My nextdoor neighbours have lived next door to be more nearly six years since the old neighbours moved out because they wanted their daughter to go to a better school. The next people moved in one day when I was coming home from school. I was still only year 6 and I remembering just staring at them as they made their way in. There seemed to be tones of them of cramped in that three bedroom house! Anyway, six years they have been there and so far the only person who we know the made of is Abdul. We once received a letter addressed to him through our door and it had his full name on it... I can't tell you what it was because it was a proper Arabic name. My dad calls him Aali because he's awfully tall and because he could never remember his name. I call him Abdul though because that's what everyone else calls him.

His has a lovely wife whose name I don't know, who my dad calls Mrs Abdul or Aali who always brings around or parcels when we aren't it and always willing to help. But the other day my dad came up with a strange theory. He wondered if Abdul had two wives as he had seen two women living there with several of their own children. He says that he could but I think its a load of rubbish. My mum says that Abdul's wife works and she brings in another woman to look after the children for her while she's away. Still, my dad said that he saw him drive off with half the kids and her with the lovely wife waving goodbye, I straight away stated that she could be his sister. I don't know for sure but she could be anyone. 

My dad has to remember that there are millions of them living there and working there. They're doing up the house and you always hear banging going on next door. And the TV - that have a HUGE staterlite outside their house to pick up their channels. At night you can hear their LOUD TV spoutting out French. Remarkable.

Sophie