Tag: summer

“Say Jacques” It’s Hot!

M's Adventures
20 degrees above average?

When I told people I was moving to Adana, Turkiye, everyone told me that it’s hot in Adana. It was a 109 F (43 C) the other day. That is “sicak” in Turkish. Because the “c” in Turkish is a “je” sound like in “John” saying “it’s hot” sounds like “Say Jacques” (no es sound like in Jacques Pepin). So now I’ve learned that Turkish phrase.

My Turkish colleagues tell me that Adana is so hot that sometimes the locals will shoot at the sun… and in 2023 (when it was even hotter), some shopkeepers celebrated the inventor of the air conditioner. See the YouTube video here. Luckily, there is lots of air conditioning. But it makes exploring the city something that has to be done really early in the morning, or later in the year.

Chasing watermelons.

It is melon season so it is easy to keep up one’s electrolytes. Here they like to eat watermelon with white cheese, “beyaz peynir” (like feta but they don’t call it that here).

I had planned not to go outside for four months during the hot season, but with my linen scarf and sun hat, I actually do venture out. From air conditioning to air conditioning. After all, I lived in Dhaka, Rome, and Washington, DC, three other cities that get very hot. The difference is that Dhaka is hot for about ten months and it is humid.

Adana’s hot months are June-September. I arrived in the middle of the hellishly hot weather. It can only get cooler, right?

Memorial Day Weekend is the Start of Summer

M's Adventures
Grilling.

Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May. Originally a day to commemorate the dead of the American Civil War, people began observing Memorial day in 1868 on May 30. In 1971, the holiday moved to the last Monday in May to make a three day weekend.

Considered the official start of summer in the USA, this weekend is the first big party weekend of the summer. In some cities, there are events such as laying of flowers, prayers, and ceremonies to honor the dead of all wars. Many women’s war organizations created the traditions that continue today including the decorating with flowers on the graves. (Today, the poppy is considered the flower of remembrance from the poem about Flanders field and the poppies growing among the graves of the fallen soldiers.) Many towns will celebrate with parades, including in the DC area, with the arrival of the Harley Davidson crowd.

A selection of barbecued meats some which show a smoke ring (from low and slow cooking).

But, today, many consider the three day weekend (the first holiday weekend since February), a start to the summer season and reason to barbecue. American barbecue is divided into “low and slow” and grilling. I’ll go into the “low and slow” and those various types, as in Texas or Southern style barbecue, another time.

To mark the start of summer, in Virginia, outdoor pools are only be open from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend which is the first weekend in September.

The important thing is to get outside and grill something!

Paid Days Off in America – Holidays in the United States

M's Adventures

While there are official holidays in the United States, there is no mandatory vacation time. These are the federal (national government) holidays (paid days off) from the US government site, OPM:

Monday, January 01New Year’s Day (since 1870)
Monday, January 15Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (observed since 1986 but only by all states since 2000)
Monday, February 19 *Washington’s Birthday (since 1879 on February 22 but became the third Monday from 1968)
Monday, May 27Memorial Day (since 1888 as Decoration Day)
Wednesday, June 19Juneteenth National Independence Day (since 2021)
Thursday, July 04Independence Day (since 1870)
Monday, September 02Labor Day (since 1894)
Monday, October 14Columbus Day (since 1968)
Monday, November 11Veterans Day (since 1938 as Armistice Day to commemorate the cessation of fighting on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month)
Thursday, November 28Thanksgiving Day (since 1941)
Wednesday, December 25Christmas Day (since 1870)
*This holiday is designated as “Washington’s Birthday” in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law.

If the holiday is on a Saturday, then the holiday is on the Friday before and if the holiday is on Sunday, then the holiday is observed on the Monday following. Oddly for the past many years, most holidays on the weekend have been on Sundays. The only holidays that do not change date are New Year’s, Juneteenth, July 4, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The others are considered “floating.”

In some countries like Italy or Peru, a “bridge” weekend would be when people take the day off between the holiday and the weekend. I think in the US, it is called a long weekend. For example, I can predict that because July 4 falls on a Thursday, many people will take vacation on Friday, July 5 to make a long weekend, just as many do on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

There are two holidays for the armed forces, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day is for those who died in while serving in the armed forces and Veterans is for those who served in the armed forces. As of 2018, there 18 million veterans in the United States, seven percent of the adult population.

