Beating the heat: a few pics and camel's milk

Remember when I said shortly after arriving that the heat was bad, but nothing that the good, ol' U. S. of A couldn't do just as well in places like Florida and Texas? Remember that? Apparently, we landed in somewhat of a "cold" spell. Those first few days, for example, one's sunglasses would not immediately fog up in the humidity upon exiting a building. One's feet would not sweat slimy puddles in one's shoes while walking across the hall. One could take a photograph in the middle of the day without water condensing on the lens.

For the past week, it has been uniquely, Arabian-peninsula-is-like-no-other-place-on-earth hot--and one could certainly expect foggy glasses, soggy feet and wet lenses. Every time.

Hence the lack of city pics. It's not worth it even to post a foggy example because it shows up as white haze. I took the following pictures from the air-conditioned safety of K's apartment (her view is the same as mine, though one story higher). More will follow as it gets cooler.

As promised: the sushi building! It has a car dealership on the ground floor and offices above (note the giant chopstick holder on the top, hence the name). It is a landmark we newbies have been using to orient ourselves around the city because it can been seen from most places, including my livingroom. Shout out to colleague M for coining the name. This picture also showcases the very nice park across the street from the apartment building.


The mosque across the street. The call to prayer from its minaret is among the more demure I've heard. It doesn't wake me up (good), but sometimes I miss it in the evening (disappointing). The call to prayer is one of the best parts about living in a Muslim country (imho).

In another effort to beat the heat, I tried camel milk today. (When in the desert, do as the Bedouins...) These days, it's widely available at the grocery store, alongside the regular milk, soy milk and goat's milk. It's slightly sour, but mostly nutty. I think it'd be great as chocolate milk, but that's not on offer. Something else for those cute suggestion boxes.