We did some due diligence about Abu Dhabi and the UAE before we got here. Climate,  religion, customs, legal system, history, etc. Clearly, being here trumps anything you read, but most of what has happened in six months … we had a clue would happen.

What I didn’t really get my mind around … was sandstorms.

Sure, Abu Dhabi is 99 percent desert.  It backs onto the biggest sandpile in the world, an area called The Empty Quarter. (Which, no, is not a reference to my first term in college.)

I knew sand could and would get into the air.

I just didn’t know to this extent.

So, the havoc tonight?

On an all-about-me basis, I diced with sudden death by jogging (yes) in the sandstorm. In my own defense, I could hear the wind and things looked a little hazy … but I could see the moon!  It couldn’t be a really profound sandstorm, right, if I looked up and saw a half moon. Not quite being able to see Airport Road only about 50 yards from my front door … must be a trick of the lighting, now that I’m outside at 8 p.m. Yes?

Uh, no. Lots and sand blowing, and I can only wonder how much I managed to inhale. Enough for a dirt cloud? Enough for a brick? Can’t be good. I could feel it between my teeth. Yummy.

On a bigger level, the strong winds (plus already-dry-sand/dirt) almost wrecked the final night of the big world music show held up on the Corniche of the city.

As you can read about in this story.

Winds of 40 kph (about 25mph) buffetted fans and musicians down on the beach. Hard to get into the music when you’ve got blowing sand in your ears. And eyes.

And we can only imagine what the flying grit did to musical instruments or expensive amplifying equipment, etc.

When I got here, I expected sandstorms.

What I didn’t expect was sandstorms every second week. Maybe a few days a year. Not what seems to be shaping up as 30 or 40 days a year when … we all should stay inside wearing masks. And we haven’t even had a really big one yet.

We could use some rain to bring the dirt back to Earth. But, then, it wouldn’t be much of a desert if it rained, and this is a serious desert. With the duststorms to prove it.