Summer Contrasts 2010

So, now I have traveled a lot of the region this year. I spent February above the Artic circle in the ice. Recently I was back in Norway for St. Hans celebration at the mid-summer. Now I have had the chance to travel to the Middle East during the heat of summer. So, what are the differences?Daylight is for me the biggest difference. I am quite light sensitive as I have learned. This was never an issue when you seldom change latitude or region. But following this path I have this last half year really shows you how the globe differs. So, spending much of the winter up close to the Artic circle, watching the days get shorter and shorter then moving even a bit south for the weekend (50°N) would make a significant difference.Now, am in Dubai UAE where it is the same latitude as Miami and it gets dark early.St. Hans last week in Norway had me taking the bus back to the hotel after the evening out and getting back just after midnight and the darkness was setting. Sunrise was just 3 hours later. So, darkness is a big one.Temperatures or what I would better call, relative temperatures are number 2.  By relative I mean what is the real temperature you have to put up with during a normal business day. Since I spend much of my day doing the usual hotel-taxi-office-taxi-hotel there is little time to really "feel" the real temps. But they are there. Stepping out of a taxi into a molten puddle of melting glacier will give you a real feeling within moments of what the real temps are. Those socks take that much longer to dry....Now in the heat of a middle eastern summer I am learning to appreciate the value of a very good deodorant.  And actually I am still trying to find that best one. Everything is handled with A/C here in Dubai. I actually stepped into the shower this morning and enjoyed the moment of warming up in the shower. What a luxury? It may seem.So, what is harder? What is more uncomfortable? Really hard to say. The cold is tough, skins freezes fast in the cold winds. Hards at times to cover enough for that. The sun bakes the skin here just as fast as the freezing winds but the sweat dries quickly in the A/C. So, I give it a tie. Actually, dressed in a suit here in the sun and the warmth everywhere seems to make it harder than the cold of the north.Have I finally become to the cooler/cold north? Seems so.