New Pet.

Ramadan started off without a hitch. The grocery stores are more crowded near dinner time and the drivers even more rude and in a hurry on the way, but things are pretty normal for me.

Yesterday I had the girls over for lunch which was wonderful both in that we had so much fun talking and carrying on, and in that the food I got was great! I found flavored tortillas like I used to get in the States (sun-dried tomato basil, and spinach and garden vegetable) for wraps and we found some really yummy (and expensive) roast beef and smoked chicken, as well as REAL Havarti cheese and not-so-real "sharp" cheddar cheese that was just really orange plain old American processed crap cheese. I made my honey mustard sauce for the dressing and they were great!

Vanessa brought over crab dip and crackers and I LOVED that. Stu liked it too and had the rest of it devoured when he got home, before even having time to take off his boots. So it was nice to have a good time yesterday.

I had a slightly traumatic experience though... who am I kidding, I had a HORRIFICLY traumatic experience! I was taking out the garbage and when I went to open a new garbage bag, a cockroach the size of a Doberman jumped out of the cabinet and chased me across the kitchen! There was intent in his run, he was chasing me! And the bastard had the ground clearance of an SUV… I swear to God, he had a shadow! Anyway, he chased me and I screamed and then I turned around and debated if I could just lock him in the kitchen until Stu got home. I realized I had to be the adult (since Kaden isn’t old enough to kill the scary bugs for me) so I got a shoe and smacked at him. I missed of course since the thing has a warp speed option and he just kept veering away from me. I eventually got him and he flung across the room and landed on his back with legs a-squirming. I squashed him again and he sort of stopped moving. His antlers kept going every so often and I just couldn’t bring myself to pick him to discard him. So instead I put a plant pot upside down over him and waited for Stu to get home to take care of him. Here he is next to a Dirham (smaller than a quarter) for size… Look at his menacing face! Stu laughed at me when he got home and picked him up (with his bare hands!!!) to go dump him in the toilet. Sick. I hate roaches.

Rainy had a horror story for me too. Apparently their tub stopped draining and when the plumber came, he pulled out a wad of hair that would have gone down the drain fine had it not been for the dead mouse entangled in it! Animals (and bugs) should NOT have the ability to climb up our drains from the sewer! And I live on the 4th floor!!!

Anyway, our bedroom air conditioning is broken yet again. Well, that’s not entirely true. It was working fine until the night before last our power suddenly went out. I didn’t worry until I saw from under the front door that the hallway light was still on, so I realized it has to do with our circuit breaker in our own flat. So after turning it back on and it tripping several times, I started to troubleshoot. I figured out eventually that it would stay on if the bedroom A/C fuse thing is turned off. So we slept in sweat last night as nothing can ever be fixed here the day of. This morning with just the living room A/C working, I went to run the toaster and it tripped the breaker again. So SOMETHING is wrong with something and apparently there is an electrician on his way. According to the doorman this morning he was to show up in 20 minutes. 2 hours later I went downstairs to buy a phone card and asked him again. He will now be here in 30 minutes “inshallah”… so most likely: Never.

On a happier note I discovered that our little store is open during daylight hours... they're just opening late. I called him to ask if they were delivering during Ramadan and he laughed and said, "Of course! I am Indian! hahaha" So apparently the "respect the fasting Muslims" laws only go so far. This makes me happy as I can still get bread during the day!