When I got to DC, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the weather here was much milder than what I was used to in Kentucky. For about a week straight, I was constantly remarking about how good it felt outside, and then one day...it happened. The weather went from amazing to absolutely unbearable! I mean thunderstorms for like three days in a row, and when it wasn’t raining it seemed to be a hundred plus degrees outside. I had made the proclamation that Kentucky was most definitely hotter than DC. When I talked to family and friends I was telling them, “It’s hot here, but this is nothing. At home I would never be able to walk around like this.” Now that statement is completely and utterly false. The absolute truth is it’s ten times hotter here than in Kentucky… in fact I’m sure that it’s about five times hotter here than in hell! I have never in my life experienced this degree of heat outside of a sauna, not even in Florida. Reasonably, you’d think the ongoing rain showers would have the effect of making it cooler… but that’s so not the case because apparently the rain only makes it even steamier outside. This weather would certainly make me very grateful to have the car I left at home.
As if the battle I’m having with the weather this week wasn’t enough, I had to learn the hard way that my standby shoe of choice, the flip flop, may not be well-suited for the terrain of DC. Saturday after I spent most of the weekend in my apartment, I ventured out that night figuring there was fun to be had in the city and I needed to find it. Only I found that my plans were again threatened by this weirdo weather. It wasn’t raining yet, but it was thundering and lightening so I thought I better high tail it back to the Metro station. As I was racing the rain back to the Metro, my shoe broke…great! So now I’m walking on the Metro barefoot and trying not to think of the things that have been in contact with the same ground I am now walking on. Through being barefoot on the Metro and tiptoeing across streets, I'm praying that I don’t step on a piece of glass or anything else that might be just cause for a tetanus shot. With the odds stacked against me and on the verge of tears, I made it safely back to my apartment to talk over the night’s events with my roommates. It was then I decided it is going to be tennis shoes and umbrellas for me if I want my stay in this city to be a success.
If you don’t already have working relationship with any weather forecast websites. You should get one, I recommend weather.com or maybe even weather alerts on a google desktop. Even though the flip flop has become a shoe staple in America I would STRONGLY advise against them. Not only because I’ve broken a couple of them since I’ve been here, but also because I saw a young lady get her foot stepped on by another lady wearing stilettos on the Metro. I don’t think any further explanation is needed. That’s absolutely no way to start your morning commute.
Pictures are soon to come! When I’m going back and forth to work, I make a conscious effort to try and blend in, but at some point I will do the “tourist thing” and take some pictures. I’ll make that a goal for the week!
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