Yes…Over twitter and during Ramadan, it is what everyone is complaining about… The terribly hot weather.
Hot weather is not new to our region. But this kind of hot weather… is something that is new. Add to it the fact that there is a piece of the burning sun that has detached from the sun itself and is coming closer to our little planet… and things get a bit hotter. Add Ramadan to the mix and you’ve got yourself the triple threat.. Heat, thirst… and fear that 2012 may actually be the end of the world.
I woke up today because the AC was turned off. Flipping around on the sofa (I have a sofa in my room on which I prefer to sleep as it is easier to read and I need to read before I sleep) in search of the remote control proved frutiful when my hand latched onto the Gibson AC 2.2 remote control. ON. ON. ON. Damn the batteries are out. Getting up from the hot sofa was like removing a slice of square cheese from its wrapper – but I managed. I dumped two AAA batteries out the TVs remote control and plugged them in. ON. ON. ON. Nothing.
The electricity was out.
For the 4th time this week, the electricity in various parts of Amman (capital city of Jordan) goes out due to generators going over-capacity (much like the twitter whale #fail) as a result of excessive use of Air Conditions throughout Amman.
On www.3azeezi.com, a joke site with funny 3azeezi jokes, a lot of the jokes target the weather… “3azeezi il ta2s… bikhsoos darajet 7araratak 3am twassel 41… n7otilak ta7meeleh mathalan?” or another one, “3azeezi baba… nawi tjeeb AC wila mistaghni 3an wladak masalan?”…
So the hot is too much to bear. As I sat upright on the sofa at 10AM contemplating how I will get through a long Friday without an AC or a cup of water (Ramadan)… I realized how pampered I had become. We… all of us… are overly pampered. It put things into perspective for me and some childhood dreams that I still latched onto (such as my desire to escape city life and live in Africa somewhere) were shattered as I realized that I’ve become too soft for such an endeavor.
The City Mouse and the Farm Mouse story comes into focus as I digest all of the above and I wonder if I could ever make the transition. Physically it is doable. But psychologically bearing heat when you know that you can have an AC if you work and can afford to pay the bills, makes me wonder if I could ever make the leap to become a Farm Mouse. I don’t want to live on a farm… but my past dream may be something that the present me is no longer equipped to fully handle.
Rambling blog posts have no conclusions.
Yes, this heat is unbearable..but isn’t the whole purpose of Ramadan “sacrifice?” Hence, you shouldn’t be upset about the fact that the AC doesn’t work, cause it will make fasting that much more unbearable. To me, this is the wrong way to look at Ramadan..but maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, as I’m not Muslim, and I’m writing this as the AC is blasting into my face (lol)..
Not to say that you don’t already know all of these things..but you are absolutely right in your conclusion that we are all overly pampered so much so that we forget how much we have! Take it from me..go to Africa! you will come home a changed man!
I’m living without so many things that I thought were necessities back in Miami, a car, wifi on my phone..central AC..(the power in my building in Lebanon goes out for three hours at different increments every day, which is a pain if I come home and have to walk up 6 flights of stairs!)..I’m making one fourth what I used to make…and surprisingly I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and with so much less!
Speech ends here.