What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance
Jane Austen
In the UK, summer (if it happens) is the season of fun, to play outdoors, meet friends for picnics and concerts in the park, go to the beach and feel happy. That is turned on its head in Dubai. We live in a desert. Summer is the season to stay inside and long for it to be over. It seems that everyone, who is able to, leaves for the summer, travelling home or to somewhere with fresh air. People have been talking about the summer, with dread, for some months. In a way, I have been looking forward to it. I want to experience the summer for myself.
The heat is extraordinary. The cold water in the taps is running hot, the plastic coating on the handlebars of my bicycle has melted, the ground scalds the soles of my feet within a few steps. It honestly feels like I’ve opened the oven door and stuck my head inside, with the fan running.
I know that I am fortunate. I can hop from one air conditioned space to another and spend a minimal amount of time outside. I am soaked within seconds of stepping outside, a human condenser that has been chilled by the AC and then exposed to the searing humidity. It is said that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. Well, there are no clothes that are good for this. I am damp and crumpled all the time.
I stop complaining when I look out of my car window and see a man in coveralls cycling against the traffic with all his gardening equipment strapped to his bike. It’s 48 degrees. I’ll quietly escape to Europe with the children and fully experience the summer next year.
DubaiSwan 