Jenyfer Matthews

If the flowering trees hadn’t tipped me off that spring had officially arrived in Cairo, we had our first sandstorm of the khamseen season on Saturday.

Khamseen means 50 and the season is 50 days of sandstorms. Or at least the possibility of them. Dust and dirt is a fact of life in Cairo, but the khamseen is different. It’s a hot wind out of the desert that carries sand with it. There are days when the sky turns brown with the sand, but it’s not like what you see in the movies where it’s a blizzard of sand in your face (though it can be). It’s much more insidious in fact. It’s a fine sand that hangs in the air. Even with the windows shut, it creeps in around every crack and crevice. You might not even notice it until you feel it coating the inside of your mouth. It makes your hair feel like straw and it sits on your skin like a coating of powder. Dirt comes out when you blow your nose. It simply sucks the moisture out of your pores.

Neat, huh? Fortunately it doesn’t happen every day. The khamseen makes even something mundane like line drying your clothes an adventure since it can be hard to tell when it will happen.

Yesterday’s sandstorm was a sneaky one. I didn’t even notice at first. There wasn’t much wind to speak of and I was inside much of the day. It wasn’t until I went out and saw the dull beige of the sky that I realized what was going on. And by that time it was too late to go back and shut the two windows I had open or take in the laundry hanging outside the line.

Guess how I spent my time when I returned? The irony is that it wouldn’t have really mattered if I had shut my windows, they are so warped and ill fitting.

It’s going to be a fun month.

My husband left for a conference only a couple of days after we returned from our trip to Siwa Oasis. In spite of the fact that he left me on my own for five days during the children’s spring break, I was looking forward to being on my own. I had big plans! I was going to eat all my favorite junk foods, watch all my favorite girl movies, and catch up on my writing as well as quilting. It’s not as if I can’t do these things when he’s around but somehow having him go away just seems…different.

Things haven’t exactly turn out as I expected. There just isn’t enough time in the day to do all the things I want to do.Not surprisingly, most of my daytime hours are taken up with child care / entertainment. And unfortunately I’m not one of those writers who can write between doing the dishes and making yet *another* snack. I need uninterrupted time, which these days only comes at night – when my mental energy is at it’s lowest point. I wrote a bit, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. (story of my life!)

I haven’t watched a single movie but I’ve more than made up for that with the junk food I’ve been eating. KFC (and most other restaurants) delivers in Cairo. The children? I’ve been getting them food at the club where my daughter takes tennis lessons three nights a week. Shame on me!

The only area I have made some progress is my sewing. I had an order for four baby quilts in my email when I got back from my trip – 2 girl, 2 boy – my choice of colors and design. I did the girl tops this weekend.

<!–[if gte vml 1]&gt; &lt;![endif]–><!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>

What do you think?

<!–[if gte vml 1]&gt; &lt;![endif]–><!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>
Still waiting for some inspiration on the boy quilts but in the meantime I can go ahead and layer and quilt these.What did you do this weekend?

Be Sociable, Share!

•