Jesus and Hoarfrost

When we first arrived in Namibia, people complained about the weather. All. The. Time. Just like people at home, people seemed to connect through shared challenges- one of those “Misery loves company” things, I suppose. In Minnesota, we get the best of both worlds to “connect” about- 100°F heat and 100% humidity in the summer, and -70°F wind chill in the winter; commiseration is only a conversation away. Of course, here we use Celsius, so the numbers are never quite so impressive. Interesting fact: Fahrenheit and Celsius match up at -40°, which means people can imagine how cold it might be (but only imagine- it has never gotten anywhere near there in Namibia).

Anyway, after about 2 days of hearing and participating in the negativity, I decided something had to change. If you live in a foreign country, you aren’t allowed to be negative- you will drive yourself crazy with all the little cultural differences that irritate you.

That being said, I want to detail the heat here for all you snow-covered folks at home. (BTW, we aren’t having a white Christmas. Maybe there will be a sandstorm, and it can look sort of like a blizzard). Personally, I know I’d want to know, so here is the reality:

I L-O-V-E sunshine, and in comparison to living here, we have basically been deprived of it our entire lives. But, the sun here is much hotter, and your skin feels like it’s on fire at times, even when you aren’t sunburned. Instead of getting great tans, we hide from the sun as much as possible. It’s so bright that, even when you wear strong sunglasses, you still get a headache.

Everyone sweats all the time. Constantly, and from every orifice of your body (except the eyes-I don’t think my eyes sweat). It doesn’t matter what you are doing- you wake up in a pool, sweat while you sit, stand, eat, talk, write, listen, anything. You sweat immediately after your shower (probably during, too), which makes it hard to find the motivation to even take one sometimes. Yes, I have gone for 3 days here without a shower- disgusting, but sadly it makes little difference. It is a workout just to move. We have started doing the majority of our work in the morning and evening, since we are completely ineffectual during the blistering afternoons.

Recently we were playing sand volleyball (which goes without saying- every sport here is played in the sand), when Josh’s shoe started to fall apart. The sand was so hot, it literally melted the glue that was holding the sole of his shoe together. Food, candles, crayons, thin plastic, and soap melt- and not just when they are sitting in the sun. We don’t have a thermometer, which is fine because we’ve been told that some of the temperatures we will reach won’t register properly.

Because yes, it’s only going to get hotter.

During our winter/ U.S. summer, we heard rumor that we should get rain in November. Still waiting. I guess the fact that we got a little rain in September messed everything up, and now the rains won’t come until January. When they arrive, temperatures start to cool down a bit- to 90 or 100 degree F.

Last year, God blessed me with the forthought to bring two pictures with us to remember the snow and be able to show it to people. The hoarfrost is beautiful, and it makes me colder just thinking about it.

When I feel like I’m melting, Jesus and hoarfrost are the only things keeping me going.

*********************************************************************************
It has now, officially, rained!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!