Brrrrrrrr, Baby!

It may be hard to believe, but yes it actually gets cold here in West Africa. Mommy and daddy would say it is "cool," but to me and the West Africans here it is "Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr Cold!!!!" Okay, I will give you a little geography lesson:

We live in Sub-Sahara Africa, which means we are not in the desert, but on the fringe of it. Therefore, where we live is not like it is in the desert where it gets really really cold at night. We have trees that help contain some (most) of the heat from the day so it does not cool down significantly at night. However, there are a couple of factors that help it become "Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Cold!!!!" at this time of year. First, it is our "winter" season, so the temperatures drop during this time of year. Second, because it is the end of harvest lots of people are burning off their fields, so there is a haze in the sky from that which blocks some of the sun. And finally, this time of year is what they call Harmattan. This is the annual event where the eastern winds blow in sand from the Sahara. In addition to the sandy grit we get in our teeth, we also have a brown haze in the sky that helps block the sun.

Sooooooo, all of these things lead to a "Brrrrrrrrrrrrr Cold!!!!" time of year. There is your lesson for today :)

Anyway, so when I wake up in the morning I am very cold. Usually some of the first words out of my mouth are, "I'm cold. I need a coke (coat)." Then I bundle up in pants and either a jacket or sweatshirt and begin my day.

Here are some pictures of me bundled up in sweats and a sweatshirt complete with hood. In case you are wondering, I have two spoons in my hand because often when I have cereal for breakfast I have two types of cereal. Therefore, I obviously need two spoons; one for each hand, one for each type of cereal. It helps I am ambidextrous.