So I’m sitting in the Frankfurt, Germany airport, waiting for my connecting flight back home. I’m out of Yemen and not happy about it. This has been the fastest 5 weeks of my life…it literally feels like I only spent a long-weekend in Yemen. Sitting in this industrial airport, I feel like its only for a few minutes, and then I’ll be back walking through Maydan at-Tahrir. The last week in Yemen was a whirlwind. Every day was so busy that it was Friday before I realized it. Class until 1, tutoring my Yemeni friend from 2 to 4, exploring the city/doing last-minute shopping until 7 or 8, dinner, homework. Also, Ramadan started 2 days ago, so that was a new and fun experience to have in Yemen.
Also, Ramadan Karim! Ramadan Mabrook! Kul 3am wa intum bikhaiyr!
Ramadan in Yemen was great (the three days I got to experience). It was like day and night were reversed. Everyone was so tired and cranky during the day, and the streets were deserted during the mornings, but about an hour or 2 before iftar (the sunset meal that breaks the day-time fast), everyone would come alive, restaurants would open to sell the iftar appetizers, women and men would be running around looking for ingredients and buying their qat so that they could start chewing the second the fast was broken. Also, all the men are ridiculously grumpy during the day because they are in qat withdrawal…they will pick a fight with anyone…this doesn’t defeat the purpose of Ramadan at all.........
I was lucky enough to be invited to my Yemeni friend’s house with Laura and Jeri to experience iftar with her family. This is the way it works in Yemen: around 6:30 (it is different every day, because it depends on the time that the sun sets) the Maghreb call to prayer begins, and after prayer, the family sits down to eat. First, you have to eat a date (or two or four). Then, you eat sambusa (triangular-shaped folded filo dough, stuffed with cheese, or potato, or spiced meat, and then deep-fried). You can also have salad and fried, sweet, donut-like puffs. You don’t eat much of this, this is just to break the fast and give your stomach something before dinner. About 30 minutes later, dinner is served. The women usually spend half the day cooking a ton of different things for dinner. That night, we had salta (Yemen’s traditional dish) and an amazing casserole with chicken, potatoes, eggplant, tomato and tons of spices (yes, I got the recipe, yes, I’m going to cook it very soon), spiced rice, mushekkel, and bint as-sahan (Yemen’s traditional/famous dessert made from layers of fluffy moist dough and tonssss of amazing Yemeni honey). Afterwards, we sat around and drank delicious Yemeni tea and had cream caramel and jello and talked. They wanted us to stay the night, but we felt really tired and headed home. Actually, as soon as we got back, Jeri and I decided to go exploring. At first we were hunting for Orange Miranda soda, then we decided to walk to Zubairy Street to get some Yemeni honey. Zubairy Street is the place to go for honey shops, and we walked past several shops before I just walked into one. Let me tell you, I can pick the winners. Of course I decide to walk in to the one run by the Wahhabi Saudi-wannabe….aka the very young but righteous guy with the long beard who refused to look at my face or come close to touching me when he handed me the spoon to taste the different kinds of honey. By the time I realized, it was too late and I couldn’t walk back out…Jeri was more perceptive and stayed outside the door until I yelled at her to come in so I wouldn’t be alone. Also, it was obvious that he had lived in the States because even though he tried really hard not to speak English, we could tell that his English was perfect because he would answer questions I asked to Jeri in English and every once in a while, an English word would pop out. I think we made a good impression on him…he was trying REALLY hard to act distant and hard and angry-looking, but he loved having the foreigners in his shop, and he would accidentally let a smile slip through and he was very helpful and patient when I was deciding between honeys. Just goes to show you that that whole thing about not judging a book by its cover is the right thing to do…even though he never did look me in the face. Also this past week, me and a few other girls in the program got henna-ed (which is red ink, even though we requested naqsh, which is more common in Yemen, and is black ink). I had both my hands done. Two Yemeni women came to one of the dorms and the one who did the drawing was really talented. I asked her where she learned, and she said that she always like to draw and that she taught herself. They were a little anti-social and …weird, but the final result was beautiful. Also, helpful hint to any girl travelling to Yemen who wants naqsh or henna…the guys love it…in an awkward sort of way. Just draws a lot more attention, because for Yemenis, henna/naqsh symbolizes the wedding night, in which the bride’s entire body is covered in henna in preparation for her first night with her husband. We got lots of compliments on our henna…Then, my last day, my roommate and I as well as Jeri and Laura all went to the old city to explore the souk/market for the last time and do some last minute shopping. A big group of us met up for dinner, and me, Elena, Bilal, and Martin had our last chicken, rice, and mushekkel. This whole experience has turned out a lot different than I expected. I came to Yemen this summer thinking I had better go now while I still can, before the security situation gets worse. I expected to experience the most traditional of the Arab countries, to see it and be done with it, to have experienced it and then be able to move on. Instead, I have realized that 5 weeks is not enough for Yemen. I want more time to hang out with my Yemeni friend and her family, I want to talk to more Yemenis, I want more Yemeni food, I want to walk around the old city for at least 100 more hours, I want to travel around to Hudayda, Hadramawt, Aden, Soqotra. At this rate I need at least a year in Yemen…while I don’t think I have that much spare time (or money), I know that I definitely want to come back next summer, for the whole summer…I really don’t see the security situation getting worse in the near future, and I definitely didn’t feel threatened while I was there. I think one of the biggest problems Yemen faces is the water shortage…and only time will tell how the next elections go. If anything, being in Yemen for 5 weeks has made me want to dedicate months to researching its politics, culture, and geography before I most definitely return
Illa al-liqa’!
