Carbone Monoxide...

This morning I was up suddenly at 6:17 a.m. I was immediately suspicious, as I have not woken up without an alarm in about 15 years. Then I heard a loud, insistent, "BEEP" coming from somewhere in the house. Thirty seconds later it came again. Then thirty seconds after that. And so forth. After trying (and failing) to go back to sleep, I dragged myself out of bed to investigate, only to find the beeping was coming from the carbon monoxide detector. 

Having been the victim of mild carbon monoxide poisoning as a child, I immediately panicked and ran with my phone to the back porch, to call the emergency maintenance line from the safety of the fresh air. As I explained the situation to Ahmad, I thought "I'm feeling a little sick to my stomach and I have a headache...is it the carbon monoxide or the lack of sleep?" I actually asked him whether I should stay outside, or just stay next to an open window, only to have him answer "Oh no - madame - stay inside with the windows shut for your safety." 

I did think this was odd...until a team of four security officers from the Embassy showed up at my door. Turns out Ahmad only heard "alarm" and thought it was my home security system alarm going off, hence the instructions to stay locked up inside. The guards called Ahmad and explained the situation in Arabic: "Blah blah blah carBONE monoXIDE AHlarm blah blah blah" (apparently I not only mispronounced the terms but also put my emphasis on the wrong syllables). 

You will be relieved to know that I wasn't sleeping in dangerous, toxic conditions. It was just a dying battery issue. Before I knew that the air in my house wasn't toxic, however, I went back inside to grab some shoes (in my haste, I ran out to the back porch without them) and I took a short video, so you could all experience the piercing beep: