I am sure most of you don’t want to hear it, but I have been pleasantly surprised to find that I am not always cold here like I am at home.  (In Spanish there’s a term for this, ‘frilajera,’ but there isn’t really a good English translation for the word. ) Even in summer or buildings where the rest of the room is sweating the pounds off, I have managed to be cool or just comfortable.  I just assumed it was something with how my body distributed heat or a biological defect that will forever be a part of my sweater-filled life, but Madrid has proven me wrong.

In the last week alone, I can think of at least three times where I was stripping layers off or changing from long sleeves into one of the few t-shirts I actually brought with me.  This really is remarkable, considering I am frequently chastised for not taking my coat off when I come inside simply because I need the extra warmth.

I am a firm believer in the spirit-lifting qualities of sunshine and blue skies.  They make pictures more beautiful and travel in all forms easier.  (I know this way too well from my adventures these past months.)  The parks are full of people looking for a place to enjoy the weather and the restaurants get more business with their street side tables.  Of course, energy costs are less and less harmful.  The windows are open so houses and buildings have fresh air circulating and at night the cool air is perfect for sleeping without waking-up stuffy.  It may come as a surprise to some, but there was a study about how the air was actually cleaner in a hospital with the windows open than all the fancy technological systems trying to do the same thing.  Nature trumps all again.

Despite my pale skin and greasy, smelly sunscreen filled childhood, I am a self-declared sun lover.  I do realize that my argument is a bit pointless, though, because we can’t all go out and buy some sunshine from our local hardware store to get all these benefits, but I can rave about it and sing John Denver, can’t I?

Maybe it’s because Madrid’s heat is a different kind of heat than Philly, Michigan, Minnesota, Chicago (all the places I have lived)?  A rational thought might be that I am a bit closer to the equator (by about 1 degree) or the heat is drier (drought is a huge problem here).  Or perhaps because my temperature is more constant throughout the day from being in rooms with the windows open all the time instead of going into freezing air-conditioned buildings and back outside.  I do not know, but I appreciate the warm sunshine (I haven’t seen snow in a long time; all the storms came after I left for Spain) and I am glad to know that one less should-be-normal function of my body works.