I admit it! I am one of those people!

As a hardy East Coaster use to cold, even frigid cold  weather, blizzards and lots of snow you would think that I could handle winter in Africa. Well, this morning I officially wimped out.

At 6:00 am this morning I went to get out of bed and head for the shower. Instead, I crawled back under the covers after switching on the kettle for a cup of tea and turned on my air conditioner which also provides heat when needed. This morning I desperately needed that little touch of warmth before I could bravely face the world outside of my bed.

While I love it cool to sleep, I am not such a fan of getting up in the morning to cold floors and air. And quite frankly there is nothing worse than a steamy hot shower followed by frigid air temperatures. This morning I figured it was about 7 or 8 degrees outside and inside when I was attempting to leave the warmth of my cozy bed. Buche told me that it was actually 5 degrees outside at 6 am this morning. This fact he imparted only after laughing and making fun of me describing my frantic return to bed this morning.

In my defense, the houses here are not built with heating systems other than what the air conditioning systems provide. Nor are homes constructed using any kind of insulation. My apartment does not get any direct sunlight due the direction it faces and the shade providing roof over my patio area. While this helps to keep my rooms slightly cooler from the heat of the summer time sun, it also means that my apartment is not warmed up at all during the day by the glorious winter sunshine.

So I am happy that I took all information provided to me about the coldness of winters here before coming to Botswana seriously. Thankfully I have warm thermal and flannel clothes and even slippers which I never wear at home. Guess who has now decided slippers are a good thing? Although at times I really have to wonder because I never wore any of this stuff back home in Canada where the temperatures dip to far greater extremes. But it is really like comparing apples to oranges.

Regardless, I now know to have slippers and a warm sweater on hand close to my bed for early mornings so I am not making the mad dash back to bed. And oh, by the way, I will also continue to wear short sleeved tops because by 10 am I am sweating like a pig if I am not dressed in something sleeveless.

So early tomorrow morning I will dress for the arctic when I get out of bed but when I dress for the day it will be summer attire with a jacket or light sweater on top proving that I can be just as adaptable as the weather here in Sub-Sahara Africa.