Egyptian bread, grape juice and fuses.

The fuses blew on Wednesday night. I managed to isolate the problem to the bathroom. Another light could not be switched off. The porch light blew last night. Now the electrician is here. Everything proceeds slowly but it does proceed. The big event, which we are promised will be today, is the wireless connexion to satellite broadband. Then I can actually post these entries I’ve been drafting on the laptop.

Yesterday’s idleness has left me feeling at peace and reconciled to my solitary status – the wife and bairn won’t visit for weeks yet, and won’t come out to stay until the Autumn.

I also used the time to prepare a shopping list. Before ringing the taxi driver and heading for the supermarket this morning, I went to the corner shop, where I got talking to a man who gave his name as Engineer Aslan. I like the way that many professions here lend themselves to a person’s title, in the way that we only associate with doctors. He enquired about the cost of private English lessons, but I pleaded my contract.

The shop barely scratched the surface of my list, but at least it had hobs Misrah, “Egyptian bread”, which is a little like what we call pitta bread: I love it. Also grape juice, water in ten litre bottles and sugar by the kilo, which I’ll need for a certain recipe...