Why you should sleep in socks

I spent my first night in Amman, Jordan, cleaning mold out of my freezer. Evidently it's endemic here. Personally I'm convinced that it will overtake me one night as I sleep and I'll quietly expire a hushed fungus death. But forgive the melodrama.

Amman is a sprawling city, spread out over 20 hills, or jebels and there's one long road that runs all the way through it, punctuated by 8 circles (big roundabouts). You basically need a car to get around, or must take public transport. Mass transit, be it public buss or taxis really isn't all that expensive, provided you're not paying ten times the amount you owe, like I did for two days.

The apartment I'm living in for now is large and spacious, in truth too big for just one person. Aside from alleviating boredom and loneliness, I'll be glad when my roommate arrives in January so the place isn't so empty. The central heat isn't usually turned on, so instead I drag an old propane heater to whichever room I'm in and keep a window cracked. I have turn it off when I leave the room or at night when I sleep, so in order to stay warm I've just piled on the clothes and blankets.

I would say that Amman building are just really good at dissipating the summer heat, thus making them cold in the winter. However, I've been informed that this is false, and they're as miserably hot in the summer months as they are frosty in the winter. Hence, while I find sleeping in socks sort of morally repugnant, I've decided to make an exception. Principles seem rather expendable when faced with shivering and hypothermia. Since I, like many other women, can vie for the claim of most constantly cold person, it's going to be an interesting three months.