I miss the cold. Sure, the rain makes it chilly here, and we really rejoice if we are cold enough to put on long sleeves or get a second sheet for the bed. But, I miss the COLD. Needing a scarf, wearing cute coats, socks and shoes, eating soup to warm up, wanting hot chocolate, not to satisfy your choco-addiction, but because it’s cold! Needing your husband to keep you warm….

My friend had a picture up on Facebook of a snow hike. The same time, last weekend, we hiked. We don’t often ‘hike’, because hiking isn’t like back home. Hiking in the savannah is like wandering in the dessert. The savannahs are open grassy plains, and under the Guyana sun (we’re 4 degrees from the Equator, if I guess from the map) it is HOT. So, hiking is more like baking. But, we did it Saturday. That was all I did for the whole weekend – Saturday night and Sunday I just rested to recover from my exhaustion. We climbed the Aishalton mountain, or hill as it should rightly be called. It does give you a nice view, of the Savannahs, the village, and the Kanuku mountains in the distance. We went up with our neighbors and friends. Suffice to say, the 7 year olds fared better than the 18 year olds, and the 18 year olds fared better than us 26 year olds. And, the 26 year olds barely fared better than the old mamas. We ate a full breakfast, and started off with the clouds as our friends. We reached to top, had a full lunch – rice, beans, fahrine (local staple made from cassava), beef, and limeade. It was on the way back down, after noon, that the clouds broke and the sun started to bear down. I had sweat trickling in all kinds of new places. The water bottles finished, some people’s sandals broke, and our clothes started to soak in our sweat. We made it home, went promptly to the creek, and bathed. Lovely cool, creek water. We are recovered now, with the help of some foot massages, more limeade and water, and hammock naps on Sunday.

It is so hot here. I have no weather channel and no thermometer. When I talk to people back home, they ask how hot it is here. They’re wondering if it is 85 or 95. If I had to guess, upper 90s most days, but it doesn’t seem to matter to me anymore. I used to check weather.com every morning before school or work. I loved planning a cute rainstorm outfit with my rain boots or planning to wear my scarf or a short sleeve shirt with a cardigan. Now, you just wear your high-tech performance clothing or linen. Everyday. I can't wait for a real winter....