Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Sandstorm

Well, I hear Boston has been having thoroughly wretched weather for the past couple of weeks. I'm sorry to say that we've got that beat over here in Cairo - yesterday it was 35 degrees in the shade while a sandstorm raged through the streets. It was a truly surreal experience.

On the bus to school, I could barely see the far bank of the Nile over the bridge, and everything was cast in the weird yellowish-grey light of the storm. There's a statue at one end of the bridge and it was nothing but an eerie silhouette.

And the sand gets into everything. You open your mouth and it gets stuck between your teeth. I found it pooled in the bottom of my bag after walking outside for only a few minutes. But the city rolls on, just like it would after a rainstorm in Boston. It's a commonplace event, I guess, and for all its bizarreness no-one really seemed to notice or care that much. I did feel envious of the veiled women, for once, as they could just wrap their scarves tighter and not breath in the sand. The kaffiyeh really does make sense over here - keeps off wind, rain, sand and sun, and can be used as a pillow or a towel in a pinch.

In other unrelated news, our friend Nick departed yesterday, leaving the Egyptian Museum to go back to the States and then to study German in Hamburg or Frankfurt - I can't remember which. That time of the semester is fast approaching when we will all have to say our goodbyes, unsure of whether they are final or not. It is easy to make promises to visit, stay in touch, etc. In truth, very few of these friendships survive the distance barrier. I only hope we can all keep in touch after the semester ends.

1 comment:

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