HOT! HOT! HOT!

When I say Bahrain is very hot, I am not making it up, and I am not just trying to make you feel sorry for me. Believe me. Bahrain is darn hot.

The temperatures sometimes reach 50 C, and the humidity is also very high ( I would thing it would be dry, because we are in the desert. WRRROOOOONGGGG).

Just some examples:

- If you turn the air conditioner off for 30 minutes and then try to walk on the room where you were a/c free, you will slip and probably fall on your face. No joking. The humidity will produce a coat of water on the floor, making it very slippery. Yep. I tried. It hurts.

- If you go on holidays and for some reason decide to leave the A/C off, or if it simply fails to work, you will find your stuff all moldy when you come back. Furniture, towels, linen and clothes. All gone. It happened to a couple of friends of mine.

- What about open the window to recycle the air? All you will get is this hot, humid air, so just keep the windows and doors closed. Seriously.

- Cold shower?

You must be joking. The water reservoirs are on roof tops, so the water is always very hot. There are a couple of ways around it. If you have a hot water cylinder inside the house, you can turn it off, and use the "hot water"as cold water. You can also wake up at 2 in the morning when the water is not too hot and have your shower. What do I do? I fill up the bath tub, turn on the A/C, wait for it to cool down and have baths. Every day.

- Go for walks? Run? Cycle? Forget about it. In summer you have to be indoors.

- Going shopping? park in a covered car park, so when you come back to the car you will only feel extremely hot, but you may not pass out ( park outdoors, and I bet you will pass out).

- Every time I can, I just leave the car on, with the A/C running, so when I come back, I don't feel like crying.

- Every week I give my pantry a good clean up. With the heat, lots of things spoil before they should.

- Fruit market in summer? no way. The fruits stay in this non refrigerated "garage thingy place", and when they get to your house they are already spoiled. Supermarkets keep fruits in better condition because they are refrigerated 24/7.

- You are going to the mall? Take a jumper with you. They get the A/C so cold, you may freeze in there. Same thing for movie theaters.

Come to the Middle East in summer - will you?