This day deserves a blog post because I can count on both hands how many times I've called in sick over the past 10 years of teaching... I've never called in sick at this school. I pride myself with a healthy immune system, but I am positive that the combination of the freezing temps and the campfire smoke have successfully beaten me down...
I'll try to describe what it was like to sleep on an air mattress in freezing temps... well, first of all I have a nice sleeping bag, and a liner that adds more warmth. All in all, my bag is rated to -15 Celsius, but knowing my body, it would be good around 0, which is the conditions that were expected. I still don't have a warm coat, and after Colombia you'd think I would have learned not to put myself in those conditions without the appropriate coat, but no.
So I am lying in my sleeping bag and I have on long yoga pants, hiking wool socks, a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt and a hooded sweatshirt, and a warm hat. I should be fine. Well, within a few hours of going to bed, whichever side of me was laying against the mattress turned ice cold. The thick air mattress, which added so much comfort was using heat transfer to warm the air. So, much like my rotisserie chicken dance I do every night, I start twisting and turning. On my right side... ice cold. On my left side... ice cold. Back to my back... ice cold. At one point I was checking my watch and praying for morning to come. My poor body was spending some much time trying to keep warm, not much time could be spent on immune system jobs.
Then there was this...
I'll try to describe what it was like to sleep on an air mattress in freezing temps... well, first of all I have a nice sleeping bag, and a liner that adds more warmth. All in all, my bag is rated to -15 Celsius, but knowing my body, it would be good around 0, which is the conditions that were expected. I still don't have a warm coat, and after Colombia you'd think I would have learned not to put myself in those conditions without the appropriate coat, but no.
So I am lying in my sleeping bag and I have on long yoga pants, hiking wool socks, a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt and a hooded sweatshirt, and a warm hat. I should be fine. Well, within a few hours of going to bed, whichever side of me was laying against the mattress turned ice cold. The thick air mattress, which added so much comfort was using heat transfer to warm the air. So, much like my rotisserie chicken dance I do every night, I start twisting and turning. On my right side... ice cold. On my left side... ice cold. Back to my back... ice cold. At one point I was checking my watch and praying for morning to come. My poor body was spending some much time trying to keep warm, not much time could be spent on immune system jobs.
Then there was this...
At the time, the fire felt awesome. They've built this make-shift shelter around the fire pit, complete with a metal roof. Seems like a good idea, until you realize that you've been wallowing in camp fire smoke for a few hours. My 3rd night there I went to bed and couldn't swallow from such a sore throat. Now that I'm home I am wheezing and having a hard time catching my breath. I can't image how my alveoli look right now, all charred and covered in smoke dust.
It is really hard for me to be sitting here, in my house, while my kids are going to class. Is that guilt, being a martyr, what? I'm going back to bed. I'll let you know if I have any revelations.
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