Expat Living: Summer In Almerimar

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Summer is pretty much here now in Almerimar. How do I know that? Well the WebCam is a bit of a give away, but the sure fire way of telling is to observe the cats behavior. They have adjusted their body clocks to summer time already, and you know what ……. what they do makes so much sense I am going to copy them this year (with the exception of certain licking rituals that certainly don’t appeal at all!)

Basically the Cats, like the Spanish, let the weather dictate. They accept how it is, don’t deny or battle against it, and adjust their patterns of behaviour to work the conditions.

The most noticeable change for us is that we are later to bed and earlier to rise. Now that may not seem like a great thing, but it has certain advantages, and as I said …. the weather dictates! It certainly brings the siesta into play!

The cats want to be active when it is cool, which makes sense, and what I have found is that my brain feels the same way! So most mornings start around 5am when the cats start waking up and wanting to go out on the roof. Oscar and Mori tend to stay out playing, while Saidi is pretty soon back on the bed for a snuggle and then more sleep.

I am not saying that I spring out of bed at this time, but as I am up I do tend to spend some time checking through emails, RSS articles, comments on the blog, forum etc. Mostly I will do this on the iPhone, when it is more a case of catching up on what has come in overnight, firing off some quick replies, maybe a quick Twitter chat, a look through the RSS for stuff to blog about later. From time to time if inspiration hits, or am running behind on a deadline, or feel wide awake I will get up and work for a couple of hours. With no distractions, the breeze coming in through the window, and no sun beating down it is a remarkably productive two hours, worth at least four hours during the day!

I will then sleep again until about 9am, when the cats tend to be back in wanting attention i.e. food and a play. Again this is a nice time to be up on the roof before the sun really picks up strength. It is also one of the only realistic times of day to exercise so when I feel motivated I tend to do some weights, pilates, stretching etc at this time. If I was running I would go at this time but as my knee is too bad really to run, and I have never been that good at exercising in the morning this is more theory than reality at the moment.

From 11am until about 3pm I try and get the majority of my ‘work’ done. As for the cats they are more than happy to find a cool spot and go back to sleep. The apartment faces south, so as the sun moves round during the day the apartment gets hotter and it is fascinating watching the cats keep moving to cooler spots throughout the day. Where possible we do the same, so we have set a second desk up for Sands in my study so she can move in and work later on in the day when the sun is beating down directly on the window of her study. I will tend to wander off into the lounge with the iPhone or MacBook Pro to do some work in a cooler spot before we have lunch around 3pm.

Apart from some fruit this is usually the first food I eat all day. Again like the cats I tend to find I can easily eat less during the day when it is hot, and feel much better for it. Lunch over it is time for a siesta for an hour or so, sometimes crashed on the sofa watching some TV, sometimes on the bed listening to the iPod or reading a book. More of a doze and a ‘chill out’ period than a sleep, the fact that I am out of the sun, brain switched off, conserving energy while the day is at its hottest is what counts.

Around 5pm if I want to get some sun that is when I will go sit on the roof, usually with the cats who will head straight for the shade (well Saidi might find a nice spot of sun as she is a bit of a sun worshiper). Again this is time to switch off for a couple of hours. Around 7pm if I have more work to do that is what I will do. I am lucky in that pretty much everything I do is Internet based, and with many contacts in the US this is actually a good time to ‘chat’ to them. If I am feeling healthy I will go for a bike ride as is nice to feel the sun on you, but isn’t too hot at this time of day.

Around 9pm will probably grab a shower to cool down, then cook some food. Again, the cats tend to have a good feed at this time before heading up onto the roof, or sitting on the balcony with us while we eat. Typically Spanish Style we don’t eat until our bodies, brains and the weather have all cooled down. Is a lot more enjoyable and healthy that way!

We will usually watch some TV or a film until midnight then head up to the roof to have a last play with the cats and enjoy the generally cool breeze which ensure we are nice and cool before heading to bed. Like the cats we are soon fast asleep, and tend to sleep very well ……. until little Oscar wakes at 5am and the day starts!