You know it’s hot season when…

Oh, hot season.

When we arrived in Tanzania the first time, it was during hot season. For some reason, our first hot season in Africa didn’t seem all that bad. Mainly, I think, because we were expecting Africa to be super duper hot! Because it’s Africa. Duh.

Oh, and having an apartment with air conditioning must have helped, too.

But then came cold season. Glorious cold season in which the temperatures drop to a comfortable mid-80’s range and it’s even cool enough to snuggle up in the mornings with a blanket and a hot cup of coffee without sweating one bit. It’s the season all the wazungu (read: white people) here love and cherish and reminisce about.

But cold season did ruin hot season for us because all of a sudden we had experienced a different Africa; one that doesn’t mean constant sweating.

So our second hot season was one filled with too much complaining, way too much sweat, and lots of sitting in front of a whirring fan to find relief. I was also 9 months pregnant and we had moved to a home that did not have A/C but instead had lots of power outages. Not a good trade, if you ask me.

The third hot season we conveniently avoided by having to leave the country in November, right before the full blow of hot season had set in. I must admit that I thanked God for the timing of that.

Now we’ve entered into our 4^th hot season in Africa. I found that it’s a bit like labor. You kind of forget how bad it is until you’re in the middle of it again and think “How could I have forgotten that it hurts so much?!?” Except that now I think “How could I have forgotten how hot it gets?!?”

So for all of you who haven’t experienced the joys of hot season in the torrid zone of our planet, here is how you know it’s hot season.

You know it’s hot season when…

• You start sweating the moment you get up… even if that’s at 5 AM.
• Your tap water comes out warm and sometimes even hot… even though you don’t have a water heater installed.
• Your children are constantly covered in various forms of heat rash.
• Your washed clothes dry within an hour of hanging outside.
• You learn quickly, after having burnt the soles of your feet once, not to leave your shoes out in the sun before wearing them.
• Your toddler’s daily outfit consists of a diaper. Or less.
• You flinch when your kids come to hug you because hugs with several layers of sweat in between are just a bit uncomfortable.
• You start hearing Christmas songs in the supermarket (as Christmas season conveniently falls within hot season).
• You know that several showers a day are not uncommon and sometimes just needed.
• Your children chug down water as if it was lemonade.
• You make up excuses to go anywhere that is air-conditioned.
• The biggest store in the mall (which happens to be owned by Wal-Mart) is out of fans.
• The coconut oil on your shelf never hardens (my essential oil friends would appreciate this!).

Happy hot season, my friends!