I'm getting used to life here. It's slow-paced, but I think I'm managing to strike a good balance between relaxing and keeping busy, time with company and time to myself. I still haven't met everyone on the compound, but everyone I have met has been very welcoming and friendly, and people have gone out of their way to help me feel part of things, which is nice.

During my first week here, one of our students died in a car crash. Saudi is notorious for dangerous driving, I'm told it's fairly frequent for students to be involved in accidents. Fortunately our two drivers are both foreign, and as far as I can tell (as a learner) drive pretty safely.

One morning while teaching a lesson, I closed the classroom door to shut out the noise from outside so the girls could hear the CD better, and then at the end of the lesson couldn't open it again - neither could any of the girls. I wondered if we'd been accidentally locked in by some over-zealous or unobservant caretaker, so rang the office, who sent someone down to investigate. It turned out that it's just a dodgy door which can't be opened from the inside. Never making that mistake again…

One of the other teachers told me (disclaimer: this may or may not be true. But it wouldn't surprise me if it was) that received wisdom among Saudi students, from their own superiors including the directorship of the university, is that it's not ok to cheat at maths, science etc etc, because they're "real", "useful" subjects, but it's ok to cheat at English because it's the language of the corrupt ("fasid") West and therefore the embodiment of immorality.

In a similar vein, while I can't speak for the male students as I've never met them, it's generally accepted that the female students have very little motivation to try at English (or probably any other subject either) because regardless of their actual grades, they will be financially supported by their father until they marry, and then by their husband, and almost certainly never have any kind of employment which requires particular grades, if at all. Just to be on the safe side, the university bumps everyone's marks up anyway. No one fails here.

One evening last week while walking around the compound with Zarina, we bumped into a few of the guys, who told me that news of my arrival had travelled. The male students knew there was a new female teacher in town. Apparently I was spotted in a shop, but I have no idea how this came about as I've always worn my niqab when shopping. Still, I felt like a minor celebrity for a bit.

There are a few cats and kittens on the compound (and a crazy puppy called Max, who lives next door to me and tried to eat my socks while I was wearing them) who are only half domesticated. Mostly they're playful and friendly and not that bothered by people, but there's one very small one who gets so frightened of people that if you end up anywhere near him he freezes to the spot and can't do anything other than stare at you and meow in terror. It's quite pathetic really. But the other night I decided to try and make friends with him. It took several minutes, I had to move very slowly and get down to his level to make myself less scary, but we did eventually manage to establish contact, and while he wasn't quite sure what he thought of having his back stroked, he decided he liked it when I scratched his ears.

Ramadan Karim! (Allahu Akram) It's now Ramadan, and has been since … umm … Friday? As I'm sure you know, Muslims don't eat or drink (not even water) during daylight hours, or indeed let anything pass their lips which might give them energy (so cough syrup is out because of the sugar in it, as I discovered form an Egyptian friend who has a cough) for the whole month. In Saudi, it's illegal to eat or drink anywhere Muslims might see you, which would be an insensitive thing to do anyway in my opinion, although I can't help thinking it's a little overbearing to make it an arrestable offence.

Out of a combination of curiosity and an attempt to be culturally sensitive (I am living with a Muslim, after all) I'm observing what we're calling "lazy Ramadan", which means that I eat breakfast in the morning when I get up, even though it's already light, and then only have water all day until breakfast ("iftar" in Arabic - which also means breakfast in the morning the rest of the time but is quite literally "breaking the fast") in the evening, which at the moment is at about 7.23pm. It's a minute or 2 later every day, according to what time sunset is - you eat after sunset prayer. The first week of lazy Ramadan has gone ok, I've been getting hungry but not unmanageably so, so next week I might try not eating in the morning (although I might have to "do a Muslim" and get up before dawn for an extra meal). Nehal and I eat together in the evening. The meal starts with 3 dates each and then a glass of water, and then we have whatever we've prepared. We're taking it in turns to cook, and as there have always been enough leftovers for another meal so far, we're each cooking about once every 4 or 5 days. We have the TV on in the background while we eat, and it's normally tuned to a Sudanese channel which at that time of day runs a programme of traditional Sudanese music, which I like. It's quite similar in style to some Southern Egyptian music I heard a few times in Cairo, the main difference being that the Egyptian "mazaher" music (I'm not sure if that was the name of the group performing or the style) was only women singing and playing instruments, whereas the Sudanese programme has men and women singing and playing together. I also like the way Sudanese people dress - the men in white galabeyas and white turbans (or more Western-style suits), the women in multi-coloured, energetically-patterned shawls which wrap around their whole body except their face, or long, full skirts and elegant blouses (and hijabs, of course) in bright bright colours. At least, that's how they dress on TV, and Nehal tells me it's pretty representative.

On the whole I quite like Ramadan and the ideas behind it - to remind you of people who can't afford to eat, or don't know where their next meal is coming from; to attempt to prepare you in case it ever happens to you; to purify your body. However, the no water thing puzzles me, especially somewhere as hot as this. There's just no way it's good for you, which slightly refutes the purification point. This is largely why I'm still drinking water - quite apart from the fact that I don't think I have the stamina to go a whole day in the desert (or anywhere) without water, I refuse to risk making myself ill through dehydration. Another thing that bothers me is that women aren't supposed to fast when they have their period. Initially I thought this was probably out of concern for the woman, that it might be too tough etc, similar in a way to the National Blood Service insisting you have something to eat and drink after donating blood, but then discovered that it's for the same reason that women can't pray when they have their period - because they're "unclean". Well. I'm terribly sorry.

The final thing (that I've discovered so far) that winds me up is that, while it's supposed to remind you of the suffering of poorer people and cleanse your body, a lot of people (apparently particularly in Saudi) eat such enormous, greedy feasts every night that people actually put on weight during Ramadan, and I'm told an enormous amount of food is wasted over the course of the month. So much for remembering the poor. Fortunately Nehal and I are a little more realistic and have a pretty normal-sized meal.

Aside from those points, Ramadan has a nice feel to it. It's an important family occasion, a bit like Christmas at home and, having spent the last 2 Christmases abroad, I can imagine how Nehal feels spending Ramadan away from her family.

I've finally got around to trying yoga for the first time in my life. I've done a few sessions, using videos, and I quite like it although I find it very difficult. Apparently it gets easier. I also never thought I'd be the kind of person to do workout videos, but I've started doing them with a couple of the other women - we have to pass the time somehow! - and again it's not as bad as I expected. My legs are a little stiff today, but nothing worse than that.

We're spending 5 days a week sitting in the university passing the time and taking advantage of the faster internet, as the students aren't turning up during Ramadan (but we have to anyway or we don't get paid) - it's good reading / chatting time, I don't mind that much.