It's not the Shamaal - that is a sandstorm which comes out of Iran and Iraq and blows sand across the Persian Gulf to us. No, today it is actually calm outside. But surprisingly around 5 o'clock I looked outside and could barely see across the road. From the 19th floor, it looked quite thick. But once down on ground level it seemed a little less dramatic. Just like with a snow storm, it can be much worse out in the country side. There were lots of accidents reported on the radio from the roads that led out of Dubai to nearby cities and emirates. On the radio, they mentioned that the sand settling on the road would effect your stopping distance the same as gathering snow and ice on the roads.
What caused it? A rainstorm. Yep, a rainstorm caused a cloud of dust so big that the entire city of Dubai is engulfed in a sand cloud. Usually, we're used to rain cleaning the air. Not here. The rain happened about 50km south of here in Al Ain. Probably was just a few drops of rain - nothing to really wet the ground. Just enough to stir up the sand and dust from the falling drops and then move on.
What is a sand cloud like? Well, it's a lot like fog - you can't really see the sand or feel it. But instead of the air being white with a blue/grey hint it is instead beige with a yellow hint. I'm sure the small particles of sand are much more harmful to your lungs than the droplets of water in fog. This sand is light like dust - almost the consistency of cake flour. Very, very fine sand dust flying around coating EVERYTHING. If you have asthma or any breathing difficulties - today will be a difficult day. Personally, I'm not feeling any effect. Bas seemed ok on our walk, too. (spoke too soon - he just started his weird throat clearing snort a la Tony Randall's Felix from the Odd Couple)
Good thing there's no laundry hanging out - OH WAIT, there is. Ooops. Good thing it's just the towels and rags for cleaning the house. Hmmm, must run out to get that.
UAE Olympics Coverage
The UAE has sent 9 athletes to the olympics this year. Nearly 50% of the team is royalty. The daughther of the current Ruler of Dubai was the flag bearer for the team in the opening ceremony. She will compete in Taekwando. I think it's the ruler's cousin who was a gold medalist at the Athens olympics for Double Trap shooting. He is competing again this year. There are rumors that Dubai will be bidding to host an upcoming Olympics. Qatar's bid for 2012 was denied when they proposed that they would host the Olympics in October. They challenged the Olympics committee to reconsider since that would essentially eliminate any Middle East country from placing a successful bid. Believe me - athletes would NOT want to be competing here in August.
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They mentioned here that the two UAE women competing this year are the first women UAE has had and they are both related to the royalty. The Sydney summer olympics were held in the off season so I would think they could allow that for a middle east country.
I have been watching quite a bit this first weekend of the olympics. The coverage has been pretty good. They have actually had full ocverage of more than just basketball, gymnastics and boxing. I have been watching the swimming, volleyball (both beach and indoor), soccer, rowing and catching a few rounds of archery and trap shooting. I even watched some sailing online. The online coverage is nice because they can cover even more than they can on TV.
I tried to tune in to some on-line stuff, but even with my VPN the website for NBC seems to be clever enough to know that I'm not watching from the US and they are restricted to sending their broadcasts only to US audience.
Just watched the men's swimming relay (4x400 I think). Whew - what a great comeback on the last lap!
Big smile with your description of Bas' throat / sinus clearing technique.
Miss you,
Arabdick
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