Sunburns & Sticky Armpits

Living close to the equator has its own advantages. Yes, we don't experience spring, or winter; or autumn; but who likes change. The body gets used to the eternal third degree sunburns and sticky armpits. So when I was flown into the middle of semi-arctic winter from the one-weather land, it was only a teeth clattering experience.

In the first few months, the sun never turned up for work. When I woke up, it was dark. When I put on layers and layers of wool and just let my face uncovered for the security guard at the office to identify me to let me through, there was no sun. When I was tired of my (n)ever exciting work and left office, there was no sun either. I was not the only one to complain. One senior manager from a not so sunny land as ours confessed that she used sunbeds regularly to keep herself ticking. But why did she tell me that? Anyway...The sun never turned up and my melanin content dropped by the day at an alarming rate. I was afraid the pretty girls were never going to recognise me when I go back.

But just when I was turning into an Albino, it is summer again; which meant the sun was back from its holiday. But here again, there was a problem. It knocked me out of bed even before the hen was out of its bed. That was not it. I always thought that we ate supper after sunset because we did not want to share it with the sun. When I tried to do that here, I was hungry and sleepy for the first few days unsuccessfully waiting for the sun to go. That is because the sun would not switch off before 10 pm. Overtime for the lost time in winter I suppose. Joseph's family will be the only family that will find it alright with the sun setting at 10, for they probably are the only ones who eat their dinner after 11. It is time to push him to make use of his unused HSMP.