Water!

Water towers as seen from one of the many motorways here. The country runs on desalinated water and with the intense heat, good water storage is important.

Out and about this morning having a blood test to go on my civil ID card. Then off to another office to finalise the application. It was a big building with a couple of hundred people waiting. Men with food carts of fruit and chocolate were also inside the huge waiting area as people can wait a whole day to be processed. Thankfully I was able to bypass the queue as our organisation has diplomatic status. We went upstairs to a large meeting room with 8 or so big desks around the edge, comfy seats at each desk, sofas in the middle, well dressed women to serve us and plenty of flags. All processed in 10 minutes, then back out through the crowds, out into the heat and back into a hot car.

Ripped off by the taxi driver on the way home. I knew I'd given him 2 x 1kD notes. He then put a 1/2 kd note on the seat - you've got it wrong. I was a little thrown, didn't argue, swapped it and went inside. He'd pocketed it as I was leaving, but I also saw a note in his lap. It converts well into his country's currency. Can't decide whether to complain to the coordinator or count out the money when I hand it over. The drivers know their way around and have good English because their coordinator is organised, but this is the third time they've taken advantage of me. It's too far to walk home and not easy to get a taxi in the street. Some teachers have found their own driver.