Spring Projects: Destroy Kitchen Shelves

The hot season in Mérida usually blasts in toward the end of April or early May.  This year the temperatures hit 100°F almost every day in March.  The evenings cooled down to low 70's; the brisk nights gave us a chance to reacclimate to the daytime heat.  It seems we haven't had a drop of rain in months, but with the heat comes humidity, and 'heat and humidity' is my favorite weather combo.

In mid April the temps rose even higher.  Being more acclimated to and happy to feel the tropical sun and heat, I got into spring cleaning mode. If you read the previous blog you know I repaired and relocated - and replaced - my desk.  That mission accomplished, I decided to work on the kitchen. 

When I moved into this house in July of 2007 the kitchen had cupboards in place.  I had the top(green) cupboards screened in to allow air but dissuade bugs.  The bottom doors were plastic and I should have gotten rid of them at the time.  They survived about two years. 

Over time I have ripped out the plastic doors as they became dysfunctional and started to bug me.  Once the doors were gone, the lower cupboards seemed so much larger.  Still, the supports for the plastic doors stood there blocking access. 

I took everything out and piled it up on the floor.  I removed the rusty old screws and was able to yank out all the fake supports.  They have nothing to do with the functional Mexican style shelves that were hiding behind that phony plastic shield.

Some people think having all your food, pots, pans, plastic containers and such in the open is not aesthetically acceptable.  I don't like closed doors and I guess that feeling extends to kitchen shelves.  Frankly I think it's the 30 years living in the tropics.  I get a bit obsessive about storing items in jars, being able to use all available space, and I don't like sharing my food with bugs. 

Life in Paradise: Narcolepsy and Dehydration

Today is the second day in a row that I 've had what feels like narcolepsy in the middle of the day. The temperature reached 105.8°F, also the predicted high for the rest of the days this week. April is not quite here and we already feel the intense heat. As I write this at 8:30 pm it is still 95°F. According to Weather Underground the humidity is only 46%, but it's sticky humid. I have been anxiously awaiting the return of the hot weather, and after only a few days of high temperatures I find I need to re-acclimate myself.



This afternoon I was diligently editing my story in the comfortable new space and my eyes got heavy. I felt like a bobbing head doll. I was literally falling asleep at the desk and saw my concentration flutter like a dead leaf through the house in the hot breeze. Eventually I gave up and closed the file. I had no choice: I couldn't make a full sentence or hold a complete thought. I settled into a hammock with two fans blasting and completely zonked out. It would be three hours and nightfall before I could function again. And as I try to communicate this right now I would still rate my brain function below par.



This will be my third summer here. I'm no stranger to this heat. The way to beat the heat is to start all physical activities super early, allowing for a drooling nap or a good read....in a hammock...surrounded by fans, in the blazing hot afternoon. Tasks can be attempted again after sunset and some caffeine intake. Last week I dehydrated myself. How could I do that? I know I have to consume massive amounts of water and other liquids. Ok, so I had a few beers one night, but I thought for sure I drank enough beverages the following day to compensate. Once you have dehydrated yourself, it takes a few days to get right again. It is not a habit one wants to start.



I easily downed three liters of water a day the past two summers without giving it any thought. Over the winter months, however, water just wasn't appealing and I got sucked into the Cokes. They deliver cases of returnable bottles, which we all know contain the best tasting Coca Cola, and I succumbed to temptation. I limit the Cokes to 1 or 2 a day, and even so ONLY if I have been chugging back plenty of water, gatorade, lemonade, watermelon or other fresh juice, and/or iced tea.



I wondered if the swimming pool had anything to do with it. When the sun is high and heat is blasting, I get into the pool and move around. I take some sun with my exercise but also move into the shady half of the pool. Whoever put the roof over the pool was a genious. This is the first year the pool is heated. Now that the air temp is so high we probably don't need it, but even the water we pump into the pool is bordering on hot, so it is now heating itself. I like the warm water because it seems to change its texture into a thick silky velvety liquid. I can spend a long period of time in the pool when the water is just below body temperature. Then I am not thirsty, and yet I am refreshed. That can be dangerous.



There are a few hours every night when it cools down, but it calls for minimal sleepwear and a sheet instead of sweat shirts and the blanket we craved during our winter. Even regular t-shirts feel too hot and heavy in this heat. Mexico will spring ahead this weekend, and that will confuse the issue a little. I need to psyche myself up for the long summer in the steamy heat. It is extreme, but I have always preferred a tropical climate. The humidity makes my skin actually feel smooth and not like the wrinkled leathery mess it really is. Laundry is a bit of a hassle when we change our clothes a few times a day after sweating through them, but a dip in the pool, a cool shower and a generous sprinkling of talcum powder freshen us up so we can keep on going. I can work with all this if I just go with the Yucatecan flow. But I am going to have to trick myself into staying hydrated, and change my schedule so that I can pass out in the afternoon when necessary.

