My 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 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 :)

I 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.

It 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:

Well 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.

I 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.

Today 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!