Khamseen

It means "fifty" in Arabic, and it refers to a drastic change in weather some time during the spring. I am not sure if you would call it a front or a dust storm or something else, but there is heavy wind from the east blowing through that carries so much dust that the cars turn yellow and it looks foggy outside. The days have typically been in the 70s at a maximum, but today it was 85 degrees at 10 am! That is not so hot for May when you live in Texas, but it is a big difference from what we have been experiencing this spring! I dressed poor Joshua in fleece pants and we were quickly peeling them off during Arabic class. Our Arabic teacher said the name "Fifty" means that this time will occur some time during the fifty days of spring.