I remember two years ago, unusually cold weather descended upon the place where I live. Though it lasted just one morning, I discovered how unpleasant coldness can be if we are not prepared for it.
It was a school day and I woke up as usual at 6.30 a.m. When I got up from bed I suddenly felt very cold. in fact, I was shivering uncontrollably. I thought I was ill or was coming down with a fever or something. Anyhow, I proceeded to the bathroom to have a shower. The water was freezing cold and I knew that it was impossible to take a shower. So I just brushed my teeth and washed my face instead.
After washing up I felt a bit better. The shivering had stopped. When I emerged from the bathroom I met my sister who had just got up from the bed. She was shivering as well. So it was not just I who felt cold. I checked with my parents and they too were feeling cold. We all agreed it was unusually cold. After all, we live in the tropics and we had never experienced anything as cold as this.
I walked over to where we the thermometer was hung on the wall and looked at it. It read 18 degrees.
The normal temperature in the early morning was something like 25 or 26 degrees. 18 degrees was certainly unusual. That was why we shivered.
I rode my bicycle to school breathing in the cold morning air. I shivered initially but as my body warmed up I actually felt very invigorated by the cold air.
In addition to the cold, mist-covered our area until visibility was only about 100 metres. The mist was that thick and I felt as though I was cycling in the clouds. What an unusual morning it was.
In school, many of the students were wearing jumpers or sweaters. That was indeed an unusual sight, for normally we do not see anyone wearing jumpers or sweaters in the tropics, except someone who is ill. Most of us, however, were dressed in our usual light clothes.
When the lessons started I really wished that I had a sweater with me. I began to shiver again. So did my friends who were not wearing a sweater. To keep warm we tried exercising our bodies by jumping up and down. That helped for a while but when we stopped, it was not long before we felt cold again. My goodness, the cold certainly can get very unpleasant. Our teeth chattered and we could not even speak properly. Even the teachers were unusually silent in class. I was sure that they had problems with the cold themselves.
Somehow I managed to last the four periods before the break. When the break came, I scampered to the canteen and had two cups of hot tea before I felt better. The other students too downed cups of hot tea. In fact, hot tea was the most sought after item in the canteen.
Conditions became somewhat warmer as the day wore on. However, mist still hung over the area. Still, we returned to class after the break and continued the lessons. This time we did not shiver. The cold was bearable.
By twelve noon, the mist cleared and the temperature rose noticeably as the sun shone through. Soon things were back to normal, that is, hot again. I was so relieved that the cold spell was over.