Heat & the surrender called Air Conditioning

I am constantly surprised by the heat here. When I go to bed, it’s like there is an electric blanket on and my pillow is a hot water bottle. When I take a shower, sometimes even the water from the cold tap is too hot. when I shampoo my hair, the shampoo is as if it has been in an oven, warm and sticky. The whole country has underfloor heating, and when I forget my sandals to go outside, it is like walking on a hot plate. I will have asbestos feet by the end of my two years here. In our living quarters, currents of hot air circulate so when you are running to the bathroom in your towel, it feels like you are passing through clouds of hot water.
When I am out and about in the city, I can feel dribbles of sweat running down my legs inside my skirts. The shade is better but in the city the breeze is warm and dirty with exhaust fumes. The power is gone as I type this, I am sitting by an open window with the door propped open to try and encourage the breeze.
Since I arrived I mistrusted the efficiency of my AC unit. It seemed to make little difference to the room, but believing as I did that I just needed to become accustomed to it, I did not act on my vague suspicion any more than inviting the others to come and confirm how the corridor outside my room was in fact cooled than my room in which the ac had been on for several hours.
I awoke one day to discover that the beastly machine had been spitting globs of whitish liquid into the room during the early hours. My suspicions became more than vague and I asked the Deputy World Centre Manager, Darshana, what should I do. She called the AC guys and they arrived the same day to investigate and fix the problem. Oh the joy I felt when the AC guy popped his head around the staff lounge door and said, “madam, come test the flow”, and I went, expecting the worst, and felt the strong belt of icy wind that came form the now beloved machine.
Oh the joy, and relief. I laughed out loud with the joy! My life has changed, now I escape to my room, push the button and cool the bed, pillow, floor, air and everything else! I do feel like I am somehow cheating, I don’t know who or what I am cheating, just a little guilty, like I am giving in each time I push the button. What a lovely surrender it is.
Its the simple pleasures.