There's a sand castle in my living room

You know you live in Cairo when you sweep your front room and pick up enough sand to make a small fortress.

If you can't remember what my front room looks like, here it is.


And this is the pile of sand that I swept up from just that little stretch of hardwood floor.


I just finished swemopping* the four front rooms and this is what ended up in the dustpan.


Isn't that disgusting? Between Cairo dirt, my hair, and my one-year-old I'm fighting a losing battle and I'm losing something harsh!

At least I will be able to walk around barefooted for the next 24 hours without cringing. And then I'll have to swemop again.

*Swemop is a coined word formed by splicing together the words "sweep" and "mop." Swemopping is the act of sweeping and then mopping in rapid succession, either alone or with a partner. When swemopping alone the swemopper first sweeps and then mops the entire floor. When swemopping with a partner, one person sweeps and the other follows behind with the mop.