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8月4日 My Wife Helen Fractures Her AnkleMy wife, Helen, has fractured her ankle. She managed it walking down the ramp to the underground car park at our apartment block. However, the full story is as follows:
I managed to get Helen into work, where the company nurse had a look at her foot and immediately indicated we needed to get Helen to a hospital. So Abdullah, one of the company drivers, the company nurse, myself and Helen got into a car and drove to a local hospital in Sale. I set off with great trepidition as having experienced the local hospital to work in Watipitiwala in Sri Lanka I had visions of something off Bramwell (A UK program about a nurse in Victorian England). However, I have to say the hospital we went to was as good as anything I've seen in the UK. Within an hour they had x-rayed Helen's ankle and referred us to a hospital in Agdal. It took us 30 minutes to get to the second hospital and this was a little more basic but not too bad. After a rather confusing hour and a half of up to half a dozen doctors/nurses coming to talk to the company nurse a doctor finally put Helen's foot in plaster. Helen was told that the plaster could be removed after 3-4 weeks and that she needed 3 days of complete rest although she must try and move her leg for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening. We managed to secure a wheelchair to get Helen out to the car as previously she had had to hobble about. I managed to get Helen back to the apartment and once back at work I managed to get Chadi, one of the purchasers here to get a full translation of what the problem with Helen's ankle was. It turns out Helen has a displaced nerve in her leg and a small fracture at the side of her heel.
So Helen's last two weeks in Morocco are going to be mainly restricted to our apartment :(
A Change Of Plans Getting Back To The UKA slight change of plan. We are now booked on a flight back to the UK on Friday 18th August. I then have two weeks holiday before starting back at work in our UK Head Office on Mon 4th Sep. Can't wait to get back to sort out the garden! I think this will be the end of my ex-pat days :) 7月22日 Looking Forward To A Holiday In The UKI am now 2/3 of my stay in Morocco. I have just two months left before, hopefully, I will be flying back to the UK on Thu 21st September for 2 weeks holiday. Water water everywhere - but not in my bathroomIt seems me and water don't go together in Morocco! I have gone from too much water (having twice had floods in the apartment) to too little. I am sure someone with greater literary talents than myself could make this the basis for a scene in a Carry On Film.
To start the story we have been without hot water for a week. However, a description of the plumbing in our apartment is perhaps required. Water is available in the following rooms:
When the hot water boiler gave up the ghost we lost the washing machine (which only runs off hot water apparently), the toilet in the small room (which was connected only to the hot water - god alone knows why) and the basin in the bathroom (which also had no cold water connection). Mercifully the toilet in the bathroom was connected to the cold water system as was the shower so at least we could have cold showers each morning; not my choice of ways to start a day but better than no shower at all. However, yesterday the shower gave up the ghost too. There was a dribble coming out but that was about it. However, we did have water in the kitchen still so I boiled the kettle up and started to fill the bath up or at least get an inch of hot water in the bottom as I draw the line at cold baths - I'm a wuss. I know. However, after getting almost an inch at the bottom of the bath the kettle gave up the ghost too. The only pans we had left were dirty from cooking the night before. If you have never tried getting a greasy pan clean with cold water before let me tell you it is not easy! The shower issue does appear to be intermittent and I suspect associated with the local water pressure. Anyway, the "healthy" cold showers have left me with a head cold and hacking cough. You've got to have a sense of humour to live out here ;-)
6月7日 Back In MoroccoWell I'm back in Morocco after an excellent holiday in the UK. Didn't do much on holiday other than see friends and family, sleep and eat (with the odd beer thown in). It was great to have some decent curries again (I do miss having spicy food when I'm in Morocco) and some decent beer.
My wife, Helen, has come over to Morocco with me and will be staying until I return to the UK in September. Helen has been ill for the first couple of days she has been out here (either food poisoning or an allergic reaction we think) but seemed a lot better this morning. Hopefully, we will get a chance to see more of Morocco than I have managed so far. First up will be Fex the weekend after next if all goes according to plan.
