It's So Very Hot

The city that I live in has bee having problems (understatement); thus, for the past week many areas have been experiencing brown outs (aka black out in the USA).  I've been lucky that my area still has current.  Although I still have power, it's hot. It's so very hot, as they say. The "feels like" temperature hovers around 110*F every day. One of my coworkers is sleeping outside with her family because her house is too hot at night, especially without power.  

Last Saturday around 9:30AM, I was sitting at home sweating my butt off while reading.  I didn't go for a run earlier that morning because I slept until 6AM and it was already too hot to do anything.  But sitting there sweating, despite the cross breeze I was trying to create, I decided that if I was going to sweat this much, then I might as well work for it. I slathered on SPF 80, filled up my CamelBak, put on my sunglasses and went out the door. The only situation that is comparable to this is fall sports tryouts at noontime during the last week of August, but that still doesn't cover all of it.

While I was earned my earned sweat run, I figured that I could kill two birds with one stone and go to the grocery store while I was out. I ran right to my top grocery store (the only place that carries frozen spinach and frozen strawberries- don't even think about fresh) and found that it was still a part of the brown out grid.  The lights were dimmed and the air conditioner was not running.  

Now, as a background, even though the Philippines is quite hot all of the time, Filipinos do not like to be hot; they do not like to sweat; the sun makes them very uncomfortable. I thought that they would be used to it, adapted in a way.  I guess their adaptation is to avoid it at all costs.  I can't tell you how many times a random person has asked me where my umbrella is or why I am walking because it is too hot.  

The scene that I saw when I walked into the grocery store was comical. The security guard was taking ice from the frozen food section and rubbing it on his arms; a check out worker looked like she was about to melt; every person was carrying a fan or piece of paper to keep cool.  There I am, finished with a 10k, drenched, filling my basket with bags of frozen delicacies. "Ma'am! It is so very hot!" exclaimed one male staff member to me. "Opo," I said while smiling and trying to make this a quick trip. As I went to move on to the next item, I felt a breeze. Small, but it was still a breeze.  I turned and found that it was coming from the staff member; he was fanning me with his cardboard square as I shopped.  After a couple of seconds, which seemed like minutes, of this, I told him thank you, but I was ok.  I realized as I laughed to myself and walked away that he, and all of the other people apologizing to me about no air conditioner, probably thought that I was soaked in sweat because the store was not its usual frosty temperature. Why else would I have that much sweat?

But it wasn't because of that. It was because I was a crazy foreigner who exerted extra energy in the heat.