A Life Far Removed from Durian Trees

...but I still don't know the names of the dishes! Here we are having a traditional meal with the best views in town - the penthouse of the Burj Al Salam Hotel in the Old City. The only (?) building in the walled city with an (OTIS) elevator. Two things I learned: Hummus isn't Yemeni (according to a Yemeni friend) and, OTIS is Dutch (a Dutch friend says it's one of two great things the Dutch can claim fame to - guess what the other one is!) The near-fluourescent green stuff in the middle is yoghurt mixed with herbs and poured over a light bread that's kind of like crepe - a favourite during Ramadhan. The spiced lentil soup is tasty and even better if you squeeze some lime over it. This was just the first course of four! Then came the meats with various breads, then the lamb briyani and finally coffee with an eggy pastry with some honey. A must if you come to Sana'a!

I'm recovering from a cold that knocked me out for 3 days. While I was delirious with fever and drugged up, I took this picture of one of the birds that like to sit on the bougainvillea tree outside the TV room . Because the windows are tinted, they can't see me inside but I think this little guy was eyeballing me. Back to today's topic: living in a house where every day, someone comes to repair/replace/clean/cut/wash something. For instance, these last couple of days: Two security staff came to deliver a new safe (my husband is such a diva - he rejected the first two and was finally happy with the third one) The plumber came to clean out the water tanks outside The water guy came with a fresh load of ozonated water (which we use for drinking and cooking) An electrician came to fix the floodlight on the roof which blew The cable guy came to install a new TV line in the bedroom Of course, my cleaner comes Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 8 a.m. And then there are th...

I didn't know there were monkeys in Yemen until I saw some today. I told my driver this and he told me this true story about his pet "girl monkey". " I had this monkey for 3 years. The small one, not the big monkey. One day my friend came with a boy monkey and he stayed in the house for the whole day. We put the boy monkey and girl monkey in the cage and they played together all day. In the evening, my friend left and took his monkey with him. Before I went to bed, I tied my monkey's leash to its usual place. The next morning, I heard the kids screaming and crying. Then I saw that the monkey was dead. She killed herself! I swear to God, she killed herself. She went round and round this post, wrapping the leash around it. Then finally she jumped and hanged herself. You know why? She crazy for the boy monkey, I swear to God. She went crazy for him. After just one day, playing with him!" Then he added, "I told my friend: your monkey killed my monkey ! But ...

Happy New Year! This blog has been somewhat neglected. Developments since last entry: 1. We spent Christmas in Dubai - a few days of city life once again...bless... 2. We visited some friends in Muscat over the New Year - I like Muscat...sigh... 3. My parents and aunt and uncle are coming to Yemen via Jordan, in February 4. Last weekend we went to the National Museum (but I forgot the camera) and hillwalking (amazing) 5. No pottery classes until March, when my teacher comes back with new baby 6. Another group of Germans & oilworkers got kidnapped 7. Demonstrations in Sana'a against the war on Gaza And with that, I'm going to make a cup of tea.