Helen also managed to get our digital camera exchanged whilst in the UK (it broke in Sri Lanka) so I will hopefully be able to get some more pictures uploaded on my blog. 5月19日 Watching The European Champions League FinalI managed to catch all but about the first ten minutes of the champions league final on Wednesday night. It was shown on terrestrial television over here so I was able to watch it on the TV in the cafe beneath the apartment. Chadi, one of the guys from work who I often give a lift to stopped with me to watch it. He was a happier man than me at the end as he was supporting Barcalona, as the majority of Morocceans seemed to. Still, it wasn't a bad match and it made a nice change to finish of work at a reasonable time and get out of the apartment for the evening. Cous Cous In The BoardroomToday we had, for lunch, cous cous, vegatables and chicken served in a tajine of epic proportions in the boardroom at work. It was a communal meal with about eight of us taking part. The meal was accompanied by a drink that tastes like slightly sour milk but in a pleasent way. I must find out the name of it as we often have it as an accompniment to cous cous! I wish I'd taken a picture of the meal before we started on it because it was impressive! When we eat cous cous like this you are generally issued with a fork (although you are free to use your hands if you prefer) and you just dive in. We don't use any separate plates or anything like that.
Meals really are a pleasure in Morocco and why it has not got a better reputation for food I'll never know! 5月7日 Sri Lanka Vs England CricketOne of the things I am really missing over here is Cricket. The fact that Sri Lanka was such a cricket mad nation was one of the deciding factors for me going out there. Here in Morocco it is all football and whilst I like football as much as the next man and will probably follow England's matches in the world cup it is Cricket that is my passion.
However, the absolutely fantastic news is that Sri Lanka are playing England at my the nearest international cricket ground, Trent Bridge, to my home town of Ripley the week I have booked as holiday in the UK! I simply can't believe it. So I'm praying for dry weather and will hopefully (Helen permitting) get down there for a day or two. It will be a bit odd supporting England again as whilst living in Sri Lanka I always supported Sri Lanka except when England came over to tour!
This has made my day  Some Good NewsThe good news is that Helen, my wife, has agreed to come over to Morocco to stay until the end of my contract in September. After our experiences renting out our house in the UK whilst we were in Sri Lanka we have decided not to risk it again this time. We shall simply close the house up, leave the car at my father's house and put our cat into a cattery. It will mean finances will be pretty tight as Helen will have to give up her job in the UK but we decided we couldn't really continue living apart; it just wasn't working out. Helen initially didn't want to come out to Morocco due to the boredom she had living in Sri Lanka and unable to work. She will try and get a job out here as an English teacher but even if she can't I think she will be able to survive for 3 months until we go back to the UK in September. ParkingWhen work dropped the car off on Friday it ended up being a complicated procedure. At my apartment we have allocated parking spaces in a car park underneath the building. Someone had decided to park in my space. To me the obvious thing was for me to park in the space next to mine, get the person parked in my space to shift their car when they could be located and ask the person whose space I had now taken to use my space. This idea went down like a lead balloon with the apartment block janitor. It appeared that the people who owned the car parked in my space had gone out - in their other car - and had left their own space which was free. However, I couldn't use that as my car's roof is too high to get into their space as the ceiling is very low at this point (I had previous found this to be the case and have a dent in my roof to prove it). Putting my car in another space appeared to be a big problem. However, I decided to let common sense prevail and I got the car parked in the space next to mind and told the janitor I'd move it the next day. The annoying thing was there were only cars parked taking up 3 of the 11 spaces. Nothing, it seems, is ever simple over here. Anyway all this wasted a good 15 minutes argument. Just what I wanted after a hard days work and I think contributed to the Migraine that came on later that evening :( Buying Individual CigerettesI have noticed over here that it is quite common for someone to buy a single cigarette over here. At regular intervals you can find, usually older men, sitting on the pavement with some cigarettes in a box they sell individually to passers buy. Thsi is something I have not seen anywhere else in the world. Men On Bikes Calling OutI must remember to ask at work what the story is with the guys who go around with baskets on the back of their bikes and repeatedly call out a word I can never quite makde out what it is. I assume they are selling something but I've not actually seen any of them stop nor seem what is in the basket. Finding Morocco A Bit On The Cool SideI don't know whether two years in Sri Lanka has changed my perception of temperature but I am finding Morocco quite cool. I think part of the problem is that it is very much geared to eating outside and Morocceans seem to have a completely different idea of what temperature is ideal for sitting outside. For me it is over 20 degrees but they seem quite happy sitting outside in weather that would have me covering up the BBQ and reaching for the central heating button back home. My fleece has hardly been off since I got here. We have certainly had the odd fairly hot day and never had a really cold one but I'm glad I have a quilt on the bed at night. 5月6日 Holiday Back In The UKI should, hopefully, be going back to the UK for a week's holiday on Friday 26th May. I can't wait and I am counting the days (20) left. Just need some confirmation from work about the flights. My intention is to spend the entire week at our house in Ripley with just one trip out to see my father and mother-in-law. I expect Helen will have lined up a few jobs around the house for me to do but it will be great to see Helen again, our cat and our house. One thing I am starting to find I miss is a garden. I have been living in apartments now for 2.5 years and although they are much more practical than a house for a short stay I find them souless, enclosed places. Helen, My Wife Visits MeMy wife, Helen, came out to visit me, see The Joys Of Flying Or Not As The Case May Be, a few weeks ago. She seemed very taken with Morocco. Fortunately my meeting Helen at the airport was more successful than the last time I did this, see Helen, My Wife, Arrives In Sri Lanka For Christmas. Helen's flight, despite leaving Heathrow on time was around 30 minutes late but I arrived a few minutes before it landed.
