Wueh! After spending most of this year at the Coast, where there’s little call for long trousers, jackets or pullovers, I had lulled myself into believing that 25 degrees Celsius and a breeze was chilly.
As I was preparing for my trip to the big, polluted city that some now call the Big Smoke, someone shared a cartoon meme with me. The sketch featured God sitting in a lounge chair, with an angel asking what was in the fridge freezer next to Him. His reply: Nairobi.
The meme may have been meant as a joke, but it really wasn’t. My first urgent purchase in the city was a cheap and cheerful warm hoodie. I paid for it and insisted on wearing it immediately. Ordinarily, my fastidiousness about such things would have meant the item was laundered before I wore it, but this was no time for such symptoms of OCD.
Despite the fact that the hoodie (remember, it was not a top-of-the-range one) left the clothes I was already wearing covered in fluff that resembled excessive dandruff, I was not particularly bothered.
Meanwhile, I have penned another note to myself. The hoodie, which has since been laundered a couple of times, will, until further notice, be the first item I pack whenever I’m heading to our nation’s capital and other cooler climes.
The weather reminded me of a joke I used to hear. The premise was that it must have been this sort of weather that encouraged the initial British colonial settlers to stay here — as it was just like home.
It also reminded me of arriving in Nairobi one July many years ago, after leaving an unusually hot and torrid London, and experiencing the chattering of my teeth as I disembarked from the aircraft at JKIA.
I thought I would get used to the change in weather after a couple of days, but I was mistaken. The enduring cold in my bones drove me to research a little about acclimatisation or physically adjusting to environmental and climate changes in certain locations.
According to Google, “The average time for the body to acclimatise to a new climate or weather condition is generally around two weeks. While for cold weather, it may take a full season or longer to adjust to extremes.”
I was only going to be around for a week, so clearly, I didn’t stand a chance.
Of course, like all these things, the process of acclimatisation varies depending on individual factors like age, overall health and physical condition. I can’t do much about my age, but over the last year, I have taken steps to improve my health and physical condition. Nevertheless, it appears not to have been enough to shield me from the Nairobi cold.
Fortunately for me, and for my not-so-terribly-old bones and my slowly improving physical condition, I am now back in the ancient coastal city I live in. The weather may still be cooler, partly cloudy, with occasional drizzle, but it is still far more pleasant than the weather in Nairobi.
Meanwhile, as I settle back into my coastal groove, balmy weather and familiar routines, I find myself in the unusual position, for me, at least, of having to set a pub quiz.
A couple of decades ago, I used to attend the Mischief’s pub quiz night at the old Mayfair Hotel in Westlands. It was a fun night out with friends who enjoyed trivia as much as I did, and this year, the trivia bug bit me again after I joined a pub quiz team here at the Coast.
I’ll let you know how this new adventure goes in a couple of weeks. Until then, I hope the weather improves in Nairobi.
