As for a guy coming from the driest point of Europe, with mild temperatures all the year and the hope of going for a cozy, refreshing bath in waters of the Mediterranean Sea in April, I survived quite well to the chilly, dangerous temperatures of this part of Central – Northern Europe.
Yes, it sounds a bit too dramatic for a guy who lives in the comfort of the first world and has access to all sorts of winter clothes and heating systems. But that does not change the perception for the people from where I am. It is shown in the myriad of times I was asked: Tío, ¿de verdad quieres pasar un año en Varsovia? Si allí no se puede ni salir a la calle del frío que hace (Dude, do you really want to spend a year in Warsaw? It is so cold that it isn’t even possible to go out). I did not have clothes warm enough for those -17 °C the thermometer reached to point out: all my jumpers are made of cotton, I always used the same cotton chino trousers in summer and winter, my warmer scarf was barely an ornament I put over my shoulders when I wanted to pretend to be a sir and I rarely wore a sweater and a coat at the same time. This was the level, people.
I hope I transmitted to you the type of coward fear I could feel when I was finally all in for a winter at the North Pole, as I would call Poland in jokes. I knew I would have to get a good coat to solve the bulk of the issue. But anyways, what about my feet, hands and red cheeks!? I also like to be slightly vain and dress “well” (I cannot even write it without wondering who I want to deceive), because I am not going to stroll around Nowy Świat covered in seal skin or Himalayan overalls.
Well, I got my coat, a nice huge scarf (that another volunteer gifted me for Christmas :), a pair of fancy gloves… Stop. I found my Achilles heel. No matter what I dress, how many layers I wear or how sunny it is -it is a trap, people, the sunniest it is in winter here, the coldest-, it always result in pain in my hands and the back of them gets cracked and peeled. And I never used so many hand creams or took care to be properly hydrated. It does not matter, it is the price I have to pay now for living under such cozy Sun in Almería for, practically, ever.
Now the twist. You can be fearful to cold, check. You can be also bold towards cold, as I admire Wim Hof and had shyly follow his basic recommendations, check. But you can never let it stop you from experiencing new, enriching atmospheres. I am very literal in this post when talking about weather but truth is that weather influences almost everything.
And there is nothing bad with it, be it cold or warm, sunny or snowy, or even if the Sun gives way to total darkness at 15:30. It is very “cool” to have the experience of many ways of living and testing how you respond to a real winter for the first time ever. Or why not, check how a warm winter feels if your case is that you come from a cold place. Experience it. Experience it and you will know more about you and the world.