Hot times and walking to school...

I'm quite enjoying my walks to school every morning. Not having a car before, I've generally walked wherever I needed to go. A great way to get from point A to point B on a lovely summer's day in Montreal, not always so great in the summer in the UAE (or for that matter, in the winter in Montreal).

Consider this, however. It's rumoured that the meteorologists of certain Middle Eastern countries will fudge the weather reports a bit. By law, nobody is supposed to be working outside once the temp hits 50 degrees, especially not on construction sites or in the middle of the desert. Some claim that the temperature is generally reported to be 47 or 48, because if it hit 50, about half the workers here would be required to stop working.... and then how would those skyscrapers get built??

I can tell you that a 30-minute walk before the sun has reached its full power leaves you absolutely drenched, to the point that you have to change all your clothes before you can even think of speaking to another person, so I can't even begin to imagine what the legions of workers picking up garbage by the side of the road, or carrying boards on a construction site, or loading trucks must be feeling....

(By the way... it isn't even summer yet!)

(Right, and another thing, don't go telling me that "It's a dry heat", because 50 degrees is HOT. And another thing, I don't see you leaning over the toaster and that's a dry heat too, isn't it?)

The heat is, perhaps, one reason why most of the people I pass on the sidewalk as I walk to school stare at me like I'm an absolute lunatic. I mean, first off, they stare at any unveiled woman... and then to have this crazy person wandering around and, dare I say, sweating in public????

Still, it's a nice way to see all of MZ - literally - I walk from one end to the other!! I also have a chance to chat with a black rooster who lives a block away from us, and to practice reading in Arabic as I walk slowly past shop windows. A few brave people will say hello to me (generally children or students), but most of them just look at me like I'm from another planet.

It's most amazing how, in all this heat, the town is still green. Sheikh Zayed's idea to "green the desert" has changed the landscape, but it takes a lot of upkeep. Each tree, each flowerbed, each median strip is built on its own sort of water reservoir that irrigates the soil constantly, and workers plant, trim, weed and care for it every day. And this greenspace runs the length of the town, providing napping space for tired workers, a picnic spot for students, and a home for birds.

Once I get to school, I am doubly happy that I managed to walk. With exams over, the teachers seem more interested in socializing than anything else. And in the Mid East - you socialize with food, and food, and food. If you get a good score on an exam, you buy everyone cake. If you pass your driver's test, you buy everyone cake. If your child wins a prize for something, you buy everyone cake... and then everyone has to wash it down with tea or coffee that is mostly sugar (I generally skip the tea/coffee). If you are anything like one of my co-teachers, Nihal, you also spend your evenings at home cooking, and then bring it all into school so that everyone can benefit - she's brought in stuffed peppers, beans mixed with veg, and a "musakha-ah" - a sort of vegetable mix. Definitely a nice change from kimchi and raw fish on a plate!

Hmmm, I've just re-read this, and it seems a bit garbled. Thanks for reading anyway... and I promise I'll learn how to cook Egyptian-style like Nihal so that I can fatten you all up when I arrive in Canada in 6 weeks.