Man, it is HOT! It is strange though, no one really knows how hot it is. You see, in China when it gets above a certain temperature ( I think it is 40 degrees C. or 104 F) then people don't have to work because of the heat. But it NEVER gets above 40 degrees. It is amazing how hot that 40 degrees can feel! We are VERY glad that we have air conditioners. However, to go anywhere you have to get out in the heat. It is not the same as in America. In the US, you have to walk in the heat to your overheated car and then blast the AC until you feel better, then when you get out, you have to walk a minute or two and enter an air conditioned building. Here, we have to walk to the bus stop or at least to the gate of the apartment complex to get a taxi. Then the air in the bus or taxi may or may not work. Then we get out in the heat again and walk some more to the store or where ever you are going. The AC here is not as cold as in the US. Also it does not really cool down that much at night here. I think it is because we live in a big city. All the buildings and stuff just hang on to the heat.
Our apartment complex has two swimming pools. We heard that they did not open until 4 in the afternoon, but when Jon and I were out the other morning we saw that the gate was open and there were people swimming. So we decided that we would go swimming after lunch. The kids were really excited.
I smeared them all with sunscreen, we grabbed towels and floaties and were off. When we got to the pool, the gate was closed and locked. But there were people swimming. So a little locked gate didn't slow us down much ( it was only two feet high).
The people swimming were really just three little boys, and when we got closer we realized that the boys were naked as jaybirds!
Their clothes and house keys were strewn about on the steps of the kiddie pool. They were also using the lifesaving rings as their personal floaties. They were having a great time.
After we were there for a little while a couple of guys showed up and then 3 teenage girls. Then one boy about 9 or so yelled something at Jon and he answered. Jon thought he asked us if we paid and then when Jon told him, "no" the kid jumped the gate and started to strip out of his clothes. I wondered if he really asked if Jon was wearing clothes or not....
That kid jumped in naked and started having a conversation with us. He wasn't shy at all, on any level. We only stayed about an hour. The water was really very warm. Then we came home, took showers, and had a long nap! We will go swimming again, soon, but probably in the morning when the pool is really open. Maybe everyone will have their clothes on then.
P.S. Just for the record, all of the Hardins were wearing bathing suits.
