Winter is finally upon us here in Baghdad and it has caused me pause to reflect on the differences between the seasons.  There was no autumn, it just went from scorching hot to rainy and cold, so there went my favorite season (again). 

I’ve been thinking about which is worse, summer or winter, so I’ve come up with a list to delineate some of the differences bewteen seasons.

Pros of summer:

• Everywhere is air conditioned and the relief going from outside to inside is a great feeling
• Sunny, sunny, sunny
• You never have to wear anything different from your usual uniform
• You can sit outside at 11:00pm, or heck, 3:00am, and never get so much as a shiver
• Our cafe makes great iced/blended coffee drinks
• No mud!

Cons of summer:

• Everywhere you go, you sweat
• You can’t take off your clothes to cool off - always long pants, long shirt, boots, hat, etc.
• The water is perpetually hot and you can’t take a cold shower to cool off.  And as soon as the shower is done and you step out of the air conditioned bathroom, you’re instantly sweaty again
• Blinding, scorching sun - not a cloud to be seen to provide any relief.  Which leads me to…
• Not a drop of moisture, ever
• Dust storms
• Any surface you touch is hot, hot, hot
• For me, the constant threat of dehydration as I hate water.

Pros of winter:

• You’re not always sweaty
• You can always put on a sweater if you get cold
• Our cafe makes great hot coffee drinks
• The air feels fresher, especially after the rain
• My fleece hat looks “fetching” on me
• Pretty sunsets and just skies in general from all the clouds
• No threat of heat exhaustion

Cons of winter:

• MUD
• The hot water always runs out when I’m trying to take a shower
• More mud
• Perpetual sweeping to clean the mud/dirt back out of wherever you are
• No matter how frequently you sweep there will still be more mud
• The bathroom trailer is about 300 feet from my trailer and the commute is awful when you’re just waking up and have to pee really really bad and it is cold outside; let’s not talk about when it’s also raining
• The benefit of shaving my legs lasts about 15 seconds
• Mud anyone?

Here’s something to make you think:

Today’s forecast for Baghdad, Iraq:

High: 69°F / Low: 51°F 

Today’s forecast for Milwaukee, WI:

High: 63°F / Low: 48°F