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Al hayah helwah
Quite a few things since the last post: - S' aunt and uncle came to visit. Took them to the usual spots plus the military museum and the Saleh mosque, which was a first time for us. - Bought a treadmill and an elliptical trainer. Takes too much time to go to the Movenpick if you want to exercise every day. Feel guilty about spending all that money so I HAVE VOWED TO EXERCISE EVERY DAY AT 6 AM... - Hillwalking last Friday. It was nice to get out but still sore. - Found a fellow Malaysian. He's 39 going on 29...good fun. Called us lame because we still haven't been to lots of "cool" places in Sana'a. So our New Year's resolution is to go out more! - Arabic teacher gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on December 5. No classes until February. - Discovered smoked beef and smoked chicken breast at Shumaila Hari supermarket - great for deli-type sandwiches! I've also acquired a taste for non-alkie beer, which is widely sold in Sana'a. There's...
Hospital
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...
Drama
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 ...
Art show
Last weekend we went to an art show held by the International Womens Association (IWA). It was hosted by an English lady who lives a typical HUGE Yemeni house. Let's put it this way, it was big enough to be used as an art gallery! They showcased (and were selling) paintings by about 10 Yemeni artists, with some of the proceeds going to charity. The nice thing was the artists were there to explain what the pieces were about. I bought a Shawki Mohd Abdul original called "The Golden City". I felt sorry for the guy, nobody had bought any of his stuff yet. I did like the painting...and compared to the other pieces, it was a "bargain" at $50. What the heck, it was for charity. I did like one particular piece that was on glass, but we've had glass items broken before during moves. S was hung up on this one abstract piece of a woman's face (only after we were told what to look for did we see it) but he thought it was too expensive at $150. To me the price of art...