As Helen was only over for less than 3 days we had decided to stay in Rabat and spend time with each other rather than try and sightsee Morocco. So Friday night I introduced Helen to Moroccan red wine. I've only bought the cheap stuff (up to 30 dihrams a bottle) so far and found it to be perfectably acceptable and good value for money.
Saturday morning I showed Helen around Agdal. She seemed reasonably impressed with the local facilities. The local supermarket was better stocked than the main supermarket in Colombo. I introduced Helen to the cafe beneath our apartment, Al Ayam and she took to it immediately.
In the afternoon we walked down to the Medina in Rabat (which takes about an hour at an easy stroll), passing down one of the main streets where the railway station is located and stopping off at the terrace outside the Hotel Balima for a drink. This is a smashing place to sit under the shade of the many trees and people watch. We then moved onto the Medina which I always enjoy a visit to for an hour or so. Helen bought some DVDs. We then moved on a short distance to the Kasbah of the Oudayas. This was my first visit here and by a wonderful conincidence turned out to be 'the place with the blue walls' that Helen had seen on TV and really wanted to visit. It is a delightful place with narrow windy streets. We had been recommended a cafe there that overlooked the river with views over the Sale. We spent an enjoyable hour just drinking sprite and watching the world go by. We decided to get a taxi from the train station back to Agdal and this cost 10 dihrams using one of the small blue 'petite' taxis that are metered.
In the evening we decided to go out and get something to eat in Agdal. We went to Las Tapas and had a few beers and enjoyed some tapas food. It was a lively place, dimmly lit that always seemed fairly full without being overcrowded. We paid around 250 dihrams for our beers and food.
On Sunday I slept late so Helen slipped down to the cafe and apparently spent a very enjoyable hour or so drinking coffee and watching the world go by. Once I surfaced we got the car out and I drove Helen to Marjane, one of the main supermarkets in Rabat before heading off to a local craft center a short distance over the river from Rabat. They sell all sorts of pottery, carpets, metal and woodwork here and it is an interested place to walk around for an hour or so. Make sure you look right round the back of the center as there are many smaller shops not immediately visible from the car park. I also introduced Helen to Tajines, the excellent Moroccan cuisine of cooking in a pot (Tajine). Helen had Kefta and I had the Lamb tajine.
Sunday evening was spent back at the apartment as we had to be in Casablanca around 10:00 the next morning for Helen's flight which she successfuly caught. 5月3日 Buying Your Meat And Eating ItThis lunchtime we went to a cafe just a few minutes from work in Sale. The cafe is one where you buy the meat for your lunch next door at the butchers and then take it round to the cafe where they cook it for you. It was a bit bizarre as we made our way through four hanging carcasses to get to the meat counter where we ordered the meat. There was blood still dripping from the carcasses.
There were five of us for lunch today. We bought some mince and chops. Whilst we waited for the meat to be cooked we had a bowl of warm beans in a sauce along with the obligatory bread and chilli, salt, pepper and a runny tomaoey sauce. The meat arrived after about 15 minutes. The mince was cooked into burgers and the chops fairly well done. We had tomatoes and onions to accompany the meat. As was usual all was eaten with utensils. I'm getting quite used to eating with my hands a some bread now. There were no separate plates. Each dish was served on its own plate and we all just dived in and helped ourselves a piece at a time.
Afterwards we moved a few doors along to another cafe where we ofthen come after meals at other cafes for a drink. I had what sounds like nous nous - a coffee half milk half water I think and served in a glass.
It was my turn to pay today. The meal came to about 200 dihrams and the drinks just over 30 dihrams. All in all an excellent lunch. the burgers are a particular favorite of mine, although the chops wre very nice today. Flooding In The ApartmentThis morning I woke up about 07:15 and swung my legs out of bed to a splosh. It took a few seconds to register but it became evident that my bedroom was about a cm deep in water. A quick panic attack later and it became evident that so was my dining area, kitchen and bathroom. In fact it reached a depth of around 2cm at the wirth point.
