It is summer here in Brazil. It finally arrived with a vengeance. Unlike the gradual build up of heat in 2011, the summer of 2012 started cold and rainy. It took a while to get warm, but when it did, yowza! It is similar to Florida weather, but my glasses do not fog up here when I go in and out of places. I think the reason for this is that air conditioning is a rarity here.
I know what you are thinking. "What did you just say? A Rarity? In a tropical country?" Why yes I did. Yes the malls and restaurants have A/C, but it is not on the frigid setting that us Americans are used to. It is usually on the just-this-side-of-comfortable. I am extremely lucky, though. First, because I have an awesome husband. Second, because his number one must have in an apartment when he was looking for one was A/C. Now this is not central A/C either. This is wall unit A/C for each of the bedrooms and the main living spaces. (The kitchen, maid room, and laundry do not have this luxury because it is even rarer for the lady of the house to go to these places.) We have many friends here that do not have A/C in their apartments. Unfortunately, they have to leave their windows open at night. It is nice if there is a breeze. It is not nice if the smell from the river is overpowering, or if there are an abundance of mosquitoes.
Oh wait, this is Brazil, and we live next to a river. No mosquitoes? Not possible. I actually just walked through a nest of them trying to get into our building's front door. It reminded me of the Merven's (I think that was the store) commercial where the lady is standing in front of a closed store with here hands and nose pressed to the glass chanting "open, open, open." Here is a factoid for you: only females suck blood to help her eggs grow, the males live on sugar from flower nectar. And the males are the ones buzzing to attract females. But then I wondered, why are they buzzing in my ear? I am not a mate for them. Then I thought about it. I really think that when we hear mosquito males buzzing they are really saying "Run away! Here she comes! Save yourselves while you can!"
So if you have no A/C, you need to have your windows open. But then you get bit like you are the blood donor of the year. I still get bit, and my windows are closed. My husband does not. He says it is because his Latin blood is too powerful for the female mosquito. She will die instantly with that much power going into her body. (No lie, he says this.) I think the bugs were hiding in the closet while I sprayed the house the other night. And how are they getting in by the way? Through the drains or power outlets in the house?
But it is so nice to have the A/C unit on at night. I feel bad for those that do not have it. We are nice and comfy in our beds and the room is at 65 degrees, well most of the time. In the middle of the night the unit gets a little tired and blows warm air, but it starts up again after a while. Most mornings I do not want to get out of bed. Not because I have a love affair with A/C. I actually do not like A/C in the States. When we lived up North I much rather have the windows open in the Fall and have the house at 50 than have the A/C on in the summer. My husband thinks I am crazy, but I come from a long line of crazies so he should have known that going into our marriage. No, I want to stay snuggled in bed because I know once I open our bedroom door I will walk into a wall of warm air so oppressive it is like a 10 pound weight pressing on your chest. So I let my husband get out first. I like to think of it as he being altruistic; saving me the pain. I mean come on, he is Latin. He is strong enough to endure so his little bitty, meek and mild wife does not get the air sucked out of her body. But it doesn't work, the wall is still there when I follow him a few minutes later.
Help...gasp...can't...gasp...breathe....
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