It's been a cold and miserable summer till the last couple of days, which were impossibly hot and bright. It was supposed to break yesterday with pouring rain, but it stayed hot till night. This morning was grey and for the last four hours the thunder has been rolling intermittently; but it's been dry. Perhaps it's because I've just read Zachary ( Read more... )

Dear Mr Huppert,

I am sure you have seen the video footage of peaceful UK Uncut protesters in Fortnum & Mason being lied to by a senior police officer, who agreed on camera that they were holding a peaceful and sensible protest, and clearly said they would be allowed to go, before they were confined by a police line and arrested en masse ( Read more... )

On the train yesterday I sat next to a young man and woman, probably brother and sister, with dark shiny black skin. I wondered what African language they were speaking to each other and assorted friends as they chatted, texted and browsed on their smartphones. As we got near Cambridge I realised it was English, which they spoke with a thick and ( Read more... )

There was a world-wide news story about a Swiss couple who had a ceremony to 'renew their wedding vows' in a Maldivian resort ('Vilu Reef'). Resorts would dearly like to conduct weddings but the Islamists have kept the lid on the idea, but a 'renewing of vows' has no meaning so of course they can and do offer them. In case you have been on another ( Read more... )

james_r flew out yesterday to visit. I told everyone to do this, but besides my mother and brother, he has been the only taker. He was keen to come up from Male' on a local boat, if possible, rather than fly to a nearby resort - a bit cheaper and a much more authentic Maldivian experience, though the boat journey is about 12 hours, as against 45 minutes ( Read more... )

Abidh wandered in a couple of evenings ago as I was making dinner and borrowed my computer to type something. He carefully deleted it before I saw it; perhaps it was the same as last time he did the same, when he wrote (in Dhivehi) a short and charming love letter to a girl in his class. (I was disappointed when he deleted it, because I was hoping ( Read more... )

Visited Ali, my civil servant friend, yesterday afternoon. His father was there (it's his house in fact), an exceedingly old and full-habited man of 80 with bright eyes wearing only a dhoti or sarong, whose local name I can't remember. He doesn't speak a word of English, but his presence reminded Ali to tell me about life on the island during the ( Read more... )

Since no-one put in a countervailing request to lillibet's, here is the first of the proffered stories she very wisely chose. I am sure I have written about bodu-beru before, but it is the local form of music, consisting of songs (mostly sung responsively by a leader and everyone else as chorus) sung to the accompaniment of large double-headed drums - ' ( Read more... )

The class of 2010 just finished their listening exam, so my teaching career is over. Under the exam board's new regulations this year, teachers aren't allowed to see the papers till after the whole session is over some weeks later, which is a bit harsh, but I was able to sit in the schoolyard and hear the recording drifting through the windows from ( Read more... )

I am going to Ken'dhikulhudhoo for the weekend tomorrow, so I SMSd a few people there earlier, including some of my students. I had a phone call from Fazleem just now. He wasn't actually one of my students but had classmates who were, and since the two A-level years in this country run from June, out of step with the other years, he is no longer a ( Read more... )