I haven't written for awhile because honestly things dont change much here. The biggest change so far is that someone turned the oven they call life up by a few degrees. Everyday is now in the 110's. Even at night the low is in the high 80s. It ridiculous. There is no transition of seasons here. When I got here it was high 80s low 90s then almost overnight it broke triple digits and hasn't come back down since. A few days ago I was getting a ride to pick up mail and I jumped in the car that had been sitting out in the heat and I felt like I was jumping in a sauna; then as we were driving I rolled down the window only to have someone put a blow dryer in my face while throwing a handful of sand. (The Iraqi version of a cool breeze).
Speaking of heat, since I work at night and sleep during the day I get to avoid most of it. Except for when the power cuts out and it usually happens at the worst times. The worst I have experienced was while taking a shower the power went off. This is a problem on several aspects. First of which is that the water pumps depend on power so when the lights went out I was left in the dark all soaped. I used my towel to wipe off all the foam then stumbled, tripped, and slid the whole way out of the shower trailer.
The second worst experience had to have been today. This morning we had a volleyball/softball tournament to celebrate memorial day (pics to be posted soon). I figured I would take part since the games were supposed to start right after my usual shift. Well after hearing that our game got pushed back to 11am I was pretty upset because that was in the middle of my sleep time, but in the interest of social interaction I decided to stay up and play. When I got out to the field my team captain informed us that we had been forfeited out of our first game because it was moved to an earlier time (we weren't informed) but since it was double elimination we still had a second game going on at 1230. So I pondered just going to sleep but figured I had stayed up that long I might as well go through with it. Mind you that the temperature broke triple digits at...9. So I've already been cooked for several hours at this point. So after a little more waiting we finally got to play. I have to say It was a lot of fun. Jumping around under the scorching sun I really enjoyed myself. We lost though, I hate to lose. However this is where things turn from bad to worse. As I walk back to my room I realize instead of the harmonious buzz of dozens of airconditioners I hear silence. Bad sign, so I get to my room and instead of entering refreshing icebox that I had been looking forward to I am confronted with a tin can that has been sitting under the beating sun. I strip down to boxers and lay out on my bed, unable to sleep and sweat beading off of me. I pray for the power to comeback and provide me relief and a refreshing shower. A gallon of sweat and a hour later, my prayers are answered. I walk to the shower, turn on only the cold handle (its lukewarm actually) and relax, I go back to bed and enjoy the 3 hours of sleep before I had to go to work again.
