*Hot*

What is the definition of ‘’hot?’’ My dictionary says ‘'caliente.’’ In this case, I think a Webster’s College Dictionary would serve me better than my Spanish to English one. Well, I’m the author here, so I’m going to define hot. Hot: (as defined by the Wilcox World Dictionary) 1. adj. the description used for a boy with looks, charisma, and that extra ‘’sparkle.’’ 2. the temperature of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
I thought I understood heat. Six years in Utah and various triple-digit summers after can do that to a girl. The said girl can become cocky. ‘’I love the heat,’’ she’ll say. ‘’I never burn,’’ she’ll say. ‘’I’ve danced in studios without air conditioning,’’ she’ll say. She thinks that a few eighty degree Fahrenheit days with humidity and a few more one hundred degree days without have prepared her for over one hundred degrees with humidity. This girl was very, very wrong.

There was a little town,
It’s colors green and brown
Full of adults and little kids.
And when it was hot
It was very, very hot.
And when it was hot,
It was humid.

Forgive the forced rhymes and focus instead on the meaning. You Sitkans know what I mean when I say seventy-five with humidity can kill your average born-and-bred South-East Alaskan. You Utahns know what I mean when I say one hundred and dry is perfect only for the swimming pools and snow cones. You Bolivians know what I mean when I say both afore mentioned groups are wimps to even think they know hot.
This is hot: Hot is laying on your bed in the smallest clothing you own, watching TV, and glancing down to see rivulets of sweat slide down your chest. Hot is changing your shirt three times a day in hopes of keeping away the smell of sweat. Hot is sleeping in just your underwear. Hot is showering twice a day, just to not stick to your chair in school. Hot is sweating in places you didn’t know it was possible to sweat: calves, forearms, toes (while wearing sandals.)
Bolivians take hot a little differently. For example, in Alaska, on a ‘’hot’’ day, we’d break out the salad, or sandwiches. We wouldn’t actually cook anything because the temperature was warm enough outside to want to put more heat inside. Here, my family, or at least our helper maid person, Aira (I’m not sure what her actual title is) believes in hot meals, even at noon thirty, when water left outside in a water bottle is a comfortable shower temperature. My parents still take their coffee or tea hot, and I always, ALWAYS, see people in jeans downtown. This is unnatural to me. I believe that man was made to react to certain conditions in nature. When it’s cold, put more clothes on and drink hot soup. When it’s hot, find the nearest swimming pool and order a lemonade. I find it slightly oxymoronic to sit in the shade outside in shorts and sandals, and drink Toddy (my favorite brand of coco mix that yes, I drank outside today in the heat.)
Although I often feel like I’m drowning in boiling water, I usually enjoy the climate here. My brain is enjoying the rest. Getting ready for school is a breeze because I never have look for a sweater, dig for a hat, or wonder which scarf will bring my outfit to the next level of coolness, while keeping me warm. Perhaps the biggest hassle is deciding which outfit will keep me the coolest while still being appropriate for the social situation. For example, I would gladly run around in my booty shorts with spandex underneath, but that looks a little dorky, and unprofessional in the migration office when I’m trying to renew my visa. Eventually I think I’m going to become dreadfully homesick for snow, and cold rain, but for now, Santa Cruz is still wonderful, and very, very hot.