Griping

Ok. So my last article sucked. I had no brain power it was too hot and there were too many interruptions. Enough excuses or need I provide more? I had a great idea for the palapas and sat here melting thinking JUST POST SOMETHING.

It rained like hell yesterday. It was the first time this rainy season that the water rose up in the street splashing on my neighbors' doors, coming into my parking garage like the waves of a lake, sloshing plastic jugs and miscellaneous garbage up to my gate. That doesn't bother me as much as the garbage men missing pickup for the past several days.

I enjoyed the rain, but it was not too good for business. You cannot teach kids to swim in a lightning storm. We wait around all day for the classes and then the afternoon rains spoil our plans and we feel frustrated.

Today I am flabberghasted (that is such a strange word and probably spelled wrong) how quickly the mosquitoes arrive after ONE lousy rain. I am covered in Autan, or Mexican OFF, yet one mossie is obviously having a field day with me here at the desk. Living in the tropics for decades I try to keep mosquito breeding out of the patio area.

The weather cooled down due to a cold front passing through, but I doubt that will last long. I covered myself with a sheet last night for the first time in months. I am not looking to pull out any blankets just yet. We still have two months of hurricane season left and the weather is so screwy maybe the July rainy season just started.

I am in an anxious state today. I have to attend a meeting I am not happy about. Then it is off to Mayan class where I am lost. Level one pre-school Mayan language was fun and simple. Now they expect us to act like adults and know this stuff. Hmmph! It would have helped to have a book or something to help learn in the first class, or a teacher that was a little organized.

Shit like this should be written in the morning pages, the ones no one sees. I know that. But I have decided that my blogs have been sugar coated and not necessarily reflecting my personality. I think maybe I sounded even too happy, because my friends who I thought were reading the blogs and used to write to me have abandoned me. I am the one who abandoned all my friends and family, insofar as I moved out of the country, but still....I have always made an attempt to keep in touch with my friends and thought friendship had no borders. when I know many of my friends live on their computers: games, chat rooms, joke sending for hours on end, it hurts my feelings some that they don't have time to drop me a line. I still care about them, really I do. I guess I am just frustrated and over sensitive today....something new and different for me, huh folks?

Too Hot To Think

For the past few days the temperature here has soared to over 100°F, with the humidity factor not far behind, and the "feels like" factor ten degrees higher. I remember it was hot like this last year from May to July. Then the rains came and although it was steamy, it was bearable because the afternoon rains cooled things down.

One positive note is that we are in the process of painting the swimming pool. It is just sitting there baking in the sun, bright blue and dry, begging to be filled and cooled off. (Or is that me?) Maybe I didn't notice the heat when I could walk outside and jump into the pool to swim, read, write, or just float around with foam noodles. In fact, the pool was so invigorating that lowering my body temperature caused me to forget to drink three liters of water a day. I was so refreshed I ended up dehydrated, and I know better!

We picked a good time to paint the pool. We are in a long dry spell, considering we are in the middle of the rainy (and hurricane) season. It has not rained much since we returned from our trip, a week ago Friday. It is difficult to be sitting here pouring in sweat, with only cold showers to cool off, hoping that it does not rain all week long. Why does pool paint have to dry for a week, anyhow? It sure feels dry.

I feel like I own a boat, having this swimming pool in the back yard. It needs constant love and attention, just like a boat. When it came time to sand and paint the pool, it felt like part of the natural course of things. We didn't complain, we just got out there as soon as the sun was out of direct line of sight and started sweating and sanding, and later sweating and painting. The fact that it is out of commission during the days we would enjoy it most is just one of the sacrifices of having a luxury. I think these days are meant for reflection. Believe me I already appreciate the luxury of having the swimming pool, and I have mentioned it before.

I mostly miss our morning aquatic exercises. By noon, if I have not accomplished things it is certain that nothing will get done until the sun is setting and it cools down. Good thing the Olympics have been on TV, because we have turned into hammock spuds. With three or four fans blasting at you you can just about get comfortably cool in the hammock. It is this time of year that foreigners understand why Yucatecans spend all their time in their hammocks. I can not imagine sitting on a hot sofa; it is challenging at night because the bed is still usually holding in a lot of heat. And so we end up in hammocks again. With three or four fans blasting.

I recently bought a helicopter fan. It is a high powered fan that would literally take off if it were on a stand. It is loud but at least you can breathe. Some of the fans we bought last year have already died. In April when the live wires snapped outside the house and zapped us inside the house, it burned up two surge protectors and two fans. Others have been cheaply made and unsturdy and just had a short floor life. I went out to replace missing fans when the heat wave kicked in, but I was too late. There was one cheap fan at 14 dollars, and the helicopter for 50. I bought them both. The last fans in Mérida. I will learn from this, in November when it cools down and the shipment of fans has finally arrived in the Yucatán, long after the hot season, I will stock up on fans for next summer.