A Life Far Removed from Durian Trees

= Kannot Fry Chicken lah Remember KFC's Ramadan special offer? S went there two days in a row and came back with nada. The first day, he got there too late in the afternoon - they were closed. The second time, he went a bit earlier and they were open...but they couldn't cook until the electricity came back on. After waiting in the parking lot for 30 mins, S came home. Nevermind. Back in Malaysia in 10 days.

Bored with our own cooking, S and I went out for iftar twice a couple of times last week. Once at the Sheba Hotel and once at the Movenpick. Same price ($30 pp)but I thought the food and atmosphere of the Movenpick were better. Both places had the cheek to charge extra (500 rials/$2.50 each) for the small bottles of water that they open for you without asking first! Otherwise, it was nice. At the Sheba, we saw our old friends (the waiters) who were there last year when we'd just arrived. We stayed two weeks before we moved into the house. One, whose name happens to be the same as my late grandfather's, even remembered what I liked and plonked a heap of omm ali (like bread and butter pudding) in front of me. Bless. The Movenpick was snazzy (5 star hotel I think) and had a bigger spread. I think one of the chefs is from Malaysia because there was kuih sugee (my favourite) and the nasi goreng tasted really asli and I'd heard about him. Today, we're having KFC. There's...

Today we get a new driver. After a year of putting up with the antics of M and thinking a replacement one might be even worse, we decided to call it quits. He has a good heart. But his last, last, last, last, last, last chance was used up a couple of days ago: after the usual morning wake-up call and saying he's on his way, he disappeared. The whole day. Phone switched off. No news. We thought, what if he had an accident rushing to work? Poor guy, hope he's okay. The next day (we'd made arrangements for a standby driver), he showed up at work. All smiles. No explanation, except that he was sick and there was no electricity so he couldn't charge his phone and call us. Unbelievable. He pulls these stunts; shows up late for work; drives erratically; uses the car for his errands and to shuttle family around; goes home (which is far) to sleep during the day using OUR petrol money; always rushes us because he's got plans; makes a sour face when he has to work the...

MURTABAK!!! Discovered along the famous shopping area - Jamal Street - last weekend during an evening walkabout. We bought eight! You can buy plain, with egg or with veggies. We didn't see any with minced meat but I'm told you can get it. WHY HASN'T ANYONE SAID YOU CAN GET MURTABAK IN YEMEN?!?! And not just during Ramadan!

...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...