
Hot and Bothered
People, it’s hot.
For just over a month I’ve been living in a part of the Dominican Republic that knows how to bring the heat. Like, every day. From about ten in the morning until well into the night, that sun will get ya. You can be walking, sitting, or standing and you will be sweating. The humidity is sometimes overwhelming.
That is not a reflection on the people or the culture, really. It is just about the weather. Given that it is summer, it is hot in a lot of places right now. I don’t know if it is any worse here, per se, but I do know that I have very limited access to good ol’ A/C I’ve been spoiled by my whole life growing up in the States.
I go to bed trying to cool down enough to stop sweating — only to wake up sweaty. It can really wear you down. Because it is so hot, I’ve not really slept well for over a month. That doesn’t help your attitude (or anything really). I wake up: sweat. I eat: sweat. I work: sweat. I sit down: sweat. I go to bed: sweat. Comprendes? SWEAT.
I don’t know what your natural reaction to being hot is, but mine it to become more and more like a troll.
Not like the cute, toy trolls. Like the ones with furrowed brows 24/7 and that make grunting noises that seem unjustified. The kind you don’t really make cutesy movies about. So, basically I’ve tended to be more of a monster than a “pleasant presence” to be around. Just ask my best friend, Nick, who has been with me the entire time.
When it is hot like it is here, things seem to go more slowly. Actually, they do go more slowly. People move around slower. There’s no need to rush from thing to thing — it’s gonna be hot wherever you are going next. Walking already feels like you’re swimming through the air sometimes, so why run? One positive of this is that you can take time to enjoy things. Which is nice and all — unless you’re a troll, so I don’t really always enjoy the going slow.
One day we had a pretty simple task to do where we work: hang a picture on the wall. I promise we do more than this, but it was just something needing to be done and others were busy. So we set out one morning to accomplish this task, thinking it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes (because it shouldn’t).
Three hours later,
we finally had everything we needed to get the thing on the wall, but no electricity to actually drill into the concrete. Maybe you can imagine how a troll would feel about this? If so, then you know what my feelings on the situation.
The picture has hung up on the wall for several weeks now, and I’m over the frustration of that experience. Mostly due to the fact that every other task or project has gone similarly. Thank God the reason we are here is more than these seemingly-easy tasks, otherwise I might actually be a troll now instead of just occasionally acting like one.
These things (the heat, the humidity, and the humbling trial of doing simple tasks here) in no way reflect the entirety of my internship this summer or how I feel about my experience. It does reflect some constants we are dealing with while being here. Other things factor into this experience (a language barrier, a dependence on others because of a very confusing public transportation system, a great host family, some incredible people, many cultural differences, expectations met and not-so-met, delicious ice cream, movies in Spanish, an occasional trip to the beach, a nice breeze, and the best fried chicken you’ve ever tasted) other than weather and “island-time”. So this post is not a commentary on my time here. Just an observation of a couple things that have pushed me to the edge.
While I never would have wished to sweat this much or be this frustrated at trivial things, I am starting to realize that it wouldn’t matter if I were at home in the USA or here in the DR. I would still complain about the heat and the struggles we have doing things that shouldn’t take as long as they do.
How many summers have I complained I was hot when at night I was cold enough to use the covers? How many times have I been troll-like when trying to accomplish something that wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be? How many times have I looked at my situation (whatever it was) and found the worst thing about it to think about? “A lot of times” is the answer. Like, almost all the time. That’s a sad realization.
I’m not saying I have a solution to always see past those things, because I don’t. I’m still sitting here sweating, dreading how long it will take to do my laundry tomorrow. But I hope that I can sometimes keep this in perspective during my remaining time here. Too much time was spent the last week being consumed with thoughts of the sweat and the things that make me want to swear. I’ve embraced the troll in me too much. I’ve given myself the excuse to complain.
To be fair, it’s hard to be this overheated all the time. But right now my host mom is making a really delicious meal for us. And there’s a Pizza Hut nearby that has such cold drinks. The church here we go to is incredibly supportive of this ministry we’re here working for. Dominican people are pretty dang kind (once they stop staring at me because I’m so pale…). I’m on an adventure with my best friend, who freakin’ rocks. We are surrounded by some incredible people whose lives and stories break you and build you back up.
Above all, the Lord is so good. He is constant. He is caring. He hears us. He is working through us, and he is repeatedly lavishing His grace and love on us. He is laughing with us. He is Almighty, always. I have been missing that in my daily thoughts, and I don’t want to again.
As constant as my sweating is here, He proves to be even more constant.
I wonder what the “heat” in your life is right now. Is it family issues? Uncertainty about your future? Maybe you’re just tired of being sweaty! What’s got you hot and bothered right now?
It’s okay to acknowledge those things and vent about them to those who are close to you from time to time. That said, we have to always trust that God is good, even when we are “sweating” constantly. His goodness is not affected by my American desire to use time effectively or my Dominican state of being hindering that. And whatever is getting you down right now isn’t hindering God’s goodness, either.
