Heat

Ok, it is officially hot* here. Sure, I realize that is hot pretty much everywhere now (well, except the southern half of the globe), although I am sure it is still somewhat temperate in the more northern regions of the world (lets not even talk about the arctic). Obviously, it is still cold on top of Mt. Olympus, because there are still some patches of snow, although they are shrinking daily. I like being cool, but don't misunderstand me, I don't like being cold. I love, love, LOVE air conditioning, ahhh, the artificial cool air in a darkened room when the sun is shining bright on the side of the building. It is a really good cure for migraines, that cool, dark room - and retreating to a cool, dark room is a term I call mushrooming, which I believe is a term invented by the Goddess, a good friend of mine who shall remain nameless (I have shamelessly stolen the usage of nicknames for friends and relatives from Aunt. B of Tiny Cat Pants). Anyway, I like mushrooming from time to time, especially in the summer, because we have one air conditioner in this apartment, and it happens to be in the bedroom.

Now, I wouldn't say Greece is a country with few air conditioners, because I see plenty, but if you rent an apartment, it will almost never have an air conditioner(not to mention you must provide your own stove and fridge). Forget about central air, because it seems that it doesn't really exist here, at least not in the way we know in America. Nor do they have window unit air conditioners, mainly because windows, in and of themselves, are not really common here. Most apartments seem to be built with glass doors that open onto balconies, sometimes in lieu of windows, sometimes you get a small window in a kitchen or bathroom. And I don't mean those cheap ass sliding glass doors that they have in America - these are strong, sturdy, opening and closing doors, which become very inconvenient in the spring and fall because when you want to open up, you have a big door poking out in the middle of the room.

Unfortunately, one thing Greece seems to be lacking is a screen door/window revolution. I don't know about you, but where I come from, you simply don't just open your door, to let all manner of bugs and other animals run inside your house (we actually had a neighborhood cat run in briefly when we first moved here). Whenever we visit the in-laws, we are beseiged by mosquitoes looking for their nightly fix, and always end up with numerous bites by the time we leave. This is not acceptable. Sure, we have three cats, one of whom is quite skilled in bug hunting and torture. But I don't want bugs flying around my house if I can help it, and just having doors open is practically an invitation. So I am quite happy when it becomes air conditioning season, and we can close everything up tight.

Well, as I said before, we only have the one air conditioner, and we bought it specifically because it is a kind that doesn't need to be installed, since we knew we were going to be moving ten million times and didn't want to end up outfitting numerous Greek apartments with free air conditioners. Alas, the layout of this apartment makes it almost impossible for the single air conditioner to cool the living room, even though it is of sufficient BTUs to do so. So we get hot, especially with two adults sitting side by side with three computers running. So I complain, and my husbands complain (yes, yes, my ONE husband COMPLAINS, sure I made a typo, sue me!), and the cats complain (see picture of what cats do when it is hot, ok, so this is what cats do all the time, but still).

When we move to Thessaloniki, we are installing a separate air conditioner in the living room, because the apartment belongs to my husband's family, and we don't mind outfitting it with free air conditioning. I can't wait.

*Note that my definition of hot means temperatures upwards of 85°