Weather

Amman has recently been blessed with a cool spell. So cool, in fact, that it is almost chilly, like Utah in the fall.

Ah, Utah.

Anyway, the break from the intense heat made me realize that I have never written a post about the weather here, which would be quite helpful if any of you are planning on living here or visiting in the summer, and might even be intersting for those of you who are not. Then again, it might not, but who chooses to read this thing? You.

Anyway, enough with my sarcasm. The weather here in Amman is, in my opinion, anything but delightful--at least most days. Let me just start out with the fact that I really don't enjoy heat. At all. Actually, it is more than a non-enjoyment--it is a full out dislike. I actually have a heat disorder where I am unbearably hot without a coat on when it is snowing in January in Utah, but that is another story.

Needless to say, the heat here, although Jordan is cooler than most places in the Middle East (weather-wise), is more than I wish I was suffering through. For those of you who were with me in Jerusalem, remember how I complained about the heat in February?

Well, it is almost August now, and except for this beautiful cold spell (can I call it cold?), is getting hotter every day.

I don't know how hot it is in Farenheight, but it has been between 38-43 degrees Celcius lately. Ok, that converted is hovering just around 100 degrees Farenheight--I guess I do know what it is.

That's hot.

The best part? Most people here don't believe in air conditioning. And if they do believe in it, they don't know what central air is--it is more like an air-conditioning fixture, which is usually broken, like the ones in our classroom that drip water on the poor students sitting under them. My house, too, does not have air conditioning, and I sleep on the fourth floor. Blessedly, my floor has an overabundance of windows which create a nice air tunnel, and I have a fan in my room (pointed straight at my bed!).

Amman's weather has one redeeming grace. Ok, two. The humidity is usually between 40-60%, so at least most of the time we are only dripping with our own sweat, not everyone else's (or something like that).

Secondly, the weather cools down quite a bit at night. It is beautiful. It is wonderful. I keep wondering how it gets 20 degrees cooler at night than it is in the day, but it is still a mystery.

The final good thing? I live in a province of Amman, Sweileh, and it is the cooler than Amman because it is built on a bunch of large hills and has excellent wind most of the time.

Blessedly.