We lived at 161 (perhaps Mobil Oil?) on a road whose name is long since forgotten, though I remember the day the road caved in and we found it was built on top of a Roman villa, the inside of which we could see with pictures painted on its walls before going to school (at the Oil Companies School) but whose images had faded by the time we came back! Or finding Roman coins in the sand or indeed the days of Gadafi's revolution.

Being British, it was so interesting to live in an American community and go to an American school, wondering which would be my favourite (spelt like that) state - was it Texas, Kansas? how about backing Illinois where my favourite teacher was from? Surely I should choose New England.

I was 7 in 1968 and remember the Americans talking about Vietnam and the election that year. Halloween, little league bazaars, cake walks & chili. Stories about the desert & the Lady be Good wreck and the equipment left by our soldiers. Storms, power cuts, dogs with rabies, and the Arabs.