Sand storm today

Today, we experienced our first sawafi (Arabic for sandstorm). The munchkins did not have recess at school. I wonder how wild things were at school with it being the last day before a holiday AND a sandstorm - hhmmmm. The snap above is from the Crown Plaza in Dubai, but it shows the 'haze' that happens when so much sand is blowing around. The husband emailed from Saudi. I'm supposed to ask him about a 'Saudi thunderstorm'. I bet that it was a big sandstorm. I can not wait until he gets home! And, Munchkin #2 has had some asthma problems. As a mum, I'm thinking that the 'front' of the sandstorm is what triggered the asthma. But, all is well now. We have a lovely doc here and access to excellent meds.

And now.....(cue old Beastie Boys Music) "No sleep till (boom, boom, boom) NORWAY!!!!" Actually, I will probably sleep a tiny bit tonight. But, frankly, I'm so excited I don't know which will win out - the excitement or exhaustion from work.

Now that I'm feeling a touch more settled, I have to admit I'm happy here (if you hadn't guessed that already.) What just a short while ago felt 'exotic,' now feels 'everyday' or 'normal.' A friend who used to live in Saudi told me that I will go through some culture shock when I return to my home country. It is going to be interesting to see if I experience culture shock heading for Norway. We'll see.......

My laptop is traveling to Norway with me, or at least that's my plan. I'll be posting snaps of Norway while we travel. So, until then.....Happy Eid.