Current Status: Dying

So…hot season has begun. As I read the needle of my little Swiss army knife’s thermometer, I realize I don’t particularly like hot season (the maximum temperature for the thermometer is 120* and the needle has passed that mark). While I have adjusted considerably well to the hot temperatures of Burkina, some days it is almost unbearable. The heat would not be so bad if their was relief from it, but there isn’t. Although the majore lets me put water bottles in the vaccination freezer, so that is pretty cool. The silver lining of hot season is that it is also mangoooooo seasooonnn! and avvvoccaddoo seasoooonn! I think those are God’s gifts to Peace Corps volunteers who have to go through hot season in Burkina. I eat huge mangoes like there is no tomorrow. I have come to think of myself as a mango snob because I won’t even eat the small to medium sized mangoes; only the big ones will suffice. The smaller the mango, the more fibrous it is. On a random tangent, this is perfect meal. I have made it for every lunch and dinner for the last three weeks: benga (beans), with a piment salsa, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, avocados, and sometimes corn. Followed up by a big mango. If I close my eyes, it reminds me of Chipotle burrito salad minus about half the ingredients, but so good, nonetheless. Although, I can only have the avocados on the Zabre market days because since it is so hot, the food spoils if I try to save it for the next day. All the other vegetables I can get to last at least until the next day. Anything cooked goes bad after a couple of hours. So there is the heat factor to deal with as well as the constant sweating. When I first arrived in Burkina, it seemed so un-Godly hot, but now, those temperatures were not so bad. I don’t really sweat, I just glisten. However, for the first couple of times that I sat down and later get, up my pants or skirt from my butt all the way to my knees would be soaked. I was like wtf? Did I sit a puddle of water? How did I not notice and why do I keep on doing it? Come to find out, it was not a puddle of water…Older volunteers have told me in previous hot seasons they would be popping Benedryl like M&M’s just so they could fall asleep at night. Even though it’s hot, the season so far has been milder than previous ones. The erratic and short mango rains during the night make sleeping more bearable. There have even been a couple of times where I had to put a towel over me and wear my Santa Clause Christmas socks that my parents sent me. It is too hot to sleep inside my house, so I sleep outside.