2004-12-12 - 11:29 a.m.

2nd entry today:

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined it before coming. In all my preparation, in all the packing and repacking, in all the last minute trips to the store I never even thought about bringing winter clothing. Yet here we are at winter in Mauritania, and not only is it cold, but it is really freaking cold. Ok, maybe that is a skewed perspective, after being exposed to 6 months of blistering 120-degree heat. Heat that makes your sheets stick to you at night like wax paper. Heat that makes pit stains no longer an embarrassing stigma, but a sign of good health. Heat that makes 90 degrees feel cold. So please forgive me when I say it, but I’m freezing.

I’m not sure how the people in the south are doing, or if this is an off year, but I was told not to bring any winter clothing before coming. At the most bring a fleece they said. My fleece is reaching whole new levels of use. I Initially used it to wear to bed, but have upped its hours to early morning. Yesterday, I had to wear it to go running. That’s right, TO GO RUNNING. I thank God that I decided to be the safe camper and bring along my raincoat. I had no intention of using it to stay warm, but I kiss it softly every night when I take it off and slip under the covers of my sleeping bag and let goose down do the trick of maintaining my body heat.

Have I mentioned it’s cold yet? If so I had better reiterate the point. Now I know that back home there is probably snow on the ground, and you are all having to deal with frozen windshields and icy car seats, but you’ll never guess what I had do the other day. I can barely bring myself to say it, but under my sandals I put on…socks. Can you imagine it? Socks in the Sahara. You see riding my bike to work in the morning, my toes get a bit chilly, and I had no other choice but to slip a pair of wigwams on under my Tevas. Last night could have been the worst. Not only was I bundled up in my sleeping bag, inside my room no less (windows still open), but I also had to put on a t-shirt to keep my upper body warm. Normally I just sleep in my underwear.

Okay, I hate to complain about it getting down to 55 in the middle of December, but I wasn’t ready for this. This does not mean I want everyone to rush out and send me North Face winter jackets. The main point of this entry is to say Hahaha, I’m in the Sahara where the days stay at 90 and you are back home in –20 degree Midwest winters.

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