HERE, its a different story. The tipping point in my decision to finally put the pen to paper (and when I say pen and paper, I mean fingers to plastic keyboard), was an afternoon jog.
A.D.D. MOMENT - I love jogging in a large city. Don't get me wrong, I love nature, but trees, fields, sky all look the same while you're bouncing up and down running. A city is filled with different people, events, buildings and streets. It keeps the mind active and exploring while your body is pounding out the miles (or kilometers down here). Add an iPod, and you've got a pretty cool little music video directed by yourself going on in your head. - END OF MOMENT.
During my jog, the temperature was hovering around F 57-60 degrees. It was late afternoon, so the sun was set behind the tall buildings of the city (but not set over the horizon). So I was shaded most of the time. There was a wind of about 10-12 mph with gusts of about 20 mph. I wore athletic shorts and a white undershirt with the sleeves cut off. It was a little cold to the skin, but I was going running - I planned on getting hot.
When I hit the street, people looked at me like I was wearing a straight jacket. You know when you're watching a football game played in Green Bay, Chicago or Buffalo, and there's those guys. You know the ones. Their shirtless torsos are painted their teams colors, or maybe spell out a war chant of their team. A couple of my best friends from college did that for most Arkansas football games, and it gets chilly in late November in the Ozarks at night. The point is, you know the guys I'm talking about. Now, think of the reaction of yourself and you friends when the camera closes in on them and you see their breath when they open their mouths. You say, "Oh my God. IDIOTS!" or "What are they DOING?!?" or "They're gonna get frostbite!" or something like that.
Those are the types of reactions I garnered when I was seen in a cut-off shirt in 58 degree temps. It should be said at this time, that most people who live here have never seen snow in the city, only in the skiing cities in the Andes. At the current temps of 50s, people are wearing coats, not jackets, coats. Women and men alike are wearing scarves, wool - not silk fashionable ones, and women wear gloves. When I walk briskly at this pace with a shirt and a jacket, I begin to sweat a little. The people around me look like Nanook of the North.
In summation, I thought that moving here would not be a large shock temperature wise. I expected it to get colder than I normally associate with "South America," but reasonable temperatures. Well, I got the reasonable temperatures, but not reasonable locals! I refuse to be ostracized as a member of the Polar Bear Club (look 'em up if you don't know about those freaks) just for jogging in a sleeveless shirt. My hosts don't think I'm serious when I walk across the street without a jacket and its 60 degrees. They think I'm unprepared for my errand, when in fact, if I bundled up like them, a trip to the supermarket would be like a trip to a sauna!
Good news, this is a water front city with cool Atlantic Ocean breezes, so in the summers (I've been told), the temperature rarely gets above 90 F. This truly is the best of both worlds. It has seasons, yet not extreme ones. PERFECT!
Running in the city sounds fun. I should try that some day.
ReplyDeleteWeather sounds awesome... keep up the short sleeves... it will be a good way to get used to not caring at all what other people think.... plus you don't want to stink from sweating.