These are the country-wide official government holidays but some states have their own holidays as well. Every four years, Inauguration day is a federal holiday when the new president is sworn in. 

A somewhat controversial day is Columbus Day because some consider that it should be a celebration of Native Americans (Indigenous Peoples’ Day) instead.

The only days when almost everything is closed (for half a day sometimes) are Thanksgiving and Christmas day. On those days, the airports are open and Chinese restaurants are especially busy. For many Americans who work for the private sector, they have to choose between certain days off such as Columbus Day.

Ronald Reagan National Airport

For many, Memorial Day and Labor Day mark the beginning and ending of summer. In some states, outdoor pools may be only open during this season. And some people only where white slacks during this season. Or is it white shoes?

Caffe Freddo

M's Adventures
The chocolate syrup is an extra touch. This one is from Naples.

When it is hot in Italy, you want to order a “caffe freddo” (cold coffee) which is sort of like a coffee milkshake. It’s a bit confusing because it is not a “frappe” which is a different drink. I include a photo here so that you can see that a frappe is a coffee which is frothed to the point where it has a frappe/froth/head on top. A caffe freddo has milk added, a frappe does not.

A frappe — not a caffe freddo.

When you see the slush machines spinning with coffee colored caffe freddo, you know that summer has arrived. A caffe freddo is different from an iced coffee or milkshake.

A caffe freddo from Otranto, Apulia.

As an aside, the milkshakes in Italy are quite liquid and not unlike a caffe freddo except that they are not always as cold. Also, you can get a milkshake most of the year but caffe freddo is a summer thing.

A caffe freddo from Salento, Apulia.

Six Seasons of Bangladesh

M's Adventures

Bangladesh is an alluvial delta with lots of water.
Bangladesh is an alluvial delta with lots of water. Umbrellas are for sun and rain.

Monsoon is only one of six seasons in Bangladesh. The following is how I would describe the seasons in Dhaka.

Spring (wear yellow on February 13 to mark spring!): February 13-April 14 (20-30 C = 70s and 80s F; humidity is 60 %) or “Hot with Mosquitoes and Why Am I Sweating in February?! Oh, Because It Is 90 F!”

Summer: April 14-June 15 (30-45 C = 90s and 100s F; humidity is 85 %) or “Hotter with Mosquitoes and Constant possibilities of Heat Stroke.”

Monsoon/Rainy Season: June 15-August 15 (30-40 C = 90s F; humidity is 95 %) or “Too Wet, Sweaty, and Hot for Hordes of Mosquitoes-Oddly Not As Hot As It Was.”

Autumn/Fall: August 15-October 15 (30-40 C = 90s F; humidity is 90 %) or “Hot and Dengue Mosquito Season.”

After-Autumn/Late-Fall: October 15-December 15 (20-30 C = 70s and 80s F; humidity is 80 %) or “Hot with Mosquitoes But It Is Almost Wedding Season.”

Winter: December 15-February 12 (15-30 C = 60s and up to the 90s F; humidity is 60 %) or “Wedding Season.” Which is still mosquito season.

A beautiful Bangladeshi bride.
A beautiful Bangladeshi bride during wedding season.

As the national costumes remain the same all year round, the men wear lungis and women wear sarees and shalwar kameeses, but in winter, they wrap a cloth like a shawl and a head wrap around their head. To a Bangladeshi 20 C is cold and in the winter when the temperature can drop to 10 C, there are deaths. The Bangladeshis also find warm weather pleasant since they are used to it. Most houses and apartments do not have heating and many have only one air conditioning unit.

In my experience of two monsoons, I have been surprised. In 2012, there was no monsoon. And in 2013, it has rained but not in the torrents that I expected. I have seen worse rain storms in Kuala Lumpur and Washington, DC.

The prevailing theme (you may have noticed) is that all throughout the year, there are mosquitoes and on any day, it can be 90 degrees! I have had heat stroke in December, February, and March, perhaps because I did not expect such hot weather in those months. The result has been a rather silly collection of sun hats.