For the past couple of weeks I have been noticing that the sun is not as strong around 4pm. There is something about the light quality that is different. The sun seems to be lower in the sky and although it is still hot and dry, you can tell that fall is on the way. The nights have been so humid and hot, sticky. This is the fourth day when you are out at 6pm and feel, well, better. Like the heat is receding and the air quality is different. It had been dry and windy two weeks ago. That is the worst for my sinuses. Queue runny nose, sneezing and dry nose. That is one physical ailment that I can say happens the most to me while we’ve been in a desert environment. It’s not the height of land, as we are on the coast, but the dry and dusty air that produces particles that irritate many a person’s nose and sinuses.
Today was the first day in months that we woke to clouds in the sky. Enough clouds to make the sunlight dim. It was great! Usually it is bright and sunny normally everyday. It was nice to have a change. It will be nice when the rains come again. Everything is so dried out from the summer.
This is our fourth week of virtual school. It feels like the fourth month! I really hope the kids can go back to school on Oct. 18th, when the Ministry of Education said they will allow kids to return to school. This whole summer has been one of waiting. Every month we think maybe the borders will open, maybe the airspace will open…but we are still waiting. Anyway friends are finally able to return just these past two weeks. There are long wait lines to get a plane back to Saudi, as most commercial flights are still not operating.
So our days look like this. First we have school starting at 8am, then various small group classes depending on the day of the week. Sun through Wed are regular classes then on Thursday we have specials like PE, Art, Music, Counseling. It ends the week on a nice note. After 2:30 pm when school ends we have our PE everyday at the pool. We also bike and walk around the compound. My kids have tennis lessons once a week, and we arranged a personal training class for 3 families together. That’s the extent of activities here. Usually there are kids craft classes, jumpy houses, kids cooking class, parties, women’s groups, sports activities, etc. however all group things continue to be stopped due to Covid-19.
Date Palms & Camels 