A Life Far Removed from Durian Trees

...that's my driver during Ramadan. He stays up all night and then struggles to wake up in the morning...even though S goes to work an hour later (9 am instead of 8 am) during Ramadan. It's come to a point where S gives him a wake-up call at 8.15 am. When S asks, "Where are you?" it's the usual answer, "On the way, boss." which I now take to mean he's in bed and is on the way to the bathroom to be on the way to work. After he sends S to the office, he goes home to sleep (with the petrol that we pay for). When he has to take me to Arabic class at 1pm, he wakes up again. Each time so far, he drove right past my teacher's place until I say, "You passed it." In the afternoons, when's he's more awake, he uses the car for errands - buying qat, food, pampers, etc. (again with our petrol). This whole month he sounds like Barry White, but croakier - I don't know why. Today, he had to go for a safety course in the morning and finished...

Can't sleep - too much Cadbury's at dinner. Last week S and I were invited to break the fast by S' Yemeni colleague, Q. I was pretty excited about the whole thing because apart from my Arabic teacher's parents' house (where we have lessons), I'd never seen a Yemeni family environment before. Q has two young daughters, one being maybe 3 years old and the other just 10 months old. His wife, B, was shy at first but afterwards became more talkative and wouldn't let me go home. While the boys rushed through their meal, us two girls talked so much and hardly got through our food. Well, I wouldn't say I talked. I managed to ask a few questions in Arabic and then tried to make sense of what B was saying as she rattled on. I tried to eat as much as I could but there was soooo much food! On top of that, B's eldest daughter kept taking the ladies' dishes away to the men's dining room for her father - she just adores him. B cooked everything herself and ...

We're now in day 2 of Ramadhan. The weather is Sana'a is very pleasant, not so dusty because we've had a lot of rain and last Friday, it hailed with little marbles of ice falling all over the garden. There's also been a lot of jet fighter activity in the skies... And we've had a lot of power cuts, day and night. In some areas, I think 12 hours a day. The local papers reported "billions of $$$" in lost revenue due to the blackouts. Ice cream sellers were badly hit and had to throw out loads of the stuff. Families had to go to hospital because they didn't realise their food had gone bad. Gas prices have gone up. My Arabic lessons are now in the afternoons, during lunch hour, because there are no taxis in the morning for my teacher. During class we talked about food a lot. I haven't ventured out in the late afternoons when the streets are supposed to be in absolute chaos. Many expats wives have run away for the Holy Month - it just cramps thei...

...now don't get too excited. Some places we're not allowed to visit in Yemen (except Socotra)... Shibam, Hadramaut Mahra - Omani border Sana'a-Hodeidah road Jibla Socotra

I went to a local dentist last week. Apparently I've been grinding my teeth at night. The clinic is on Hadda Street, one of Sana'a's main streets and is quite a big clinic. My guy was actually an orthodontist - and a professor. His name was on stickers all over the place so it was probably his clinic, but there were a few other dentists also. It was busy but I didn't have to wait. I go in and am met by a very pleasant, middle-aged man. There's a big corporate-looking desk and a sitting area on one side of the room. In the other, The Chair and where it all happens. I'd never seen a purple dentist's chair with matching purple cabinets before. Anyway, Prof had spent some time in Malaysia, methinks on sabbatical at University Sains Malaysia in Penang. He liked it there. "Malaysia is a good country." He had two female assistants and that day his son was also there. He gave me some meds after the first appointment but I went back after three days,...

My first political entry. I am by no means a political expert but I need to say this. Malaysia is not a perfect country. We have our share of ethnic tensions, corruption, crime, etc. but the more of the world I see, the more I appreciate that Malaysia is a pretty good place and that things could be worse. True, there's a lot that frustrates me about how the country is run. But after living in the US, UK, Africa and the Middle East, I've come to appreciate what we have in Malaysia. Compared to the current state of other African countries that gained independence around the same time as we did, we did pretty well despite racial tensions and economic disparity etc...and now serve as a role model for many developing nations. A lot of people that I've met seem to respect Malaysians. Just the fact that it's very green and with lots of water is something most Malaysians take for granted but is in itself a really big thing for many people living in arid places. We have great fo...

Last night, I went to my first Yemeni wedding. It was a special one because the groom was German and the bride's sister had also married a foreigner, a Belgian. It's more common for a Yemeni man to marry a non-Yemeni, so this was quite special. The wedding itself was traditional. I was advised to wear my best dress and do my hair and make-up ("it's like a competition"); not to bring a camera (confiscated at the door) and not to get a present (only family and close friends bring a prezzie). I wore a blue baju kebaya (traditional Malay dress) and wore a black balto (Yemeni robe) over it. I went with a friend, and it was her friend's sister's wedding. The venue was a big square hall with tables and chairs for about 500 people. The colour scheme was yellow and gold. There was a walkway across the centre of the room, from the door to the stage (like a catwalk). At the stage (which was like a Malay pelamin ), there was a sofa and canopy and flowers. But unlike...

Almost completed our first year here. Now we're into the rainy months, which means nice, clear, cool air once the rain stops. The mango and tangerine season are over, and the jasmine wreaths sold in the streets will become more expensive. The pomegranate tree in our garden has given fruit (?) but the birds got to it before we did. School broke up a month or two ago and so it is blissfully quiet during the day...except for the generator during electricity rationing hours. People are preparing for Ramadhan (~3 weeks to go). My Arabic teacher already bought her kids outfits for eid , because she hates the crowds during Ramadhan...which by the way is when shops close at four a.m. She said during the month, most people eat, watch TV, shop or party all night long - and then sleep through most of the day. The Arabic channels will show the best tv series from all around the Arab world and have already started to air ads about the line-up for this Ramadhan. I thought everyone stayed up all...