THE HEAT IS COMING

THE HEAT IS COMING…. As many of you may know, I'm from Oklahoma. Summers in Oklahoma are atrocious.  I'm sure everyone feels that summers are horrendous wherever they're from too. However, I would bet that Oklahoma heat probably has your town beat. Not only does the temperature reach 103-107 degrees outside, but at night we do not have a cool breeze like many other places. Therefore, it's nothing to walk outside on a July night in Oklahoma and find that at 1am the temperature is hovering around 98 degrees. Since I arrived here in Paraguay (during the onset of winter) I've been told about how horribly hot the summers are. When Paraguayans would tell me this, I would think to myself, "yeah right, I'm from Oklahoma…I know about heat……" It's not summer yet here in South America, here we are just entering spring time and I've gotten a taste of the heat the last few days…it's already becoming unbearable. Friday, I went hammock shopping with some friends in a nearby town called Carapegua. They have nice open air markets and so we walked around for a few hours. Once I arrived home (now evening) I was beat, the sun had drained me of all my energy. After showering, I lied down to rest. In a matter of no time, I was sweating again. I looked at the thermometer (is that what it's called?…I'm forgetting all my English…) and it read 88 degrees..inside the house. At this point it dawned on me. In Oklahoma, sure, the heat beats down on your head and fries the back of your neck like an egg…BUT one can then enter an air conditioned house that comfortably maintains a 72-74 degree temperature.  Here in Paraguay-inside or outside of the house- one is always subject to the elements. Most houses are made of cement or brick and therefore are not insulated. So, as I lied there sweating in my bed (under a ceiling fan that blew hot air on me) I realized that I might be in for it when summer finally arrives.