How do you cope with heat?

As we're into our fourth or fifth day of extreme heat (which we normally don't have in our part of the world) I sometimes wonder how people cope with these extreme temperatures.

The humidity in the air is very high over here, so when it's over 30° Celsius, it feels like it's 50°. The sweat doesn't dry and remains on the skin. Not very pleasant, as  you can't just hop under the shower as you need to be careful with water...

I try to remain indoors as much as possible and don't do anything strenuous. When you just sit on the sofa and read a book you can cope. Running a couple of times upstairs to fetch things is not a good idea... nor is cleaning or ironing.

But despite the heat, I can eat just the same as always and I also sleep very well. I just open all the upstair windows when I go to bed and don't cover myself with a sheet. Just wear light cotton pajamas.

I remember another warm summer when we were staying at the coast (and we don't have airco there). It was 30° inside the flat (and perhaps 35° outside) and we were eating .... cajun stew! The sweat ran down my face into my plate but I ate with apetite as the dish was very spice, which I like.

When the temperatures drop a bit, we sit outside and have a glass of cooled drink (can be water with a bit of lemon in it, or a glass of white wine, or one of our excellent Belgian beers). That's pure heaven!

And what about you?