Well, yesterday the weather was lovely - the high didn't quite break 100 degrees. When I got up early to go cycling, it was pleasantly cool, and even when I got back it was not too hot for J to take his breakfast outside in the garden. This is a short-lived break from the worst heat, but the temperatures are slowly but consistently getting more reasonable.
One measure: when we arrived, the cold water tap was running at about 105 degrees - that's too hot to stand in the shower, even for me. It would take almost two hours for the kids' bath to cool off enough for them to get in. Now it's closer to 100, which is OK for a hot shower but still too hot for the kids' bath. This is a few degrees worse than last year because our new house is around the corner from the old, and the water tank in the garden here gets less time in the shade. Also, it helped to turn off hot water heater. Not sure why that affects the cold tap, but it brought the temps down a few degrees.
I went to the big plant nursery outside town yesterday - it's truly huge, a worthy side trip for anyone who enjoys that sort of thing. I bought a bunch of things for the back garden - some hibiscus, canna, adenium, and a lemon tree. Those should add some interest and fill the space out a little better 'till the real growing season starts at the end of October. I'm also planning to have the maintenance men here pull up some more of the bricks (the whole yard is bricked in except for a few smallish garden spots with one lovely tree and two rather dehydrated climbing plants) so I can green up the yard some more. I think everyone here is suffering from a green deficit.
Everyone here is well and we're enjoying ourselves. Again, our daughter is suffering worst from homesickness and missing her Pittsburgh friends. We've had a series of fits in the evenings, pining for her best buddy. Fortunately it hasn't been quite as bad as last year - she's sad but not making herself sick over it - because she has at least a few kids her age in the compound to join up with. In fact, the kids have about doubled their base group of buddies in the compound, which means we can enjoy their company without totally monopolizing their time. Another positive development. As for me, I still have some kinks to work out, but I'm definitely heading in the right direction.