--------------------------------------
18 Hours Later: Now I would like to take time to say a few lovely words about Delta losing my ticket reservation in Germany and the Atlanta airport's border security. OK, so I have flown Delta all my life--I'm a card member/frequent flyer, whatever, but when I went to the counter, they had "lost" my reservation. The girl wouldn't give me any explanation, and she most definitely did not apologize. Instead, I lost my window seat, and was stuck in the middle of the middle section of the plane, next to a women who was scared of flying and a family man who took up half my seat and chatted with his loooovely little boys across the aisle the whole flight. Thanks, Delta!
So, after landing in Atlanta, I knew I was going to have trouble with customs/border control...I mean, come on, I've been to Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, West Banks etc etc, so I was expecting a good hour of interrogation...I'm obviously not a convert, I'm an American citizen, I have all the documentation for the program I was in, I was traveling to these countries for tourism/educational reasons not anything bad etc etc, so I wasn't expecting a big deal...I also wasn't expecting them to be as stupid as they were...I should have known better. I want to say that the people working in Zone 2 Border Control at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport are some of the most incompetent/lazy people I've ever seen. So I first went to the little booth that everyone goes to...the guy takes one look at "Yemen" and calls security and I'm escorted to the little room for bad people. No phones allowed, nothing, and I had told my parents to pick me up at around 2 or 2:30 (my flight landed at 1:30). So around 2:30, a little under an hour in the room being completely ignored, I go up to the desk where all of them are sitting chatting, and ask if I can use a phone to call my parents because I haven't talked to them since the day before and they don't even know if I made the flight...the man looks up and me, tells me to sit back down and ignores me. I would like to mention that this whole time, all the employees were sitting behind the desk, loudly talking about open cases, past cases, how "sneaky" illegals are, and how to "get em outta the country" and basically just talking shit about foreigners, making fun of the things they have done/places they have gone, then they moved on to discussing their salaries, comparing salaries, comparing over-time pay rates (one guy has $247 OT just for this week! wow!) and comparing the worst places to be stationed in the airport. Then one of the security guys came in and smacked all them on the back except for the one woman and shouted loudly "Hey, don't worry! I won't touch you, I know how all you women are about sexual harassment charges!!!". A little later, a woman security guard came in to deliver some papers, and walked into another little room in the back and they all proceeded to loudly talk shit about her and her attitude in front of all of us foreigners.
So, after over 2 hours in the room, I had watched probably over 30 people come and go out of the room in front of me, without them asking me any questions or knowing anything about where I was, other than Yemen, so it's not like they were doing follow-up. I had watched a poor 14-year old German/Ghanian girl be treated like shit...she was coming to visit a cousin from Germany, and her minor escort had left her at security, she didn't speak English, and after she had finally explained her case to one of the guys, he decided to take a break and passed her case on to another man (the man that ignored me when I asked to use the phone) and he made her start over, after making her sit back down for 30 mins while he sat on his ass gossiping. Finally, a great ex-army/marines young guy calls me into the back and announces that he is the head of the counter-terrorism squad. Surprisingly, he was probably the most competent out of everyone there, but still, he didn't know anything about Yemen, Arabs, or Arabic. He asked me if I was aware that Yemen is an extremely dangerous country and that I was putting myself in danger. I replied that Sana'a is extremely safe and welcoming and that I never felt in danger. He replied "oh...yes....well....Sana'a is safe...but no where else"...I replied that I traveled to a few different places and that they were all extremely safe. He asked about the program, what I was doing, who "sent" me to Yemen, what exactly I studied...but he never asked me WHY I chose Yemen over everywhere else. I offered to show him my program certificate and transcript from the program to verify my story, he didn't care. They didn't even search my bags. He did however ask if my parents knew where I was going (duh, of course they knew, they were sitting for hours waiting to pick me up), what school my mom teaches at, what classes exactly does she teach etc etc. I mentioned that I have held a secret security clearance and that I have worked for the government, and finally he felt that I am not a threat, I should work hard in school and consider his recommended options for jobs after I graduate, I am free to go, have a nice day, blah.
