EastGirlsWest

Tay and I have a phrase, or rather a phrase structure, that we like to use when we’re being definitive about something. For example, while the onset of sleepiness may be expressed as such, true exhaustion merits the declaration “I’m tired like tired.” A particularly fine meal is “delicious like delicious.” And occasionally, the phrase will feature a noun rather than an adjective to highlight a particulary urgency, as in “I need wine like wine.”

So Tay emailed me yesterday to ask, “Is it hot like hot?”. To which I could only reply, “It’s hottest like hottest.”

I now feel there can never be enough of the following items:
1) SPF
2) Bottled water
3) Light cotton fibers to protect one from the sun and absorb sweat from the body

I can’t really complain though, because while I did spend a fair amount of time outdoors yesterday, the nature of my duties here allowed me to spend many hours in the air conditioned (ish) dining tent. The crew, on the other hand, has spent four days building the set, the production control room, and everything else on site from scratch. They’ve put up lighting, set up cameras and cables, unpacked loads of equipment. In the heat. All day. Every half hour or so they would come into the tent and grab two bottles of water, pour one over their head, and drink the other. I’m in awe of their perseverance.

We were at the site until 11pm last night, and right before rehearsal a dust storm kicked up. Winds were battering the tent, convincing us all we’d be lying under a pile of canvas and metal rigging in no time. Walking outside required - I’m not kidding - sunglasses at night. Dust in nostrils, eyeballs, hair and every possible crevice of clothing. Mouth closed. I just tried to pretend it was all very The English Patient and I was Kristin Scott Thomas (not a problem for me to immerse myself in that fanstasy).

But despite the heat and the wind, it is beautiful there. This particular corner of the Judean desert is stark and gaunt, monumental and very impressive. It’s a grand setting for tonight’s show.