Why Bears Hibernate

I now understand why bears feel the need to hibernate in the wintertime. It doesn't sound like such a bad idea in the mornings, when the temperature under the three blankets on my bed is considerably different than the temperature of the air that hits my nose as it peeks out from under said blankets. Winter is its own culture here. I don't know how many times over the past few weeks I've heard someone say "Qué frío está haciendo!" (It's so cold!) I learned this week that there is even a mandatory special school schedule here during winter. Beginning this coming Monday, classes at PROMESA will begin at 8:20 instead of 8:00. Judging by the fact that many fewer school children are riding the combis in the morning as I am heading to school, I am guessing that most of the schools in Cusco have already begun their winter schedule. The extra 20 minutes is designed to allow children to not get up quite so early, so the air has a bit more time to warm up before they need to expose their little bodies to it and get ready for school. Since every good Peruvian knows that if your body gets cold, you will get some sort of cold or flu or your stomach will hurt or something, keeping warm is an absolute must.
Much to the surprise of every Peruvian to whom I tell this, winter here actually doesn't get as cold as winter in Pennsylvania. It's usually in the 30s when I wake up in the mornings. However, due to the fact that indoor heating is nonexistent here, the temperature inside when the sun is not out is usually somewhere around 50-55 degrees. During the day, however, it is quite warm in the sun - at least 70s. A fellow missionary remarked the other week that she now knows, after having lived in Cusco in the winter, why the Incans worshipped the sun. It feels so good when it comes out!
I have discovered something else. Sheep have the right idea. Fleece is great stuff! Granted, the fleece I love is material, not sheepskin, but it's still the same concept... Last night as I slid beneath my fleece sheets (they are a wonderful blessing!), the thought suddenly flitted through my mind that, like the Bible says that we are going from glory to glory, I am going from fleece to fleece. I lay in bed between fleece sheets in the morning, escape from the sheets to the warmth of a fleece top, which I usually wear over my other layers for half the morning or so, till I warm up enough to take it off and just go about with the 2 layers I wear underneath it. At night, the fleece top goes back on (sometimes plus another) and the bottom half of me gets wrapped in a fleece blanket, like the Peruvians do. As soon as I take my fleece off and change into my pajamas, I slip back beneath the fleece sheets and drift off to sleep...
Thank you God for the blessings of winter in Cusco...a warm bed, warm clothing, hot drinks, warm hugs, friends and family here who are constantly making sure I bundle up and keep warm, and 20 extra minutes to sleep in the morning starting on Monday!