Sunday 29 May 2011

Winter in Port Elizabeth

I know it is getting to be winter. The school sent out notification that winter uniforms are now required.  People are wearing scarves and I noticed that one of the mom's was wearing her shearling coat the other day at pick up time.  The owner of the gardening service that we hired to clean out the flower beds (that had been neglected for 3 years while the house was vacant) was wearing his long sleeved shirt and wool sweater and I'm not sure who brought the touque to Port Elizabeth, but they are wearing them too.  I'm told that swimming season is over and no one will be daring their pools until some time in November or December. 

Thing is, today, the forcast is for 21C and sunny.  Now, I will admit that shearling coat and scarf day was a meagre 17C, but still, this is winter (or late fall anyway) in Port Elizabeth. 

My kids are still bugging me every day to go swimming.  They have been since we got here.  Paul and I are wearing short sleeves and unless the windy city is living up to it's name we don't bother with jackets or sweaters, yet.  People here cannot comprehend what winter in Canada is like.  Wind chill of -30C is so far from thier reality and it's so strange that there are so many people who have never seen snow, when I've known it all my life.  I wonder what I will be like after we've been here for 2 or 4 years.  Will I be wearing a shearling coat at 17C.  Will my internal thermostat change over the time that we are here.  Only time will tell.  For now, we are those weird Canadians that don't feel the cold.

Next post - The Garden Route

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