Concrete weights

One the advantages of moving into a volunteers home is that you find the remains of many, many years of 'stuff' left behind. As people move on they invariably leave things behind that they can't fit into their suitcases. Most of the things are useful, but there are also many strange things that you find in the back of cupboards, such as home-made dumb-bell weights (the Arnold Schwarzenegger kind). There must have been a keep-fit fanatic living in our new home who was a resourceful DIY enthusiast - each the weight is made out of two pieces of an 8" black plastic drainage pipe that have been filled with concrete and a metal bar put between them. Jane is finding that they are a bit too light for her exercise regime - she was so excited to find them, but then disappointed that they were not heavier, although Peter is getting good use out of them! Only a few more cupboards and sheds to explore - who knows what may appear next? P

The Crossing

After a 7 hour journey we crossed the river J and arrived in Naz, Is. We haven't got jet-lag, just heat exhaustion (43C at the border control). We have settled into our new apartment - for our British readers it is a semi-detached bungalow, which probably creates the wrong impression. It is far better than we imagined, but still in need of some modernising, which we will start once our long-term visas are confirmed. The modernising may include a TV and more importantly the internet. We have become very reliant on emails, skype and blogs so in the mean time we will devise ways to make contact with you all. The big bonus is that although our new home is in hospital grounds it is secluded with garden/paved areas on the side, back and front - most of the plants are cacti and vines. P

Desert Island Discs

It's a bit like Desert Island Discs - which book to take on an 8 hour bus ride (the discs are no problem thanks to my computer and MP3). I have passed on my airport books bought at Heathrow 4 months ago, including 'The Economic Naturalist'. It is an interesting book that answers questions like - 'Why is milk sold in rectangular containers while soft drinks are sold in cylindrical ones?'. We don't have any space in our suitcases and rucksacks so books are a luxury item, especially when they cost twice the price as in the UK. We are getting used to packing our cases, as this is the ninth time in 18 months, but crossing borders does present certain challenges.

There may be a delay in our next blog, but we will update it as soon as possible after we arrive. P

Cousins

Learning Arabic continues to be interesting and challenging. One problem is that spoken Arabic is different to written Arabic, the written Arabic is 'classical' - this is also used on TV/radio programmes. Another interesting topic is the various words used for family members - life would be so much simpler if I was a single child born to parents who were also single children. Not wishing to bore you, but the words for cousins are a good example. In English a child of your parent's sibling is simply called a cousin - not so simple in Arabic. Firstly the words for your father's siblings (uncle, auntie) are different to your mother's siblings; then the children of you uncle/auntie are identified by their parent and their sex. Sooooo the word for my mother's sister's daughter is different from my mother's sister's son or my father's sister's daughter. For the mathematicians there are eight words for the equivalent English word 'cousin'.

We are starting to say our good-byes, sorting out our apartment and packing our suitcases. There will hopefully be another blog before we travel to Is/Pal. Thanks for reading. P