On monsoons and deserts...

Today in Cairo, something weird happened.

It rained.

I suppose, in all honesty, I have felt a few drops on other occasions. But not much. Definitely nothing like today.

I first noticed raindrops falling on my head early in the morning, just before 8, as I made my to the bus stop a few blocks from the dormitory. At that point, it wasn't anything really to get excited about- a few drops here and there.

We arrived at campus just before 9, and as I headed into my class, the precipitation picked up a little bit. Our teacher (who's Egyptian), excitedly told us that it was raining, but us Americans didn't feel it deserved the full effect of the word, so we simply told her it was "sprinkling."

The "sprinkling" was done by the time class was over, and I assumed that was the last we'd seen of precipitation that day. But the skies remained overcast and dreary for much of the day (kind of like South Bend- on a good day).

I went into the library at 6 pm to finish up some work before the weekend. When I emerged only 45 minutes later, rain was coming down- hard. It was by no means a torrential downpour, but it was certainly enough to get you wet.

Though it certainly wasn't anything extreme by American standards, it was pretty evident that rain in Cairo simply did not come in these amounts, and they sure as heck weren't prepared for it. This was certainly reflected in the insanity of the traffic that night, as measured by the amount of time it took for us to get home. Usually the return trip is anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half. Tonight, it was approaching two and a half before a few friends and I decided to hop off and walk the remaining mile. We beat the bus by a long shot (although the lack of adequate drainage systems in the streets necessitated that we circumnavigate small lakes at times).

I later found out that the rainfall of today was more than Cairo had gotten in the last two years combined. Oof-tah.

Anyway, if you've been bored with my lack of adventures recently, I've got an exciting excursion coming up this weekend. Four friends and I will be taking a bus to the oasis of Bahriyah, and will spend two days exploring the Black and White Desert, including an evening camp-out under the stars. I'll have a lot of pics and some decent stories when I get back, insha'allah (the insha'allah applies to both acquiring pictures and stories as well as making it back alive).