A Life Far Removed from Durian Trees

Saudi forces 'fighting in Yemen' - Al Jazeera

Before I get into it, some updates: 1. Weather is now 11C - nice! Not looking forward to Dec/Jan when it's colder inside the house than outside! 2. Arabic teacher giving birth in 2 weeks and she will be off for a month or two. (Looking forward to the break because I am way behind in revision!) 3. Tomato prices have gone up 200% 4. I now have a bullet-proof bathroom. (Friends who are planning to visit - don't worry, it's been planned for a while - just a precaution) 5. I'm allergic to something here - my eyelids are itchy Ok, the hospital. There are a lot of hospitals in Sanaa but they look more like clinics. Some are funded by the Saudis, some are private, there's an Iranian one that's been shut down by the government for political reasons. So my maid was screaming in pain. We pull up at a hospital and someone comes by with a wheelchair. I think I was expected to push her to A&E but the porter took one look at me and didn't think I was up to it (and I di...

I've had so much DRAMA this week. My maid/cleaner and one of the guards were fighting. Guard called the security supervisor and then there was some counselling. Some workmen came to the house and some small items were stolen. They did a bad job and have to come again on Monday to fix things. Promised to reimburse me for the stolen shaving stick and deodorant (they insisted!), but didn't seem surprised or try to deny that one of them had done it. The maid and guard accused each other of stealing, to get the other in trouble. Big bust-up in front of the house. Doorbell rings and security supervisor is back again. Told me I had to decide which one to get rid of - cheeky since he's not paying my maid's salary. I said guard should go (not that he would lose his job, just assigned to a different house). Supervisor says ok but guard hangs around until S comes home and begs to be reinstated. S says ok but no more fighting. More workmen come round to fix the wiring. Then ...