A Note on Heat

This is just to say we've come out of a crazy heat wave which to my mind gave new meaning to clichés such as "suffocating" or "opressive" heat. 

On Tuesday of last week the car thermometer read 35ºC (95ºF) on my 8:30am morning commute (!).  We had daily highs of 113º+ throughout the week, and even by 10:30 pm the temperatures only dropped to around 100ºF. Saying simply that it was hot is a terrible understatment; being outside was like sitting in an oven with a heavy blanket wrapped around you. 

Heat and sun are violent phenomena in Spanish, and with good reason.  They say the heat aprieta (squeezes) and the sun's rays pegan fuertes--hit hard.  After a week like this last one, I'd say the lexicon is quite appropriate.  The brutally sunny, sweltering heat of Spain is anything but hospitable and usually far from plesant.

Thankfully, the worst has passed. 

...Now the highs of between 100º-105º feel refreshingly, cool by comparison. ;)