Sunday, January 28, 2007

Freezing in Fes

You don't know cold. "But Katy," you tell me, "I've been in Colorado in January, skiing in sub-zero, high wind conditions!" Not good enough. "But Katy, I nearly frostbit my hands shoveling the driveway after that last huge storm!" Still no good. "But Katy, I sled-dog tripped to the North Pole and then lost my coat in a whiteout!" Okay, you can have the benefit of a doubt.

It's not that it's COLD here - though it snowed the other day, temperatures are still above freezing - it's that the cold is inescapable. You don't step out into the street and feel attacked by its bite, but neither do you step inside and sigh in relief at the warmth. Buildings here lack both insulation and indoor heating, so the chill simply permeates everything until the weather that feels perfectly natural when you're walking down the street in a coat becomes intolerable when you're sitting in bed still wearing that same coat...and wishing for the scarf and gloves you took off because they seemed ridiculous indoors.

Last night, I went to bed wearing my long underwear; two pairs of socks, including one pair meant for skiing; a sweatshirt and sweatpants; and the fleece liner to my winter coat...and I crawled into bed still shivering. Thankfully, burrowed under two heavy blankets I made it comfortably through the night, but then barely succeeded in dragging myself out from under them in the morning. This isn't the kind of cold that makes you worry about dying of frostbite...just of exhaustion from the shivering.

1 comment:

Kyle said...

Buildings here lack both insulation and indoor heating, so the chill simply permeates everything...

Reminds me of my college dorm.