This past week I had my first taste of a sandstorm! It had been warm for about two weeks prior to the storm; daily temperatures were ranging from 60 F in the morning to 72-75 F in the afternoons. Come to find out, that was unseasonably warm for late January and early February.
The storm began Tuesday afternoon, the 10th. It was warm for much of the school day, and the morning sky was clear. Once I dismissed the last class of the day, I looked out the window and was a little surprised to see the sky and buildings looked yellow-orange outside. I had seen colors similar to this on hazy days, so it didn’t occur to me that this was a sand storm…just another hazy day, I thought. (But wait, weather in Egypt is not supposed to change this fast, is it? I thought I left all that in Kentucky!) We had a faculty meeting immediately following dismissal. Once that was over and I packed up to go home, I saw the wind whipping trees and shrubs around on the school grounds. I also noticed the canopy covers in the inner courtyard were flapping under a lot of wind. Oh, so this must be what a sandstorm is like! I went home and could hear the wind howling past the side of my apartment building the rest of the evening.
I wake up the next morning on Wednesday, come outside to wait for the bus, and the sky is still orange! The air was also colder and heavier than I remembered. Once at school, I saw the halls had lots of sand. Very soon into the day, the teachers were told no one was to not go outside for recess. Air quality was just too bad for physical activity outside. It was decided after lunch time that after school activities would be cancelled for the day. No Percussion Lab for my two enthusiastic drummers! According to one of my Egyptian coworkers, this storm was the longest, most severe storm for Cairo in the past six years. Calls had to be made to the parents, and the school bus schedules had to be rearranged to take everyone home by 3:15. I found a news article mentioning the sandstorm had shutdown Cairo Airport to all arriving flights. That’s when I took a photo of the sky outside my villa, and the landing just inside the main entrance.
I think one of my colleagues suggested that we close the main entrance door to the villa. That would have been a smart idea, although sand would still have made its way through cracked windows in the stairwells. At any rate, the floors and handrails were covered in sand when we came home. On Thursday a friend found this Buzz Feed News article showing photos around Cairo during the sandstorm. The video at the top of the article is from Aswan in May 2014 when a similarly severe storm hit the town. The rest of what you see are buildings around Cairo and the Middle East affected by the storm of this past week.
Thursday morning still had an orange sky and colder temps, but I was told the storm was supposed to clear out during the day. And that it did! Here is the same spot at the villa after coming home Thursday afternoon, one day after taking a photo of the sky during the storm.
So now I have lots cleaning to do this weekend. Even though I kept my doors and windows shut, sand was still able to leave its mark on every level surface. But at this point, it will have to wait for tomorrow. It’s now past 11:00 pm.
In other news, Spring Break plans have partially materialized! My parents and one of my brothers are coming to Cairo in April! We will spend a few days here, then we hope to go to Luxor in Upper Egypt where many ancient Egyptian temples and burial sites are located. If it’s possible, we will also go to one or more of the monasteries of ancient Scetis, where most of the Desert Fathers lived and pioneered the monastic life for Christendom. This area is in between Cairo and Alexandria, just about a 90 minute drive from downtown. I’m excited!