A quick scout around soon revealed the problem. The balcony off the bedroom was a good inch deep in water as the single drain was blocked. It was still raining and it was evident that there had been severe rainfall during the night (I remembered being woken up by thunder at one stage) The balcony had simply filled up with water which had made its way into the apartment via the patio door I always leave slightly ajar to let some cool air in. The water had made its way across the bedroom floor into the lounge/dining room, kitchen, bathroom out under the front door and down the stairwell (I live on the 4th floor). I had slept, blissfully unaware to it all.
Fortunately Abdullha, who was driving me into work this week arrived at this point and he was able to ferry me into work, returning to sort the mess out. He has literally, just handed the apartment keys back and with my limited french I think I understand that things are alright in the apartment. Let's hope the apartment block lift is working as I noticed that was also not operational this morning, probably due to my flood.
So twice in 5 weeks the apartment has flooded. I shall go back now and inspect the damage ... 4月29日 Landline & ADSL Installed In ApartmentWell the big news for me this week is after just over 4 weeks I finally got a landline and ADSL installed in the apartment. This will make communication with my friends and most importantly my wife in the UK much easier. It also means I can find time to blog a bit more often! 4月14日 The Joys Of Flying Or Not As The Case May BeDisaster. Helen, my wife missed her flight to Morocco yesterday in a sequence of events worthy of a Monty Python sketch.
Helen had booked to park her car at Heathrow with a company called Purple Parking with instructions to find the car park along the lines of follow the signs to Heathrow and then the signs for purple parking. After arriving at Heathrow Helen saw signs with a P on a purple background and I think made the natural assumption that these were for purple parking. Not so. Purple parking have signs with a P on an orange background. So time lost wasted getting to the correct car park.
Still plenty of time. The Purple Parking people had said there were buses every 15 minutes to the terminals. What they didn't say was that the bus goes to every terminal one after another not a bus to each terminal. More time lost on a trip around Heathrow.
Its now cutting it a bit fine but still time to make the flight. Helen is flying with Royal Moroccan Air. They do not appear have there own check in counters at Heathrow so Helen asks at the Royal Moroccan Air (dis)information counter where to go to check in. They tell her Air France. She queues at the check in counter for Air France but when she gets to the check in desk they tell her she is in the wrong queue and should be queuing at the Air Lufthansa check in desks.
Time is now rapidly running out. Helen queues at the Air Lufthansa check in desks. When she gets to the check desks it is now minutes to go before the flight leaves. They say she is too late to check in her luggage but she might be able to get on as a runner. However, if they were in a brewery the staff would be hard put by to organise anything and they are certainly unable to organise it so that Helen makes the flight.
Helen now waits over an hour to see the air station manager after being told he can see her in 30 minutes. He is french. Initially he is unable to help her. However, after hearing her story he accepts the two critical points where Helen effectively missed the flight were the misinformation given out by the Royal Air Moraccan disinformation desk and the lack of communication between himself and the Air Lufthansa desk. He is then able to offer her a place on the flight the next day that we origianlly tried to book Helen on several weeks ago and was told it was full. He is not able to offer her accomodation for the night and suggests she travels back to Derby. He has no idea where Derby is and how far it is. He suggests Helen could stay at a friends. The nearest friend we have to London is Dunstable, fortunately only an hour or so away. He does agree they will pay for the petrol. Luckily Richard is able to put Helen up for the night.
I have just had a text message saying Helen has just checked in for today's flight and is going for a beer! 4月13日 Tuesday 11th April : Searching For an Open Restaurant & Seeing a CamelI decided to have dinner out on Tuesday evening. However, it proved somewhat difficult to locate anywhere to eat in Agdal. The café underneath the apartment where I live was closed and after wandering for an hour around Agdal it appeared most of the restaurants were closed. There was no bread available either. McDonalds was the only place I could find open that appeared to be selling food and given the choice of McDonalds & going hungry I opted for going hungry. However, after returning to the apartment I decided to try again and headed in a different direction. During my walk I came across some men dressed in green robes accompanied by a camel! Not something I see everyday, even in Morocco. I think they were collecting money and I assume this and the lack of open restaurants were all associated with today being a religious public holiday. In the end I found a small Pizza restaurant that was open. I ordered a Mediterranean pizza and coke which cost 60 dirhams. The pizza was OK but nothing special. |
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