Sand Storms

You see them in movies or read about them in books, but today was the first sand storm I had ever been in.... The wind picked up late last night and blew out the electricity for a few hours but it was back on by the time we woke up. From our apartment up on the top of a hill up on the seventh floor it sounded like the rapture was upon us with all it's howling winds. Just walking the 20 feet to the taxi was a bit painful, the wind had a bit of a bite of sand in it and I immediately felt dirty. As the the progress and I would look out the window across the valley of Nablus viability decreased to the point were I couldn't see across the street. Walking the half block to the shop for the chocolate I promised my good students reminded me of the Santa Ana winds back home in LA. Eventually it got a bit better.... Walking home wasn't too bad. The only two things that bugged be when I got home is that the wind and sand blew out our satellite dish and we aren't sure how to get it adjusted so there was no TV at all. AND the new water heater we got is solar powered. Turns out that sand stops the sun from feeding power to the solar panels leaving us with another day of cold showers...