a thick gray haze

The city here is habitually hazy and polluted- but these last couple days deserve some sort of record. Last evening the thick air settled in- as you can see in the buildings attempting to shine their pretentious light displays through the dusk...and by 7am this morning, our view of downtown was altogether obscured, as seen in the second image. The city's air is known to foster a perpetual cough and sinus issues in the local population- and we as a team were already trying to get over colds when we arrived. The air is not helping our cause. Yet it seems that the hazier the air, the warmer the climate. So for the moment we think its a decent trade off. Reports say that the temperature will drop off this weekend though- so i am expecting a clearer (though still typically gray and hazy) view in the coming days. The clearest days are those that follow rain- as was the case with the sunny blue skied day pictured in one of my first entries sent from here. Anyhow, for the time being we are resigned to enjoying the warmth (traipsing around without jackets!) while insulated by the thick gray haze.