Hot Season – The really hot, really humid, really sweaty reality

22 Feb 2011

I was talking to a good friend in the States the other day, and realized just how little I must be communicating about the reality of hot season in Dar to people back home.  For another great perspectives on this “season” from a co-worker and friend, click here.  I guess I don’t mention the trials this season provides because for one, it’s just part of daily life here… nothing out of the ordinary.  And I just don’t think ordinary is all that interesting to talk about.  And two, it’s better to not think it’s out of the ordinary because then I’m just tempted to complain.

Here in Tanzania, there really aren’t the "normal" fall, winter, spring, and summer seasons.  Not by the Equator.  Instead, there are hot and cool… or dry and rainy.  That’s pretty much it.

There are some areas of Tanzania where it gets cold.  There are mountains.  The air is dry.  And it must be great.  (Even though heaters aren’t installed and there’s no such thing as insulation in houses… so it’s not all that amazing in reality.  It’s cold.  But it sure seems like a nice alternative!)  Here in Dar, there are no mountains, no dry air, just hot, by the ocean muggy and humid-with-a-pretty-view-but-a-very-sweaty-face kind of weather… all the time.

Marie and I FREEZING on our way to Mbeya last June, where it's much cooler.  We packed every piece of clothing we owned because we had nothing warm to bring.  It was probably in the 60s. 

Oh, the cool, dry air of Mbeya!   I would so live here if I could...

Look!  I'm wearing long sleeves, jeans, AND shoes!  And not even breaking a sweat.  This was quite a happy moment...

It’s true.  We have air conditioners in our classrooms.  (Everyone can gasp… what?  There are missionary teachers... in Africa... with air conditioners!?!)  And a lot of people have them in their bedrooms.  (Double gasp!)  But in a lot of ways, this concept of air conditioning is a misnomer.  Because in our classrooms, the individual air con units pretty much serve to lessen the humidity, but don’t drop the temp much at all.  They're not big enough for the size rooms we have, and the heat is just too much for them.  As in, my unit is set for 22 degrees Cel (72 F), but usually sits at 32 degs C (90 F)… or 28 C (82 F) on a good day.  No freezing classrooms here!  And if you want to be a successful teacher, or survive the day with anything left to make it home that night, grade papers, AND make dinner (assuming you have power or a gas stove), you want an air con to lessen the humidity levels in your classroom!

If you look closely, you can see the little red light meaning there's power going to this unit in my classroom.  And the little green light means that cool air is coming OUT!!!

Last year, as part of a service learning project, the secondary students would come to our classrooms to measure the heat and humidity.  The idea was to make sure we were using our air cons wisely and to register their affect on the environment.  On one particular day, when there was a good ocean breeze coming through and it felt cooler, I didn’t get around to turning my air con on.  It was interesting to hear the report.  They said, “you’re classroom is actually a lower temperature, but your store room feels cooler… your classroom is 92 degrees with 95% humidity, while your store room is 95 degrees with only 80% humidity.”  And yes, that’s a cool day.

**Side Note: Sometimes I wonder just what happens if it hits 100% humidity.  Does it start spontaneously raining from the ceiling?  I’d love to hear your thoughts… :)

Anyway, it’s hot.  A friend from Florida recently compared our weather to that of Florida’s in July.  "It's pretty much the same," she said. “BUT, in Florida it’s only for one month – here it’s four to six months.  And in Florida we go from our air conditioned houses to our air conditioned cars, to our air conditioned stores and offices… and back home again in comfort.  We’re never outside.”

Here, it’s different.  Hot season is from November through March.  Everyone moves slowly because they know that where they’re going, it’s just going to be even more hot and stuffy than it is outside under the blazing sun.  And the equatorial sun... is... HOT!

I guess the good news is, the sun is also consistent.  Unlike gloomy MI, we get 2836 hours of sunlight a year, according to Climatetemp.info... that's about 7.8 hours of sunlight on average per day.  Is it sad I'm now a fan of overcast days? 

The other difference is that here, during hot season, the power is often “rationed” because there is just enough electricity to power the country.  Or the city.  That means that the government-run distributor of electricity physically cuts off power to certain areas of the city for a certain number of hours or parts of days so that they don’t go over what can be produced.  And the catch is, everything electric here is hydraulically powered… and so during the hot, dry season, when there’s no water to be seen (except in the ocean!), the power gets less… and less… and less…

People have said that this is the worst year for power cuts since 1996.  And that’s a year that has gone down in history.  Right now, the school, businesses, houses, everyone is pretty much on a no power one day, but getting power back on that night… then power the next day, but no power the next night schedule.  One day on, one day off… and then the alternate nights.  Recent comments from people include:

When people Skype us, they always ask, “why are you sitting in the dark?"
"Well, you remember what we said about the power cuts? This is it!"
Then the next time they Skype us, they say the same thing...  Hmm…

Or a recent FB status from a co-worker:

Power for two days in A ROW!  I love my life! :) :) :)

This affects more than you might think.  It's not just the lack of fans that make life tough.  But venders can't keep  drinks cold, so no one wants to buy them.  Printers can't print by due dates because there's no power.  People are losing whole freezers of food at grocery stores and have nothing to compensate the loss with.  It's a real problem.

Less importantly, but more personally as a teacher, the other bummer is the unreliability of a good teaching environment.  HOPAC has a generator, but it’s not large enough to allow us to use air cons all over campus.  We can use fans (yay!) and lights (I could really care less…), but no air con.  And teaching every other day with 90% humidity is just getting to be tough.  And old.  And tiring.  And no relief in sight?  Even worse.

It’s no wonder so many people are so exhausted right now.

On the bright side, when we moved, we somehow (unknowingly) managed to choose a house in one of the few areas of the city which are unaffected by power rationing to a large degree.  Usually, it means that you live near a big politician or someone really important (who has the influence and money to say they don’t want their power cut).  Lucky them.  But for us, it means we live near the power plant, who pays extra to get consistent power to produce electricity for the government-run group that distributes the power.  Don’t ask why they have to pay for the power they produce in the first place, but I’m not complaining!

So on the good side, we’ve actually been able to sleep for the most part.  I don’t have an air con, but a couple of fans on highest power along with windows open, a cold shower before bed, and NO sheets make a world of difference when it comes to a normal night of sleep in Dar.  AND, it’s been great to be a blessing to others who don’t have the same luxury as we do when we can invite them over on nights they don’t have power…

My beloved, battery-operated fan.  Totally worth the weight and space of carrying this from the States.  What a blessing this is inside my mosquito net when the power goes out!

So while all of you are dealing with the power outages from ice storms, you can know I feel your pain on the other side of the world.  Consistently.  And while I know that the cold creates some serious problems that aren’t to be laughed at, and while I know we ALWAYS want what we don’t have… I also hold strongly to the opinion that you can always put clothes on, bundle up, curl up in fleece blankets, and snuggle next to the fire with hot cocoa as you look at the pretty snow… but there’s a limit to just how many layers you can take off to stay cool!