Summertime

It is summertime in Bangalore and the heat wave is not letting up. April and May are the hot months and the locals say it is unusually hot this year. Late afternoon thunder storms are welcomed, bringing with them cool winds. In fact, at the first sign of rain (it’s been five months), Alanna runs around outside until she is soaked, singing, dancing and doing cartwheels!

Some say the heat is a side effect of cutting down too many trees in the city. Construction continues in every corner of the town and it seems there is a price to pay. For most families the heat makes it difficult to sleep. They can open the windows to let some air in but then the mosquitoes come in too. Keep the windows closed and it feels like a sauna.

We have fans and air conditioning – most, of course don't. However, the electrical can only handle one A/C on at a time and three fans (if we are lucky) or else the entire electrical trips.

The drawback for us is not being able to sit outside on the (covered) patio. After 9:00am it is just too hot. Walking a block to the mall produces such a sweat, one needs to bring along a change of clothes. Thank goodness for the pool - at least the water has warmed up to a nice temperature now. For much of the year it was on the cold side.

Of course the flowers and trees are blooming, our bananas are finished for the year, but the papayas keep on coming. And now it is mango season and the little rain that we do get ripens them, making them juicy and wonderful to eat or blend into mango lassi - yum!