovely weather, and try to enjoy every moment of the pleasantness before the dreaded months of heat arrive once again.