Gaslight.

No, we aren't forsaking our electrical appliances for gas, thank you very much. I cannot stand the smell of Calor or other household bottled gases. Plus they are dangerous, especially in this insh'Allah environment.

I'm thinking James Mason, trying to send that poor woman crackers in the old film of that title!

Well, here we have Gaslight 2, subtitled Egyptians verses Khawagas!!!!!

I've been out armed with the A/C booklet in hand to the two carpenter's shops which are close by. The booklet has pictures in, like a Janet and John book, so that even the simplest of intellects can understand certain parts. e.g. There is a picture of an air conditioning unit and above a picture of the wooden insert into which it mounts in the wall. It's even complete with the measurements in real units as well as metric!

Two Egyptian carpenters failed miserably to come to terms with the fact that I would like them to make such an item for me, and that I would like to know how much it would cost. I admit that I don't have much Arabic, but I do know 'becam di' (how much for this) and I also know the numbers. It seems as though both of the carpenter men had just been dropped in from outer space (rather like Mr Bean!) and therefore didn't have any clue about how humans interact! They stood there, shaking their heads and mumbling unintelligibly.

When I finally gave up and trudged home, I couldn't have felt more defeated! Or frustrated! But, after a magic cuppa and a bit of writing to get it off my chest, I'm off out again!

   I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED. 

Did someone mention 'Famous last words'?