Book excerpt: Is this author overexposing herself? Close Calls.escaping by the skin of my."Before we even knew what he hit, Arab men appeared from every nook and cranny. Like flies around a ripe, red watermelon, they swarmed around our car, peering at us from behind black beards and mustaches. Our hearts sank." Lodges.the good, the bad, and the ugly."We had certainly come a long way from the flush toilets.Chobi's toilet amounted to a chair that resembled a lawn chair, with a toilet seat on it-over a 'long-drop loo'.Actually, the chair was over a hole in the ground-and this 'long-drop loo' had a very short drop." Sometimes she's slightly out of focus. Oh Those Men. "The zipper down the front of my dress had more than one convenience. Pepe began demonstrating some of the matador's passes. When he wasn't looking, I slid the zipper down a little, so I could get a whiff of the oilcloth fumes (from my vinyl dress), as I slouched in my seat. I could nestle my nose inside the v-neck for a scent that was as welcome as a bouquet of flowers by now."