Culture...and Weather

Hello! Good Saturday afternoon to you all. Yes Abbi, it’s really me. :o)

South African weather – it’s hard to predict, except in the summer time. You can always count on it to be hot – no matter what!

This is a fitting topic for the next in the Culture articles (previously posted at www.mamaruti.blogspot.com ). Yesterday was hot. Already?! Summer comes about a month earlier to Tzaneen than it does most other places in South Africa. It was over 85 ‘in the shade’ with humidity. This morning, we woke up to find a welcomed cloudy, dreary day and only 65 degrees. What a difference from yesterday!

We are in the southern hemisphere, not far south from the Tropic of Capricorn. Our seasons are opposite of yours. We are currently coming out of our winter – or whatever you call it when it doesn’t get any cooler than 40 at night and 50’s during the day (and that’s on a COLD day). Usually for our area, the winter, dry season is from June-August. Our summer, rainy season is from September-May.

There is no Spring or Fall as we know it in the USA. However in the mountains that run between where we live and where the Wilhites live, one can have the blessing of seeing the leaves on a few trees change to familiar hues of red and orange as cooler weather comes in June. Imagine for a moment, what it’d be like without Spring and Fall! We missionaries over here tend to miss those seasons we’ve been accustomed to most of our lives.

Summer is quite oppressive here in the subtropical paradise, as they call it, of Tzaneen. Because of the greenhouse effect, so to speak of being surrounded by majestic mountain ranges, we have a hot, humid, subtropical climate. Even just over the mountains and through the jungle to the Wilhites’ (and hour west of us through the mountain pass) will almost always bring a drier, cooler climate. Oftentimes we will leave Tzaneen sweltering and wish we’d brought our jackets when we arrive in Pietersburg! We find it humorous that when reporting the temperatures in South Africa, two temps are always given; the temperature in the shade and the temperature in the sun. When it says 100 degrees in the shade, there really is no point in knowing what it is in the sun. Who cares at that point, right?! That is what it takes for such beautiful scenery and vegetation. Ask anyone who has visited. We love the beauty that surrounds us here. I will be sharing pictures of Tzaneen in the future.

Winter is always a welcomed break from the heat, at least to us. However many die during this time of year because of such primitive living conditions for many. The coldest we have ever seen the thermometer read was 39 degrees, one time. What makes it seem so cold in the evenings and mornings is that the houses have no central heating as we Americans know it. Most houses have complete ceramic tile floors and brick walls (or worse), so the house gets quite chilly! A few space heaters here and there help alot!

Having opposite seasons is different indeed! That means that we’re enjoying a braai (African BBQ), the best watermelon, and sweating our brains out on Christmas Day. It also means that the only time anyone feels like roasting a turkey is for the 4th of July! :o) Think about that for a moment! When you are grocery shopping around Christmas time, and it’s 100 degrees out – in the shade – and you hear Bing Crosby singing, “White Christmas”; you just want to fall on the floor laughing hysterically. Most people here cannot even fathom what snow must be like. They laugh when we explain that Christmas to us, is cold and white. :o)

It’s all in your perspective!!

Have a blessed Lord's Day tomorrow...we are praying for services LVBC!