Observations of a polar bear

Okay, I have to admit that my last post, concerning rain, was a bit dramatic. But now let’s discuss the effect of cold weather, relatively speaking, on the population.

When it rains here in Rwanda, the temperatures are cooler than normal. This place is not like a tropical jungle, where rain turns the landscape into a steaming sauna with humidity so thick you can cut it with a machete (or panga, using a local term). No, because Rwanda is at a high elevation—over 5,000 feet—rainy days can be actually cold. Much like Northern California.

But coldness is relative. So when people ask me, Brian, aren’t you cold? Where’s your jacket? I reply, I don’t get cold. I don’t need a jacket. I didn’t bring any sweaters or jackets when I came to Rwanda. They don’t understand this at all. To them, 20˚C (68˚F) is cold. Anything below 15˚C (59˚F) is freezing, life-threatening. In that temperature range, people are bundled up in thick jackets and gloves. Good reason to stay home from work or school. Fortunately, it doesn’t get this cold very often—except in the middle of the night, when nobody notices anyway. And the population manages to survive.

But, as a polar bear (and to Africans, what is that, anyway?), I find myself running hot most of the time. Unfortunately, there is no ice floe around here to retire to. Not even a meat locker to step into every once in a while. And air conditioning? What’s that?

Speaking of ice, it is hard to get it in a drink except at the fancier restaurants. That’s because people don’t like cold, even in a drink. So if you order soda or beer, the server will ask, do you want that cold? That’s because the normal, sane person who is a non-foreigner will take soda or beer warm. Automatically. Now, in America, I cannot imagine anyone having beer that is not ice-cold. It would be like drinking spit (pardon the graphic comparison). But, hey, to each his own.

To be fair, they do have ice cream here. And it is indeed cold. But ice cream has not caught on too well in Rwanda. I have thought, wouldn’t it be great to open an ice cream shop here—probably the only one in town—but then you would have to overcome a huge cultural bias. Sure, it’s sweet and creamy, but it’s cold. Yuk. So there goes that idea.