All in all, I feel that being kept at the Syrian border for 6 hours for being American is just as rational as being an American citizen, being kept for 3 hours, being subjected to stupidity that reflects badly on all Americans, and being interrogated and asked the completely wrong questions.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Yemeni Engagement Party, Dar al-Hajar
More Yemeni adventures! So I know I said I would never go to another Yemeni wedding...but I figured that an engagement party would be different (maybe more relaxed? less psycho? less make-up and fewer prom dresses?).
The story: So myself and my friend Laura are tutoring a Yemeni girl in English and French. She is amazingly smart--she just graduated from high school and is waiting for her test results which will determine whether she can go to law school in Egypt. She is the only one among all of her friends that have plans to go to university and not marry immediately after high school. Even though the English programs at school here in Yemen are atrocious (and only 8 students in her entire high school chose to learn English) she has largely self-taught herself English by watching television and reading. And her English is amazing; she could easily travel to America and not have any trouble getting around and communicating with people, and probably even be able to take classes at university. Because the law school in Egypt is taught on the French system, she also needs to know rudimentary French before she goes, so we are helping her with that as well. Also, she does not wear the niqab (she doesnt cover her face, just her hair), and I have had some really interesting conversations with her about how Yemeni women perceive the niqab and her reasons for not wearing it. Her older sister wears the niqab, but her parents are very relaxed (and very well-off) and have let her decide for herself. It was also interesting talking with her about harassment. I asked if she is ever harassed because she is Yemeni and she shows her face, and she said that a lot of women are harassed whether they wear the niqab or not...she said that sometimes men will walk up to women who are totally covered (balto/abbaya + niqab) and they will lift up the girl's veil or abbaya. She said that when she goes to Egypt, she will not wear the abbaya, and she thinks that while it may be necessary in Yemen because of social pressures, it will be nice not to have to wear it in Egypt.
So anyways, her best friend just got engaged, and she invited us to the engagement party. Because it is different from a wedding and because I want to meet as many Yemenis as possible, I decided to go...
Yemeni engagement parties are pretty much just for the young, unmarried girl friends/family of the bride and groom. Because Yemenis marry so young, it was a room FULL of girls 18 and under. It felt like one of my sleepover birthday parties from when I was 12 years old because they were all so excited and waaaay over-dressed/over made-up. Every time the power went out (about every 10 minutes) they would all scream and go crazy. For the first part of it, it was actually really awkward. My friend and I didn't know anyone there except for the girl we tutor plus 2 of her older sisters (whom we had just met 15 minutes beforehand). At first, the girls sitting around us just stared at us in awe and didn't talk to us at all (a big difference from the wedding, where they attacked us with questions the second we walked in). After a little while, the girls on one side of me started to ask questions about life in the US...and, just like at the wedding, there were those two crazy girls who ask the awkward questions and are really invasive...this one girl started out with "So, you are Muslim?" I answered, "No, I'm Christian." Her: "Christian...?" I said it again, thinking she didn't hear me correctly or i mispronounced it in Arabic. She had no idea. Then she asked: "Do you know Islam?" Implying that if I knew anything about Islam, I would immediately see the error in my ways and convert. I answered, "Yes, I know about Islam, I lived with a Muslim family when I was in Jordan." Her: "Have you thought about Islam, it is a very good religion." I said I was Christian and that that is what I believed...awkward. Then she gave me a death glare and ignored me for 15 minutes. Then as she was getting up to leave for the night, she turned to me, grabbed my hand and said I should come back home with her to meet her family and hang out with them...I politely declined.
