Electrician: Is this normal?

Yay! We got a generator set up for our apt this week! I have never had an electrician come to my house in the States, but here are some things I found interesting about the process. Maybe you can tell me if it is normal, or just cultural differences?

-He actually came early (that is really strange for this culture)

-He charged us more than he said he was going to, but then brought the price back down to what we expected all in the name of the son of the people who had recommended him to us. Steven, the fifth grade son of the couple who recommended the electrician to us, saved us about $30 because of his outgoing, outrageous, memorable personality!

-He smoked while he worked in our kitchen. He did not even ask, that is the culture here. But I was surprised to find cigarette butts on the kitchen floor and in the sink. The first time the sink was empty, the second time we had dishes in there!

-He asked us for coffee. I don’t drink coffee, but my roommate had some Nescafe which is pretty similar. But we had no milk. I had to figure out how to make it while my roommate was not there, using her hot pot, and in front of him too cause he was working in the kitchen.

-We had to watch and tell him which cord he was wiggling on the other side of the wall. I would expect that in the States.

-He came on his motorcycle, to assess, then leave and get supplies and come back with them on the motorcycle.

-He can install a generator, when we are without electricity.

-Of course, it is culturally not appropriate for me to be here along with a man in the apt, so I had to keep the front door open and have my roommate or a friend over here. Neighbors are always watching us American girls!

-He knew very little English and explained everything in Arabic, while I worked really hard to understand from all his hand motions how it all worked. Smile and nod.

-Since our walls are concrete, you don’t run wires in between the walls, so the cord goes around the room on the wall. It goes half way across the kitchen, then out the door, and from the door it goes across our courtyard, to the wall on the other side of the courtyard, which is a story taller than our apt. Kinda hard to explain, but it is just really long!