Desert Dust

Jamie:

From the picture here, one might assume that the city of Dubai is dealing with a very serious smog issue, one that Atlantans can relate to. And while Dubai does have its traffic congestion and definitely deals with a pollution problem, the gray haze that you see here is nothing more than sand and dust. Yes, that's right. While we don't have rainstorms here but twice a year, we do have sand storms! Even on days where there's not an official sand storm, it is very apparent that something's in the air.

When we first moved here, we thought that people paid to have their cars washed every other day out of vanity. Well actually it's out of necessity. If you don't have at least your windows washed every three days, you will not be able to see out of them due to a thick layer of dust that will have accumulated on the glass. If you don't have the entire car washed, you just need to be extra careful not to brush up against the side of the car (unless you want a brown smudge on your clothes). Driving around town you see "clean me" doodled on many a windshield. The good thing is that for about US$30 per month you can have your entire car cleaned every other day. Workers hang out in parking lots and parking garages constantly offering to clean your car for a very nice price. Furthermore, all of the gas stations are full service, and the attendants always wash your windows while the gas is pumping.

The dust also finds its way into our apartment - whether we keep the windows open or not! We are grateful that we have tile flooring so that it does not stick into the carpet, but we literally have to sweep the floors 2-3 times a week. The sand lands on everything, and dusting is also a must several times a week.

Despite the occasional sinus headache, we are learning to cope with the sand. Afterall, it has good attributes as well and we definitely don't mind it at the beach, which is literally five minutes from our apartment!