Several times, my friend and I were pulled/yanked up to dance. Personal favorites were NSYNC, Lady Gaga and "Mabrook" by Rami Ayach (this is a engagement party must have--and was played at least 4 different times). I wish I could have taken pictures, but because it was all girls and they were unveiled, photography was strictly forbidden.
Near the end, the mom of the bride and the mom of the groom came in to present the traditional presents of gold to the bride from the groom. This is the chance for the groom's family to show off their wealth, and they are expected to lavish gold on the bride to show off to the neighborhood that they are a good family. The event was completed with tons of cake and roses throw into the crowd of screaming, pushing 16-year olds.
Anyways. So the next day, a bunch of us in the program loaded ourselves onto the crazy van driven by the skilled and equally crazy Abu Bakr. We went to Dar al-Hajar...if you have ever seen anything about Yemen, this will have been the picture. It is the palace built on top a very tall and narrow spike of rock. It is not very far outside of Sana'a, so we got there relatively early. It is a gorgeous building. It was built around 1930 as a palace but now has been turned into a museum, and it is the most visited tourist site in Yemen....given this fact, the lack of paved roads to the village where the palace is located makes for an interesting drive. The valley it is in is gorgeous and looks a little bit like a smaller and greener Grand Canyon.
Then today, the girl who I tutor invited myself and 2 other women in the program to her house to have a traditional Friday lunch with her family. I love Yemeni food...up until today, I had really only had Yemeni food in restaurants, but because only men can work in restaurants, the food is not as good as that in the house. THE FOOD WAS SOOOOO GOOOOD. They went all-out and cooked so many different things: green beans with ground mean and tomato and spices, boiled potatoes with spices, tender juicy stewed lamb, baked chicken with spiced rice, salata, salta (yemen's traditional dish), bread, dessert, fruit....etc etc. It was amazing. Amazing, amazing, amazing. I'm really sad that I won't be in Yemen long enough to learn how to make it all (another reason to come back next year).They were so welcoming and friendly and we had really interesting conversations about politics, Yemen, the West etc etc. They invited us back for lunch every Friday...I'm really sad that I'm leaving in a week and that I didn't meet them sooner, because I want to spend all of my time at their house!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Trip to Ibb, Taez, and Jibla
Just got back from a 3-day trip to three Yemeni cities south of Sana'a: Ibb, Taez, and Jibla. We left super early in the morning...I almost didn't wake up because a couple of us were out until 1 in the morning at the British compound's "Lion and Jambiyya Club" singing karaoke and drinking things that facilitate the singing of karaoke....wow, that was a nice change. Anyways, Yemen has very interesting roads. There aren't really speed limits or guard rails...or traffic police. The roads are treacherous...some of the worst I've ever been on because they are very narrow, have no lanes and are meant for 2-way traffic. And they are full of hairpin curves round the sides of mountains. And our driver was psycho and was driving waaaay too fast. Plus there are tons of military checkpoints along the way, and we had to wait 5 or 10 minutes at each one because we were a big group of foreigners. Finally we get to Ibb and have lovely chicken and rice and mushekkil veggies for lunch. Ibb is almost 200 km away from Sana'a and it is surrounded by mountains. Ibb is also the wettest place in Arabia, so a lot of qat and coffee and other unimportant crops are grown in this area. Also according to my fact sheet about Ibb, "it is also considered one of the worst areas in Yemen for landmines"...didn't get to see any of those. Outside of Ibb, we drove up Ba'adan Mountain and visited Hosn Hab (Hab Fort), which is a huge stone escarpment that is in a severe state of disrepair. Visiting a site like that made me appreciate the lack of tourists...something like that in Turkey would be swarmed with people, but we had the place completely by ourselves except for a few kids from the nearby village who followed us around, gawking. It rained a little bit on top of the mountain, but the views were gorgeous and it was nice to be able to wander around and explore something that old.
Next we returned to Ibb and had a brief tour of the old city/souk. We also visited the Jalaliya mosque, which supposedly dates back to during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. Like the Grand Mosque in Sana'a, it is undergoing restoration, but is currently in a state of gross disrepair (rotting, bird-infested wood ceiling, chipped paint, rot). Despite its age and the fact that it has not been very well-preserved, it was gorgeous.
