Life regular

Here are three things that have become normal to me, unless I think about them; the rules rather than the exceptions:

Old men with turbans (taffeta cloth wrapped around a pill-box hat) and big white beards
Periwinkle ghosts
Braying donkeys that sound like Sand People from Star Wars

It's still not quite normal to be greeted by 85% of children with either "HOW ARE YOU" or "a-Salaam."

When we leave the office, my colleague, six years my junior, dons her burka. It's very strange when you know the woman who's under it. Once when we were in a taxi I asked her if her brother saw her in the street (avoiding asking questions about her husband, which wouldn't be proper), would he know her?

"Of course, I would have my son with me."

If you didn't have your son....

"I would be with my mom and sisters."

I don't think I ever exactly got the answer I was looking for.