Vas muy veraniega...

27 March 2012

Vas muy veraniega... You're dressed very summery...

This is a phrase that I've heard about a hundred times in the last few weeks. In fact, there are days in which I feel like my clothing is the entertainment for the teachers' lounge. I get a lot of "Pero no tienes frío? Aren't you cold?" When I shake my head, I tend to hear, "Pues... es de Dakota. Well... She's from Dakota." (That's South Dakota. The better Dakota!)

The first time this happened, I hadn't really realized that I was dressed any different than everyone else. I thought that since it was warm out everyone would be wearing their spring clothing. However, I looked around the table and realized that everyone was wearing either a sweater or a jacket. I guess that is the spring "uniform." 

It's amazing the difference that where you grew up makes. I grew up in a state where it gets as cold as -20 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter. Most of winter hovers between -10 degrees and 10 degrees. So weather above freezing is cause to celebrate! In fact, on my college campus, it used to be reason enough to wear shorts and dresses.

However, in Alicante, the weather hardly gets below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. So it's little wonder that 70 degrees is considered a bit chilly.

In the last couple weeks, it's been around 20 degrees Celsius (70 degrees for those of you who actually get the weather in Fahrenheit). To me, 70 degrees is quite nice. It's perfect, in fact! There's no way that I'm going to wear a sweater at the temperature. I'm going to wear a cardigan in the mornings but walk around in short sleeves by noon.

I'll be curious to see when my workmates finally decide that it's warm outside!