I need to tell you that the bear in Brideshead Revistied is in fact called Aloysius, and the bear's owner is called Sebastian Flyte. So there goes by alternative career as quiz mistress. Anne Robinson's job is safe for another few years (by which time she will have had even more plastic surgery and will look even younger, no doubt). 

So Dinesh has gone, and the new driver didn't turn up so I have been relying on scary small taxis to pick the Twins up from school. Luckily I can now say 'left' and 'right' in Nepali (I can also say, 'I like beef' and 'I don't like papya', but these don't impress a speeding taxi driver halfway round a dog-infested roundabout). The new driver starts in the morning. He is five foot two and weights fifty two kilograms - I know, because it says so on his CV. He has also just got married to an eighteen year old girl who is still in school. It's an arranged marriage (he is twenty seven), but he seems pretty happy with it. I hope he remembers to turn up, otherwise I may have to get behind the wheel myself, which will be a scary option not just for me, but for the pedestrians, dogs and cows of Lalitpur too.

Hubby still has his cold/typhoid thing and I remain remarkably symptom free, so maybe his tactic of secrecy worked.

A big gang of Hubby's old workmates have just arrived here to do a water treatment project. Two of them were lucky enough to meet us in the pool this afternoon. Twin 1 clung to me, telling me to keep her away from the 'horrible men', whilst Twin 2 paddled over and waved her naked Barbie doll in their faces, telling them interesting snippets of information: 'Barbie got wet hair', 'Barbie got no clothes on, no', 'Barbie got long hair like Mummy', 'Me Cinderella' etc. etc. They left shortly afterwards. Lucky for them the Barbie/Twin 2 experience is not yet over, as the whole team has been invited to ours for curry tomorrow (Meena's eyes went very wide at the prospect of supper for twenty, but I have full confidence in her chapatti-making abilities so I think it will be fine). I will make sure that Twin 2 has her entire Barbie collection is on hand to entrance the lads - I'm sure they will be thrilled.