While I was in the US in December, approximately half a gazillion people asked me if it would be hot when I got back to Mali. No no no, I said, it's the cold season. Mali is in the northern hemisphere; it's winter there too. Of course, winter in Mali (60 degrees at night -- brrrr!) is different than winter in Michigan (I don't think it went over 10). For instance, Michigan has snow. Mali has THE DUST.

Sorry to shout but I don't know how else to convey to you that THE DUST. Is. All. Over. Everything. Have you seen the forecast for Bamako? I will tell you what it is. It is: "WIDESPREAD DUST."

That is a direct quote from The Weather Channel. I am not making this up.

The dust is widespread because of the harmattan winds, which, according to my husband, are "bringing the desert south." So that would explain why the Sahara Desert is IN MY HOUSE.

If I wash my hands and hold them in the air, not touching anything (surgeon-style), in five minutes they are filthy. I don't even bother washing my feet anymore so there are footprints on my bedsheets. Clothes, books, pictures, tables, chairs, toilets (you think I'm kidding) -- everything gathers dust faster than you can wipe it up.

The dust forms a telltale haze hanging over everything. See the white skies in the photos below? It's not cloudy. It's not foggy. It's just dusty. When I'm on the bridge I can't see to the other side of the river. When I'm in town I can't see the hills half a mile away. My eyes water. My mouth is parched.

Most telling of all: My throat is so dry I can drink an entire grande Castel before it gets hot.