Afterward, we got back on the road and headed to Ta'ez. Ta'ez is Yemen's third-largest city, and it is huge. The architecture is not as beautiful as that of Sana'a, and the city is by far a lot newer and dirtier and less organized. But overall, Ta'ez was great...the people and the souk and the buildings are all a lot more "Arab/Middle Eastern" than in Sana'a...I don't know how to explain it, but they just look more Arab, and the architecture is a lot more similar to that found in other Arab countries that I have visited. For dinner we had lovely chicken and rice and mushekkil veggies. We had some free time to explore, but we didn't get too far from the hotel because of how tired we were from going out the night before, climbing mountains and being crammed into a van for hours. Our hotel was an experience. My roommate and I were on the 5th floor, and because of this, there was no water pressure. The water came out of the faucet in drips...literally.
The next morning, we hopped back on the bus and drove through a very rural area to Shijirah al-Ghareeb (the strange tree). This is a 3000-year old baobab tree and it is huuuuge. It is the only baobab tree in Yemen and no one knows how it got there. Driving through rural parts of Yemen was very interesting because we were able to see how Yemeni women used to dress until very recently (when Saudi influence grew and now all the women wear all black niqabs and baltos), and in the country, all the women are wearing very bright dresses and headscarves, and many do no even have their faces covered.
Then, as we were driving along, we came across a little stream, and we decided to go hiking through it (note: I was not dressed for this) until we came to a grove of wild mango trees. We stopped for a little while and had an impromptu lunch of....lovely chicken and rice and mushekkil veggies. When we got back to Ta'ez, we went for a walk around the old city/souk and went to the Ashrafiyya mosque/madrassa, which was built in 628. It is big and white-washed and also in a state of disrepair, but it is very majestic and is undergoing restoration. Next, we went to the Qala3 al-Qahira (Qahira/Cairo Citadel) which sits atop a steep rocky hill in the middle of Ta'ez. Technically, the main part of the citadel is closed off for renovations...but of course, because we are foreigners, we were allowed in and got to explore and have the place completely to ourselves. By this time, the sun was setting, and from the citadel, you can see all of Ta'ez stretching out to the edge of the valley. When we returned to the hotel, a group of us decided to go out exploring and we roamed the fruit/veggie souk and wandered around the old city.
The next morning, we drove up to the top of Jabal Saber (Mount Saber), which is one of the tallest mountains in Yemen, and we went exploring and climbing around the top. I met a shepherdess little girl at the top and we talked to her for a bit...she was maybe around 10 years old and has never been to school a day in her life because her father divorced her mother after she was born, and since there are no other children in her family, she has to stay home to take care of the animals and protect the family's livelihood.
Next, we went to the small city/town of Jibla (after a lunch of lovely chicken and rice and mushekkil veggies). This city used to be the home of Queen Arwa, and was once the capital of Yemen. The old palace was unfortunately closed for repairs, but we were able to look inside of the mosque that she built. As we were waiting for the bus to come pick us up, it began to rain and a friend and I took refuge under a little overhang over a doorway. As we were standing there, a woman walks up and needed to get through the door to enter her house, and she insisted that we come in for some tea/orange tang. No one else in the group was near us, and we were kinda pulled into this house. This was one of the highlights of the whole trip for me, because it was the first time I've been invited inside a Yemeni house (apart from the crazy wedding), and it was really cool to see Yemeni women at home. One thing I have noticed about Yemen is that you are not invited in as much...I was dragged into so many Jordanian and Syrian houses for tea that it was weird in Yemen, not being able to talk to the women or interact with them at home. We talked for a little while, until the rest of our group came looking for us because they had been waiting in the bus for a while. Then we got back on the road and returned to Sana'a...with a military Humvee escort, complete with mounted machine guns, because we were foreigners.
Next we returned to Ibb and had a brief tour of the old city/souk. We also visited the Jalaliya mosque, which supposedly dates back to during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. Like the Grand Mosque in Sana'a, it is undergoing restoration, but is currently in a state of gross disrepair (rotting, bird-infested wood ceiling, chipped paint, rot). Despite its age and the fact that it has not been very well-preserved, it was gorgeous.
Afterward, we got back on the road and headed to Ta'ez. Ta'ez is Yemen's third-largest city, and it is huge. The architecture is not as beautiful as that of Sana'a, and the city is by far a lot newer and dirtier and less organized. But overall, Ta'ez was great...the people and the souk and the buildings are all a lot more "Arab/Middle Eastern" than in Sana'a...I don't know how to explain it, but they just look more Arab, and the architecture is a lot more similar to that found in other Arab countries that I have visited. For dinner we had lovely chicken and rice and mushekkil veggies. We had some free time to explore, but we didn't get too far from the hotel because of how tired we were from going out the night before, climbing mountains and being crammed into a van for hours. Our hotel was an experience. My roommate and I were on the 5th floor, and because of this, there was no water pressure. The water came out of the faucet in drips...literally.
