Our First Egyptian Sandstorm
- 'Demi Fauziyyah Adebo-Adelaja
- Dec 3, 2018
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 20, 2019
January 2019-ii: While the northeast was busy being slammed with a snowstorm, we were contending with a sandstorm. At least the northeast (USA) they will have a winter wonderland view to show for...all we'll have here are post-sandstorm cleanup activities, both inside and outside our home. Those small particles make it into the apartment somehow 😫😫😫😫😫
The second day of the sandstorm, I laid in bed and contemplated whether or not it was worth it to step outside today. Looks like the weather won!
STRIKE 1: the temperature is 46° but it “feels like” 39°, according to the forecast;
STRIKE 2: winds are blowing at 27KM, that’s about 16 miles an hour, so yeah, as far as I'm concerned, there’s still a sandstorm out there;
STRIKE 3: visibility is only 1.9KM...meaning the prospective Uber driver, in addition to typically barely know how to drive, can now barely see the road ahead.
Issa NO for us !!! We are so not going to school today. Haven’t told the kids yet, but I’ll bask in the comfort of my bed a little longer, make them get dressed, and then inform them that it'll be a full day of homeschooling today 😉 😉 😉
Egyptian winter
January 2019-i: This is how I feel right now in AFRICA!!! It is cold cold cold in Cairo
🥶🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶 🥶
I can’t even say I wasn’t warned because I was...I just didn’t believe it. I straight up let the boys cut class today because the school has no heat and my body can’t take it any more!!! We’re heading home and every single one of those oil heaters we purchased are going to work their worth today! I plan to keep everything on their highest setting. Even with my three layered outfit and wool coat, my limbs are numb. I plan to jog around the house until I get warm and can feel my toes once again. Subhana’llah, this is cold weather for real! We've lived in cold weather in Connecticut and Maryland, but we definitely feel it much more here than in the States because there is no central heating system. The walls in the buildings are cold, the clothes folded away are cold, the beds and couches are cold. I plan to spend the rest of my day in front of the heaters and it’s only midday.
My first 8KM...in Egypt
December 2018: For the longest time, I had been looking for a race of sorts to participate in, and along came the #MentalHealthRun. I was excited! This would be my very first race in Egypt! We’ve been in Egypt now for 6 months and I feel like such a couch potato. Granted, I haven’t been sitting idle, but I haven’t been all that active either. I was so concerned that I would back out of the race that I posted the flyer on my Facebook wall. I thought this would be an effective way to hold myself accountable…a way to push me to actually show up to what would be my very first race in Egypt. I began “training” part time (while also hoping and praying full time) to get myself ready. My “training” entailed 5KM brisk walks on Street 9 in Moqattam, twice a week, all the while plugged in to my audiobooks.
It worked! I showed up! And it felt great. Not only was this my very first race in Egypt, it was also my very first 8KM.
I documented my milestone with friends primarily to draw energy from their support. I couldn’t even do audiobooks because having gone to the race solo, I was a bit nervous. I opted for the sound of heartbeats, courtesy of my white noise app. I walked and jogged my way through 8KM (approximately 5 miles) in about an hour and a half. My fitness goal is not speed, but rather the ability to move about comfortably and shed some extra weight. Here are snips of what the experience looked like from my view point…
My limit, until this race had been 5KM, but I was ready for the challenge. My body knew I had hit the 5K mark because this is my norm. I felt it before spotting the sign but chugged along, nonetheless 🏃🏾♀️🏃🏾♀️🏃🏾♀️ I am so thankful I had no injuries. So glad I got out of bed and out of my comfort zone. I needed that race
My escape to America
November 2018: I needed a quick escape back to the US of A. On a whim, I asked the Uber (Careem) driver to stop at Starbucks. This must be the 4th or 5th time I’ve indulged in this coffee fix in the almost 6-months we’ve been here. I ran in, got my venti cafe mocha, hold the whip cream, two extra shots, all for E£38...the equivalent of $2...put on my headphones 🎧 to block off the kids’ complaining (they wanted a treat, of course), and relaxed to the natural sound of a heartbeat ❤️ They were 7 mins late to class, but at least they have a saner mama 😉 After turning in a 30-page manuscript (which I hope gets published), this seemed like a befitting reward. Now back to my volunteer job...reviewing other folks’ publications. And the scholarly grind continues.
Guns...how I deride them so 💔🔫💔
October/November 2018: An American sister here in Egypt shared this picture on our “ex-pat” WhatsApp group and said it was given to her daughter at the nursery. And YES, contrary to the most popular use of the word, black folks are ex-pats as well but that’s another rant in of itself).
How people don’t see the connection between this and violence is beyond me! When you live in a society that loves and downright venerates gun culture, what you get is free willy terrorism in form of the American terror or Middle East / Muslim world terrorism. I’m still in disagreement with my husband on the idea of our boys playing with toy guns. It just never sat well with me. What joy is there in taking someone or something’s life, be it real or pretend? This topic continues to PISS me off and makes me so MAD, I’m not sure anyone wants to hear too much of my mind. The Hubs is coming to Egypt in a couple of days with the big shot nerf guns he and the boys have been planning for, all packed up in the luggage. These kids will prob only get a chance to play with them when he’s around because my nerves won’t let me sit still and enjoy them having fun with it.
The one assurance I have here in Egypt is that they will not be shot at, gunned down, or killer like animals for having a gun (albeit a toy gun) while being black. That truly is a LONG shot possible occurrence in these parts of the world. It’s a sad point I’m hanging on to as some sort of twisted comfort. Maybe let them play with guns to their hearts desire until we return home where I have to be much more guarded about what kind of toy guns and where they get to play with them, and prob with whom.
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