Friday, August 1--Acclimating

I fully intended to make the best of the situation at the Japanese hotel—after all, I survived the first night without losing any teeth or gaining any bruises in the bathroom. But an opportunity to move into an American-sized hotel presented itself, and I must say Jim and I both breathed a sigh of relief. We quickly packed up all of our stuff and transferred to a hotel with two “real” queen-size beds, a double dresser, a TV with American channels, a closet, a kitchenette, and a bathroom with a two-inch step-down (can’t win with the bathroom floors!).

The weather here defies my limited meteorological understanding. The temperatures are very similar to home this time of year, but holy crap, is it hot! When the actual temperature is in the 80s, the feel-like temperature is 99. The sun feels more intense than back home, which it shouldn’t, given we are at nearly the same latitude. The humidity is oppressive. I guess everything combines in just the right way to create total misery. Within moments of stepping outside in clean, fresh, DRY clothes, we are dripping wet. I am discovering sweat glands I did not know I had, and quickly running out of dry undergarments!