Air Conditioning [Reviewed]

It’s unlikely people sit up at night adding ‘air conditioning’ to their gratitude lists, but I believe it’s time to start. I’ve had a temperamental relationship with air conditioning over the past few months. It started during my summer internship in which I believed the thermostat was kept so low simply so that the CEO and partners could continue wearing their Armani suit jackets. However, when I would get home from running in the 100-degree heat I was appreciative.

Now I’m in Madrid and nobody told me prior to coming that Europe doesn’t see air conditioning as a necessity in the way the United States does. I sit in my international economics class with sweat beading on my forehead, wondering how all the locals continue to look chill.

It’s winter and the nighttime temperatures get down to 40 degrees and even though our apartment does not have heat either, the small room I share gets incredibly hot at night. So we opt for nature’s air conditioning and leave the windows open. We start off hot, get freezing cold around 1am, close the windows, and wake up for class sweating again. We call it the Circadian Rhythm of Cervantes Street.

As December rolls closer and I begin to get reminders from Delta that my flight is in a month, I look forward to laying down in my childhood bed and being able to sleep the entire night without three costume changes. Never again will I forget to take three seconds of admiration when I walk into a cool building, that is until I see another Armani suit.

Yours truly,

Calihan