winter blues

Winter here has been more of a challenge than I anticipated. Coming from the bitter cold Iowa winters with mounds of snow and icy wind, I figured a winter in the Middle East where it only got down to the 50s wouldn't be so bad. I was wrong. This year Bahrain has had record low temperatures. It got down to 6*C, so 40-something. Again, considering my background, that really isn't that bad. Actually, I'm sure some of you are praying for some 40* days right about now. :) However, what they failed to tell me was that this country does not know how to deal with cold weather, meaning nothing is heated. When it's 40 outside, my bedroom is also 40. I go to school to teach all day in a 40* classroom, and then I come home to a 40* apartment. We have one small space heater in our living room, but it kills all the power in the room, so we couldn't use it. I never thought I would freeze to death on an island in the Gulf, but I came very close. For the past month now I have been wearing roughly 4 shirts a day. I started teaching with my coat on and wearing my gloves in between classes. I came home and crawled back into bed with piles of blankets on me. It was a truly miserable experience. Then to make matters worse, I caught a cough and cold about three weeks ago that still hasn't completely left. Fortunately, the end is in sight. Each day gets a bit warmer. Now the air outside is warmer than my apartment, so I'm opening the windows to let in the warm air! This week is supposed to get up into the 70s. I'm grateful for the chance to let my body thaw.