Spring in Baghdad

It’s hot.

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The parking garage I work in is filled with European built portable housing/working boxes made of plastic and metal that are individually air conditioned. The wall units vent their hot exhaust air into the parking garage, which is fortified and sandbagged and has poor airflow. Needless to say, our offices are 72 degrees but everywhere else stays about 120 to 150 degrees, literally.

There are supposed to be exhaust fans sucking the hot air out of the parking garage but they are broken.

A few kilometeres away, we leave the air conditioners on in our living areas 24 hours a day, because if they are turned off while we are at work, the living space takes several hours to cool down to a bearable temperature again on our return. It’s not healthy to sit in a an oven box for any length of time beyond maybe half an hour.
I’m told this is only a prelude to the heat we will experience in a few short months. Some of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines lay out by the pool that used to belong to Saddam Hussein. I think they are crazy. One member of my unit sunburned herself severely a few weeks ago. I’m too old and canny to think that my body wants more than a few minutes of direct sun exposure in a day.
Let the young ones soak it up. Some of them will learn in time to avoid skin cancer. I’m not sure yet that I did, growing up in Haiti, Bangladesh and Florida. Time will answer the question, as it does all questions.