A new crockery set

In need of a new crockery set - apparently not.

Our recent experience of living in 'volunteers' apartments is that nothing ever matches, sheets/pillowcases, chairs or crockery. I am sure that over the years generous people donate to the volunteers rather than throw things out, and then volunteers feel that they shouldn't be seen to throw things out because they have been so generously donated. We're definitely not going to throw out our trendy collection of dishes. We have a 'set' of 9 different dishes, which I have been reliably informed by some friends in the UK, is the 'in' thing at the moment, namely non-matching crockery. Is this the truth or were they just trying to make us feel better about our non-matching crockery, towels, random wall-pictures and our one and a half bedroom curtain/s. P

What's your albedo rating?

From the style of the last blog you have probably guessed that it was written by J. I am quite looking forward to moving into her new home because in my home there is a need for a few improvements. The location, space and basic furniture are more than we expected BUT:

The hospital toilet paper seems to have been accidentally switched with the carpenter's sandpaper.

There is plenty of hot water from the solar panels, but the pool of water that springs from the shower tray and covers the floor causes problems when trying to dry your feet .

Oh and Jane forgot to mention that we live in an oven. We expected to find the temperature in the summer to be very hot (currently 90 F) but our home continued to get hotter even during the night. I inspected our flat roof to find that it was covered in black asphalt, an albedo rating of 0.1 (solar reflectance for the unscientific). It absorbed the heat from the sun during the day and then gently baked us throughout the night. I acquired some white 'plastic' paint and set to work to increase our albedo rating to 0.7 - although I'm not sure what colour to paint it in the winter. P

Our House!

Our new house is slowly becoming a home, it's a cross between a 1960’s Butlins holiday chalet and an Argentinean hacienda! We live in the extension to the original house which was build at the time of the Ottoman Empire. The garden is mainly paved with its own cactus garden. There are many cypress and olive trees which offer welcome shade. The bird life is incredible! When we sit out on a cool evening sipping mint tea (shay na na ) we watch kites ducking and diving, catching food for their chicks across the way. A blue humming bird hovers around the honeysuckle, and is accompanied by a green wood pecker and numerous blue jays. It is a indeed a tranquil and peaceful place, away from the hustle and bustle of the main streets of Naz. A little sanctuary, for which we are grateful. J

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