Everyday since I arrived on the peninsula (almost a month ago - yikes) my trusty Weather Network has religiously informed me that the weather is 30-something and Dust - evidently when you live in the desert, Dust is a weather pattern.
I have heard of dust storms, only my Alberta upbringing leads me to picture something like a snowstorm but hotter. This however is nowhere close to what a dust storm is like. It starts with a smell - kind of like a museum meets construction zone. No matter how deep you are inside a building, or how blasting your air conditioner is running, the smell of the dust seeps in all the cracks and finds it's way to your lungs. When you become consciously aware of the smell, you start to notice the noise, like a whooshing of wind through a tunnel, but more subtle. And more than that you notice that it mutes all the other noises you have become accustomed to - the roar of traffic or the hum of a fan. Finally you notice the dust itself - clouding the air with millions upon millions of minuscule particles that settle on every surface or are swept up in ferocious winds like tiny projectiles. People here seem to regard the dust rather like an entity all in itself.
We had just such a dust storm today. As the dust began to settle in, a colleague of mine grabbed a mask and pushed it into my hand saying "quickly, before they are all gone!" And sure enough, within minutes every patient, visitor and staff member was suddenly hidden behind medical masks - and everywhere empty boxes of masks littered the work stations.
My roommate and I braved the storm to snap a few pictures in the entrance to the Emergency Department - they don't look nearly as dramatic as the scene in real life. It really just looks cloudy in the shots - but I assure you, it is angry lung clogging dust! We walked home later wearing our masks and squinting hard to try to keep the dust out of our eyes. The dust has been here for a few hours now and it doesn't appear to be departing any time soon.
I now have a little stash of masks in my room so as not to be caught unawares by the insidious dust!
1 comment:
That sounds insane! So since everyone was grabbing all the masks, the dust sweeps inside everywhere too? It's like the Great Depression but on the other side of the world and without the same economic effects.
I also love that the picture just looks like it's cloudy outside. It just makes it a "you had to be there" moment!
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