Friday at last...

It's been a while now since the last real Friday. Today, though, it has finally come again. The farm is quiet. It is already afternoon, so the mosques have gone silent till the evening. Only faint village-sounds come through the open window from the few houses that lie beyond the mud wall across the field from our kitchen.
I just went to get water from the well in front of the school and the whole place seemed suspended in serene piety and joyful calm. Our house still hasn't been connected to the sweet-water system - the slightly salty desert water that comes out of our tabs is OK for showering etc, but doesn't make the tea taste very much like the British tea I'm used to - oh how I remember those days when Chris and I were both studying in our rooms and I could hear him get up and shuffle into the kitchen with his red glittering slippers. "Wanna cuppa tea, mate?"