the air conditioner does not really reach us in the kitchen at work.  we bust our butts in the heat and linger in front of fans and shudder in delight when visiting the walk-in cooler.  some afternoons i take my break at reception and answer phones just for some time in a cool and comfortable environment.  "they are the hamptons" lisa would say, "we are the bat cave".  

some days, the hot days, i dread coming home.  i know the porch will be scorching hot with the sun, i know inside will not be cool.  today i plodded up the stairs with bag of cat food in hand, fed the beasties, and threw myself down on the bed in front of the fan.  i pushed my duvet far from me in disgust.  i closed my eyes and skimmed the land of dreams for 15 minutes or so, until it was time to go meet the sisters.

i met the sisters outside of the shopper's drugmart on no 5 and cambie.  sister mathialagin is from bangaluru.  she's 28 and a convert.  she wore a polka dotted blouse and held a matching umbrella over her and sister shahamati.  sister shahamati is half persian and half nova scotian.  she's the only member in her family too.  both sisters are going home soon.  is it just me, or are sisters much more lovely and put together than in my day?  anyway we were supposed to meet a lady named andrea outside of shoppers.  she didn't come.  so i was about to drive the sisters to some drop bys when they saw andrea walking on the sidewalk. we stopped, and we all ended up in the shade at a near by school, while andrea's daughter played.  andrea is from equador.  in her mom's small village they have whistles that communicate many things.  like "i'm going home and i'll meet you there"  and your name is a whistle.  her mom whistled some communications from far away.  it was cool.  it was also cool to watch the sisters teach with their shining eyes and faithful earnestness.  i was once like that.

after i dropped the sisters off in steveston i came home and ate some watermelon and chinese dumplings from mei lin.  i ate them on the porch of course.  once the sun is lower the breeze on the porch is lovely.  i douse myself with bug spray every night and spend all my time out here.  the sunset was gorgeous.