A Life Far Removed from Durian Trees

That was my score from today's Arabic test. Would've been higher if teacher hadn't put in new words and new grammar...but who cares? I'm the only student in the class! And she ain't gonna hit me. Finished book #1, which was the basics of Yemeni Arabic. Next: foos-ha i.e. formal Arabic This has been the hardest language I've ever learnt. How do you memorise words that don't sound like anything you know? farhan(ah) - happy ( ok, I have a cousin called Farhanah...easy ) dhaki - smart ( also easy, I have a smart cousin whose called Zaki ) shittaa - winter (right, think of a s****y winter) saidaliya - pharmacy (a little harder) mustaqba l - future (damn it!) mus-tash-fah - hospital ( what the...??? ) ...and groups of words sound similar, e.g. colours: aswad - azraq - ahmar - akhdar - asfar - abyad ...and then there are the many, many grammatical rules. Take numbers: even numbers have genders! Sometimes you use masculine numbers with feminine nouns, or...

* Yemen jet crashes in Indian Ocean * A Yemeni airliner with about 150 people on board crashes in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros archipelago. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/africa/8125664.stm

I can't believe it's only been 1.5 months since I was home - it seems so far away. But then again I can't believe I've been in Sana'a for 9 months - that felt quick, granted I've really been in-country for about 1/2-2/3 of the time. From my last trip home, I brought back: frozen karipap (Malaysian word for - you guessed it - curry puffs), keropok lekor ("fish sausages" on the packet but somehow that doesn't do it justice...and neither does the picture below) and otak-otak ("brains" but I've just realised I don't really know what this is). I was gob-smacked and thrilled you could buy these pre-made-just-fry-it-for-4-minutes afternoon snacks - shows you how long I've been away and how I'm still stuck in the 90s. Anyway, these taste REALLY good, even better than some fresh versions. Sadly once this stash is gone, it might be a while before I can get some more. :o(

...was actually kinda fun. S' company had booked the entire amusement park for employees and families for a day, with a Southern Fried Chicken value meal as well! I went on 4 rides - it was cool not having to queue up for too long. The place was clean and although the rides were a bit rickety, it seemed like they were in good working condition. There's a bowling alley too but we decided to go some other time. Against my better judgement, I got on the 'Break Dance' ride - which should have been called 'Break Neck' or 'Whiplash'. Luckily I'd been forewarned about keeping my neck straight but if that thing hadn't stopped when it did, there would've been some major G-force chuck-up. I saw these little toys at the park entrance: Hajjah Barbie in her abaya vs LA Barbie. SOOOOO cute!

A few days after returning from Dubai, I got knocked out by a cold. Today (although with some coughing that makes me swallow my own phlegm - yuck) I'm much better. Brain is working again. No fever. No runny nose - just an alarmingly peeling one. At times like this, when I'm finally able to get around after feeling terrible, I feel very grateful for being able-bodied and healthy. (After a few days though, this feel-good feeling wears off...) Some random stuff: 1. No more pottery lessons - my teacher has gone back to France with her baby because her husband was kicked out of the country for a paper he wrote. I feel bad for him because he has always been interested in Arabia, spent many years studying Yemen and speaks Arabic like a local. 2. I've discovered foul (pron. fool), which is very easy to make, as tasty/spicy as you want to make it, not expensive and very nutritious. This is a good recipe but no need to put cinnamon/clove/turmeric: http://www.recipezaar.com/Egyptian-...

After almost two years since my last pig-out, I HAD LOTS AND LOTS OF DURIAN I mean LOTS, people Had heartburn for two days...but damn it was worth it S, my sisters and I went to 'Donald's Durians' near my parents' place in Petaling Jaya. A little pricey but Donald is a friendly guy and he gave us some other (small) durians to try out FOC. Needless to say the freebies weren't as tasty. Donald's set-up is very simple: a tent by the roadside and lit with flourescent lights. Plastic tables and chairs. Metal racks stacked with durians of different species, i.e. D88, D22, etc. You state your preference (sweet, not-so-sweet, creamy, bitter) and can pick your own durian if you're an expert but otherwise they'll choose one, weigh it and send it to the table open with some plain water. When you're done, there's a tap to wash your hands. They even cater for durian parties. AWESOME. We went in the evening but apparently Donald's is open during the day. ...

One thing I love about living in Yemen is that everything is QUICK. I mean there are (virtually) no queues in supermarkets, clinics, petrol stations, restaurants and beauty salons. The shopping arcades are never crowded and most shops I've been into, I'm the only customer. So if you need anything, it's always a quick in-and-out. And most big things you buy will be delivered the SAME day whether it's a fridge, an exercise bike or carpets...which you'll be lucky to get in the developed world. Even custom-made stuff, like our sofa, took only 2 weeks to make. In the UK, you'd have to wait six weeks. The water tanks will be at your home within a couple of hours of a phonecall. Same with the cable guy and plumber. To do errands around town, unless you're in the Thursday morning pre-qat traffic, it takes less than 10 minutes to get from A to B almost anywhere in Sana'a. So all these things combined make things go fast, fast, fast. At restaurants where the...