it's hot

It is hot here. I like hot weather, so this is a nice change from cold Michigan, but it is hot! Overnight it cools down, so first thing in the morning it is probably about 70 degrees, but by mid-morning it feels like it is 80-90 degrees and very humid. We leave the house at about 7:30 am, and by the time we have reached the hospital (about a 20 minute walk) we are pouring sweat. The first day I felt bad, because who wants to show up somewhere on their first day with their shirt drenched in sweat, but it didn't matter. We sweat all day. After morning report we round on patients and I can feel the beads of sweat dripping of my forehead. There is no air conditioning in the hospital and with over 60 people in one room it gets hot! I have never fainted in my life, but on both my first and 2nd day in the hospital there was more than one time that I thought I was going to pass out. There are so many bodies in one room, no where to sit, and no water. It has hit me about 2 times each day where I start really dripping sweat and then all I can think about its how I am either going to throw up or pass out. I try to take deep breaths and calm stay calm, because I would just feel like such a jerk, a healthy, well fed girl fainting in front of all of these very sick people that are in serious need of help. Most of the rest of the 8 of us have felt the same way, and I think it will get better because today I felt better!
What is really remarkable about the heat is that the Malawians don't seem to be bothered at all by the heat. Moreover, they don't seem like they are even hot. Malawians on the street walk around with many layers of clothes on. Many women walk the streets wearing long skirts, carrying a basket on their heads and their babies on their back, and they look cool as a cucumber. The patients in the hospital wear layers of clothes and wrap themselves up in several blankets. It makes me overheat just looking at them!
I will write more later about the clothes, food and much, much more!!
Gotta go!!

Niamh