Storm dust

It's hot, windy and dusty. It's unseasonably hot. The temperature leapt between 5 to 20 degrees in a week (depending on who's talking) and has now reached the 'slightly uncomfortable with a constant sheen of sweat' stage. Apparently the reason for the heat is the southerly winds that have been battering Al Ain for the last 3 days. Desert winds are common, but this one started on Thursday evening and hasn't abated. The wind is carrying shedfuls of insidious dust which stings the eyes, fills hair and clothes, coats every surface with a fine layer and heaps up against doors. The wind pushes the dust through closed windows and doors and through cracks I didn't know that I had. I actually cleaned my living room surfaces on Saturday morning and it was a complete waste of time. When I returned in the late afternoon, everything was covered with dust again. My plants are rolling around in torment outside. Fortunately the wind chimes seem to be in a reasonably sheltered spot, chiming urgently every now and then. In one of my pots outside I have a seaside windmill, carried carefully from Wells-next-the-Sea, via Abu Dhabi to my garden. It's whirring around as though it will take off any minute now, but is clearly made of Norfolk flint and seems to be damage free. Last week I bought it a companion - I was amazed to find windmills at a school sale so bought one from an enterprising young man (who later donated the proceeds to Al Ain Animal Friends, bless him). The newcomer isn't doing so well - it's been flattened by the constant force of the wind and only manages a fit and a start of a whirr.

It's pretty windy in bed as well. No, not that. It's the fan, that I've had to drag from the corner where it's lurked since last December, ignoring the dust all over it which is probably being blown all over me and the bedclothes during the night. According to the temperature guage on my air conditioning control, it's 28 C in my bedroom at night and just too too hot to sleep. The fan makes a big difference, but blows my hair all over my face and I'm not sleeping well. Added to that, the windy conditions seem to have given everyone that 'wind up the tail' skittishness.

At work we have another storm brewing. We're in the middle of being 'pepped'. This entails a teaching observation and an evaluation completed by our students. After that, we have to write about how wonderful we've been all year and explain how our goals match the goals of the college before meeting with our supervisors to check whether or not we still have a job. Observations are always difficult. Remember how you felt during your driving test? Same thing, but the teacher often has less control of what actually happens. The secret of positive and developmental teacher evaluations is the environment in which they are conducted and well-trained observers who know how to give constructive and useful feedback. Unfortunately the latter is not guaranteed and there's already a story sweeping through the staffrooms about the belligerent and destructive feedback given to a very experienced teacher here. Let's hope this is all a storm in a teacup and that calm and cooler, normal temperatures will come soon.