The Simple Pleasure of Air Conditioning
Last Thursday Brittany graduated from her two year MSW program. Our apartment lease ended on Saturday, and by Monday morning at 5:15 AM we would be on a flight to Colombia. In between these 80 hours, we needed to pack up and clean our entire apartment, say goodbye to friends, and sell our 11-year-old Altima.
On top of all this, in the three days prior to graduation Brittany had to say goodbye to her clients (asylum seekers who have been survivors of torture) at the Marjorie Kovler Center and speak at her grandfather’s funeral. Oh yeah, and our families were in town for graduation weekend/funeral and were staying with us at our apartment.
To say it was a rollercoaster of a week would not fairly describe it. While we were in the midst of it, I referred to it as the storm before the calm.
While we were about to embark on a 6 month adventure of a lifetime filled with mountain treks and chicken busses, what we really needed more than anything in moment was a vacation.
So this is what we planned. The first week of our six month journey would be a week of R and R at the aptly named Casa Relax in Cartagena.
R & R
And on this first day R and R is what we did. It felt good to slow down. To do nothing. To have nowhere to be. No to do list to take care of.
We read by the pool. We tested out the hammocks. We lingered.
Cartagena brings the heat
And then it got hot. Real hot.
With the temperature hovering around 90 degrees with 85% humidity, I came to the realization that I am not so much the intrepid adventure seeker and introspective soul searcher I had fancied myself just 24 hours before. I was merely a wilted lab rat in one of Maslow’s experiments.
Forget self actualization. I’ll settle for air conditioning.
My greatest discovery of the afternoon was finding the exact spot six feet out from our hotel room air conditioning unit where if you stood straight up and opened up your arms like Christ the Redeemer you would be in the direct path (with maximum exposed surface area) of the cool air blowing out of this glorious machine.
Stripped down to my boxers without anything to do or anywhere to be I stood here in a state of pure bliss.
By nightfall, I had become an expert air condition seeker. And when we went out for dinner at a hip open air bar down the street from our hotel I had no trouble instantly finding the magic spot.
So far Cartagena = simple pleasures. And I have to admit, I’m pretty into it.
