oday, it rained. It felt a little bit like being in the movie “Dune” where Paul finally makes it rain in the desert. Of course, our rain wasn’t as grand. It lasted a whole five minutes. But, what really amazed me is the sandstorm that preceded the rain.

Call me a typical tourist, but I had to get out my camera and snap a few pictures – while this was probably an every day event to the long time residents of Khartoum, it was a first for me. I’m certain this was probably a small storm, but I was as excited as a kid during its first Christmas! Through the power of a cool little software tool that stitches together photos to make a panorama (yes, I know my camera probably does it, but I like to do things the hard way), I have this to offer:

I took this picture outside my bedroom, so I was indeed in the path. It didn’t last long, but the smell of the dust in the air was unmistakable. It struck me that this wall of nasty didn’t really move very fast — it took about five minutes for it to travel from where you see it in this picture to the house. So, I do wonder if there are really bigger, faster storms as portrayed in the movies (like The Mummy). I tend to think not, but, what do I know? My sandstorm cherry was just popped today. By the end of the year, I might be able to answer that thought.

All in all, pretty cool.