Hot and bothered
on Bangin' in the 'Desh (Bangladesh), 25/Mar/2010 17:28, 34 days ago
Over the past two weeks I've been unbearably hot. So hot it's been absolute agony. There's absolutely no break from it. Ever. No AC, no cool air, no refuge whatsoever. I constantly feel like someone's been holding a huge hairdryer over me; the muggy air is like waves of heat rolling over my body. From the time I wake up in the morning, having a cold shower in order to breathe, to when I'm stuck in traffic for hours in a sweaty CNG, my back sticking to the shitty plastic seats, it doesn't stop there. At work, the power goes out several times a day and I feel like I'm roasting in an oven, and when I get home, we hardly ever have power in the flat either so when I'm trying to get to sleep, I just lie awake for hours, praying for something to cool me down, my sheets soaked in sweat, my skin, permanently saturated. All it's been horrific, and it's only been two weeks. It's making me angry, frustrated, and short tempered. I can honestly say that I have never been in so much physical discomfort in my life. 'Living like a volunteer' means no luxuries so we all just need to grin and bear it, but seriously, it's breaking me. I can't concentrate at work, I have no energy to cook or clean, even get dressed. Everything's a major effort. I even looked into buying an air conditioner for my room so that I can sleep at night but found out that they are so expensive here - about $350 - which for a few months, I just couldn't justify; $350 is the cost of about two plane tickets or in Bangladeshi terms, more than three months of my salary. It wouldn't be so bad if we at least had the fan working even though it's hot air but the power goes out so frequently, I spend most nights getting home from work, sitting in the dark, getting eaten by mosquitoes, with a melting ice pack on my neck. It's been out for three hours tonight. Three hours and I have only been home for five hours. Yeah, it sounds bad having no power, being hot, whatever, la la la, but really, when you feel like this, it is indescribable. Rubbing the sweat from my top lip is turning into a nervous twitch. I am sick and tired of being so bloody hot! The worst part is, it's only going to get worse. To top it all off, we've been having water outages too. No power, no water. Awesome. So when you're really really hot, you can't do anything; you can't have a cold shower, you can't flush the toilet, you can't even wash the dishes by candlelight (a new skill I've picked up by the way). So yeah, Bangladesh is fantastic right now. Yeah, it's great, I totally love it.Get me the fuck out of here.Haha, okay okay, sorry. I am alright, I'm not losing my mind, I'm just in the 'temperature adjustment phase' right now which I'm having 'challenges' with... is that a better way of saying it? The good thing is that I have discovered sleeping pills to help me sleep through the hot nights. Now, before you all worry that I've become addicted to prescription pain killers, fear not. First of all, I am only using them for a few weeks until my body adjusts to the heat and second of all, there's no prescription, you just get them over the counter. :)I also know I only have a matter of weeks left before I leave, if everything goes to plan, so I just need to stick it out another twelve weeks or so and I'll be fine. Right? Twelve weeks... Mmmm... I'm screwed aren't I? Oh Jesus. Can someone mail me AC and electricity please ASAP? I'll be eternally grateful.