Change in Seasons

When I first arrived here in March of last year, I was surprised at the weather. It was still warm at that point, but not nearly as hot as I’d expected. As fall faded into winter and the months passed, it began to get cold. And I mean cold. July and August are the coldest months here in South Africa, which is a hard adjustment in itself, but I hadn’t expected or planned for the weather to get as cold as it does. Now this year, I thought I was better prepared, but the cold has snuck up on me again and while during the day is nice and sunny, I freeze at night.



Africa just isn’t prepared for cold weather. No one seems to have central heating and the houses are built to contain the cold during the summer so the buildings stay freezing all day long in the winter. The only place I feel I can truly warm up is in my car with my heater on full blast.



Summer months here means rain, lots and lots of rain. Everything is green and lush during those months. Wicked hot and the sheer amount of bugs completely terrifies me, but it’s absolutely beautiful. Winter is another story. Everything dries up, the green turning brown and ugly. Still, I enjoy these months. I may look like a marshmallow with all of my layers, but it’s better than sweating buckets with bugs the size of Texas crawling under my door.