Oven Baked But Pressing On

The impositions of the British and Arab cultures here is not logical. Who and why and when did someone convince these people to begin wearing western suits and long dresses which are far too hot for this climate. One man I saw last week, was proudly dressed in an iridescent beige and silver pin stripe suit which would have made Elvis proud in his youth! 

At least our watchman/handyman, Emmanuel, only wears long trousers to work and then changes into shorts around our house.  I do the same. I did not see one male, of any age, in shorts at Sunday mass. Even the two-year olds were attired in long trousers. 

How inappropriate are the long pointy-toed shoes worn by the men, or the wigs and gowns worn by some of the women? Many women wear high heels even though they have to walk on the dry, cracked earth. A little boy near me in Church was dressed in a full suit, cut down in size, which he proudly wore – t-shirt and shorts would be far more sensible. 

Apparently it has just snowed in Rome. Last Sunday, the weather pattern here was also a small aberration. I sat defiantly just inside the door of the Church enjoying being cold for a change. It was really too cool, but ‘cold’ was a rare experience that I wanted to savour. This past week, however, it has indeed been ‘oven-baked’. Thank heaven for fans but last night there was a total power failure in our area. So no fans and [...]