Youth Talk

The last time I checked, we were living in a desert.

And unless we’re all being lied to, the coldest deserts are meant to get is around the temperature Europeans sunbathe in. Having lived in Bahrain for pretty much my whole life, cold weather is a luxury we seldom had access to.

While the temperature decline is naturally obvious, it never sustained beyond a month or two. Indeed, the annual occurrence of a few rain showers often brought about a slight cold spell that ended as randomly as it began.

And, while we all wanted the cool weather to last longer, I don’t think any of us were expecting the ongoing ‘cold wave’ that seems to have engulfed the entire region. Over the last week, my mother’s restricted herself to the confines of her warm bed, with the heating on pretty much all day.

I have taken to walking around our house wrapped in a massive blanket, praying the constant movement will warm my bones. My prayers haven’t been answered so far. Don’t get me wrong- I love cool weather, but honestly 7 degrees is far too cold.

It’s become almost impossible to stay outside for long periods of time, what with the wind slashing at your face and numbing your hands. Put it this way, you know it’s bad when even your pet dog has to wear her rarely used sweater.

My dad recently got back from a business trip in Sofia, Bulgaria, where temperatures have dipped to -1 degrees. And yet, in a remark to me, he asserted that he felt colder walking around our compound than he did while walking around the Bulgarian capital, courtesy of the mighty Bahraini winds. I don’t even know how I’m going to survive at university.