Royally lazy

Is the honeymoon period over? I’m not talking about my time in the Kingdom (I’m not sure I had the pleasure of a honeymoon period as such); I’m talking about my blogging career. It’s been a long hiatus, the creative juices haven’t been flowing, my work load has been upped from 13 hours a week to 15 hours a week (slave labour), and I’ve been pretty busy playing volleyball and watching The Wire. All valid excuses, I’m sure you’ll agree, but today I’ve made a mental resolution to start writing again, if only to get a few more flags on my flag counter.

The last time I spoke to you was on the eve of my trip to Jordan. It was a fantastic holiday; we saw the sights, ate the local food, swam in the Dead Sea, bought some gifts and endured a couple of well-earned hangovers. It would take forever to upload all of the pictures onto here, and despite a renewed enthusiasm to blog, I haven’t complete shed my laziness, so here’s the link to my carefully crafted Facebook photo album:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10100161976571429.2666508.197801537

If you’re not friends with me on Facebook you won’t be able to see the photos. If that’s the case, stop being shy and add me. It’ll enhance your stalking experience.

Since Jordan there have been a couple of changes to my schedule. I now work a hybrid mix of days and evenings, as a favour for the big boss, Dr Yousef. In return, I’ll be getting a month’s leave in June/July, and I’ve already booked my flights! For all those living in England, I’ll be back from June 24^th to July 21^st. The gorgeous Isabela will be with me, all the way from Brazil. I expect (hope) to be greeted with a pint and a bacon sandwich whenever I see any of you. I can’t wait.

On the social side, I organised a music quiz the other night. It consisted of three rounds – name that tune, music trivia, and finish the line (of the song, it’s not that rock and roll in Al Jouf). I tried to mix genres and eras, and I think it went down well. The old timers of Al Jouf certainly seemed to know their 60’s rock more than their hip hop – the racists. Dean’s team ended up as winners, I think, Darren’s team seemed to have a good score but were too drunk to add up their total. The swimming pool volleyball season finally commenced last Thursday (Arabic Saturday) after being delayed a couple of weeks due to some freak storms. Playing football seems to have taken a back seat in recent weeks due to the new timetable, and the weather, and the amount of football on T.V. A quick word on that – WE’RE ON THE MARCH WITH FERGIE’S ARRRMMMYYY, WE’RE ALL GOING TO WEMBLEY!!! After a scintillating performance in Germany, it looks like Man United are heading to the Champions League final on 28^th May, I’ve already swapped shifts so I can watch it. Expect a long post dedicated to that alone, coming soon (which will be ignored by at least 80% of my readers). Next weekend there’s talk of spending a night in the desert, and the weekend after that we’re gonna have another pub crawl. Eagerly anticipated by yours truly, I’ll start the brewing tomorrow. In even better news, Eck Michie has escaped the streets of Tripoli and Birmingham, and is arriving in Al Jouf next week. Masha’Allah.

I didn’t see much of the Royal Wedding yesterday, apart from a few highlights and a couple of pictures. I’m not a massive fan of the Royals and patriotism annoys me, but each to their own. There was one great thing to come out of the Royal Wedding though. Not the boost to the economy we’ll receive from tourism and media coverage, not the collective sense of pride felt throughout the nation, not the extra day off work for all those working in Britain, not even Pippa Middleton’s dress. I’m talking about this picture, and I’m not sure any attempt at a description would do it justice…

I thought she removed "obey" from her vows? Mish mumkin ya William.

Speak soon, Ben x