Before I finish the bit about sailing around for 4 days on a feluca, I just want to say that its finally reached that temperature that makes daily life uncomfortable. We all knew it was coming, I looked it up as soon as I got the job and shuddered to think that I'd be working in the desert, where there is a 0% chance of precipitation and the temperature rarely dips below 100. Today it was around 110 I think. I wouldn't know. I didn't make it past 11am, before I had to go home. I made the mistake of taking a shower last night and then sleeping with wet hair in the AC. We've started sleeping in the guest room because the AC in the bedroom doesn't work. We pushed the two twin beds together and I wear earplugs to block out the noise of children, weddings, cars, and dogs from the street.
It feels kind of like the way it did when I first moved to NYC and I was living in Astoria, broke, in debt, and without an air conditioner. I had to take a shower 3 times a day just to function in that apartment. Thankfully we have air conditioners here, but its funny, if you just stop to turn it off for a moment, you instantly feel hot again.
And so I have gradually become that person that enters the room looking pissed off, looks pissed of or miserable all the while everyone is eating and chatting, and I usually leave looking the same way, unless conversation is capable of lifting me out of this dumpy condition I find myself in. People say each time "are you feeling any better?" to which I reply something along the lines of "I feel hot" because that is all I can think of.
I hate myself like this obviously. It will be interesting to see if I make it to July. It's true, I've never felt to persistently unwell, heavy-limbed and dead-headed in my life. If I do make it to July, it would be a miracle of sorts. I feel bad for the people who have to be in my company like this. At least they know what I was like before it got hot.
We have no water tank at our flat, like we had at ARCE so water bottles must be toted to the flat every couple days. This is wasteful unfortunately and tedious, since we have to drink about 6 liters at work just to stay hydrated. Soon we will have to start getting up earlier to arrive at site by 6.40 or so that we can leave earlier. The sun is already making it impossible to stay until 2pm. Even with a fan blowing on you, the air is warm, and you have the uneasy sensation that you are a cookie baking in an oven. I bring lemons to site everyday because they truly are a life-saver when your electrolytes are gone and you swear you can't drink any more water. Emergen-C will save my life several times over over the next 2 1/2 months. I will ask my friends to bring some back.
Several ARCE employees are leaving this week for 2 weeks in America and I am a little jealous. A break from the heat would do me well and of course some much needed time with family and friends. Chicago House, the other large conglomerate of archeologists and artists have packed up and shipped out, leaving a dozen ARCE employees to waddle around in the heat of the temple uneasily. It would be much more civilized of course, if we could pack up and leave come May, but that's not how things run around here. At least I will have some good stories to tell for when I'm old and gray and my grandkids complain. "You think this is hot? Have I ever told you about the time I worked in Egypt and my face melted off my skull??" and so on. Wait for it.
5 comments:
remember in the G.Canyon the guides would say- When you're hot, you're stupid.? and we would get our heads wet. try to keep covered in light and moist if possible clothes- a wet bandanna on the neck does wonders. good luck and be glad you don't have 2 kids cryin at ya!
Totally. I actually think a lot about the Canyon here and all the things that happened there and I have taken to bringing a black bandana to work which I douse in water every couple hours and if you are in front of a fan with a wet head it makes all the difference in the world. I think things are going to be alright because we are starting a new schedule where we get up early and leave site by noon! I just have to figure out what's ailing me physically, and maybe I can do some of that back home as well. It's hard to not eat gluten here. Indeed, I don't think I'm ready for two crying kids. Not yet, anyway, but someday.
i hate the heat. japan gets hot, but surely not as hot as egypt. the thing that kills me about japan is the humidity. you sweat and sweat and sweat some more. for around 1 month, i was my clothing and don't bother to dry it. after all, not matter how dry it is, it'll be soaking wet within 10 minutes of me putting it on.
i loved putting towels in the fridge and the freezer and then wrapping them around my body in front of a strong fan. give that a shot.
i totally do that. I freeze my bandana and then put it on my head with the fan running on high. It's amazing. And on site I drench my headscarf in water and sit in front of the fan. it's really not bad at all. and an hour before we pack up some dude brings around fresh lemonade. i'm spoiled.
Hey floor. I'm Bryan Derballa's little sister and I read a few of your blogs while I was staying in Brooklyn with him but unfortunately haven't read anymore since today. I'm in Egypt too. I'm in a little city called 10th of Ramadan with my dad. I wanted to comment on this post just because I think it's funny that it was wrote in april, now it's the middle of june and there's no new posts. Has your skin melted off your body yet? I totally feel everything you're saying about it being hot. It's unbearably hot all the time but fortunately for me, I'm working as an English teacher inside AC and if not there, inside, at home, working on homework for my online classes, in AC. The only time I'm really outside is walking to and from work. I don't think it's quite as hot here in 10th of Ramadan as it is in Luxor though. Anyway what I really wanted to say is don't you ever wonder how the hell Muslims wear layers upon layers in the sun like this? I mean even if you were naked it'll still be hella hot but three shirts on, jeans, and then a dress and hijab? I don't know how they do it!
Post a Comment