dry season

Oh the wonders of dry season. When I came home today after lunch I realized my house smelled of smoke from the fires that had been burning last night. They have started to burn off the tall dead grass around the school and because of where my house is situated (somewhat near to the farm boarder) I had smoke coming at me from 2 sides. Doug, the head of maintenance wants to make sure they do a really good job this year. Appparently last year it wasn't done properly and some accidental fires got started that needed emergency attention. I don't remember hearing about it last year though. Anyhow, it doesn't matter how quickly you close your windows, the smoke and ash somehow manage to make their way in. This would also explain the reason i can't get my cold to go away - it's being aggrivated by smoke allergies. I kind of have a love/hate thing with the fires. I really don't enjoy the smoke and ash, but i have to say i'm quite mesmorised by the fires! i haven't taken any pictures this year (have enough from previous years) but i have enjoyed the flames from a distance. another part of the dry season is the cold. it seems like the longer i stay here, the more affected by the cold i am. for those of you from canada (or other northern countries) you will think i am a big wimp but this morning when i woke up the thermometer (on the inside of my window) said 15 degrees Celcius. i'm sorry, but this is FAR TOO cold for JUNE! yes, i realize i am in the southern hemisphere so it's technically winter here, but my body doesn't seem to understand that. i currently have 2 comforters on my bed and sleep in my flannels. if it was cold all the time it wouldn't seem so bad but then during the day the temperature is up in the high 30's! it's so hard for a body to acclimatize! one thing i really enjoy about this time of year though is that i can always have a HOT shower! as our water is solar-heated, this is not always the case during the rainy season; especially if it has rained for several days in a row. so i have been drinking a lot of tea and having a lot of hot showers to warm me up. i'm looking forward to going home and "warming up" in Canada :) can't wait for the sunny days at the beach!