The next morning, we hopped back on the bus and drove through a very rural area to Shijirah al-Ghareeb (the strange tree). This is a 3000-year old baobab tree and it is huuuuge. It is the only baobab tree in Yemen and no one knows how it got there. Driving through rural parts of Yemen was very interesting because we were able to see how Yemeni women used to dress until very recently (when Saudi influence grew and now all the women wear all black niqabs and baltos), and in the country, all the women are wearing very bright dresses and headscarves, and many do no even have their faces covered.
Then, as we were driving along, we came across a little stream, and we decided to go hiking through it (note: I was not dressed for this) until we came to a grove of wild mango trees. We stopped for a little while and had an impromptu lunch of....lovely chicken and rice and mushekkil veggies. When we got back to Ta'ez, we went for a walk around the old city/souk and went to the Ashrafiyya mosque/madrassa, which was built in 628. It is big and white-washed and also in a state of disrepair, but it is very majestic and is undergoing restoration. Next, we went to the Qala3 al-Qahira (Qahira/Cairo Citadel) which sits atop a steep rocky hill in the middle of Ta'ez. Technically, the main part of the citadel is closed off for renovations...but of course, because we are foreigners, we were allowed in and got to explore and have the place completely to ourselves. By this time, the sun was setting, and from the citadel, you can see all of Ta'ez stretching out to the edge of the valley. When we returned to the hotel, a group of us decided to go out exploring and we roamed the fruit/veggie souk and wandered around the old city.
The next morning, we drove up to the top of Jabal Saber (Mount Saber), which is one of the tallest mountains in Yemen, and we went exploring and climbing around the top. I met a shepherdess little girl at the top and we talked to her for a bit...she was maybe around 10 years old and has never been to school a day in her life because her father divorced her mother after she was born, and since there are no other children in her family, she has to stay home to take care of the animals and protect the family's livelihood.
Next, we went to the small city/town of Jibla (after a lunch of lovely chicken and rice and mushekkil veggies). This city used to be the home of Queen Arwa, and was once the capital of Yemen. The old palace was unfortunately closed for repairs, but we were able to look inside of the mosque that she built. As we were waiting for the bus to come pick us up, it began to rain and a friend and I took refuge under a little overhang over a doorway. As we were standing there, a woman walks up and needed to get through the door to enter her house, and she insisted that we come in for some tea/orange tang. No one else in the group was near us, and we were kinda pulled into this house. This was one of the highlights of the whole trip for me, because it was the first time I've been invited inside a Yemeni house (apart from the crazy wedding), and it was really cool to see Yemeni women at home. One thing I have noticed about Yemen is that you are not invited in as much...I was dragged into so many Jordanian and Syrian houses for tea that it was weird in Yemen, not being able to talk to the women or interact with them at home. We talked for a little while, until the rest of our group came looking for us because they had been waiting in the bus for a while. Then we got back on the road and returned to Sana'a...with a military Humvee escort, complete with mounted machine guns, because we were foreigners.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The Past Week: Grand Mosque Tour, Palestinian Dabka, Trip to Rural Yemeni Mountain Villages
So I finally have some time on my hands to write about all the amazing happenings of last week (post-Wedding). This is because I'm sitting in bed with a stupid head cold and am not going to class today. I guess I will go in chronological order. The day after the wedding, YCMES organized a tour of Sana'a's Grand Mosque for interested students. In Yemen, non-Muslims are strictly forbidden from entering mosques, but since the Gand Mosque is currently being restored, we were allowed in the parts where work was being done, and were able to see some pretty amazing things. It is believed that Sana'a's Grand Mosque was built during the lifetime of the Prophet Mohammad, which makes it over 1300 years old. Because the structure is so old and has had many renovations by various powers over the last century (and because the roof is made of wood) the mosque was in desperate need of restoration. Another part of the project was to dig under the floor of the mosque to try to rediscover the original mosque. We were able to look down holes over a meter thick and see all of the different layers of all of the different floors from each time the mosque was renovated, expanded, or rebuilt. I saw 1000 years of different floors. It was also amazing to see the restoration work being done on the ceiling. It is believed that this ceiling was rebuilt and restored by Queen Arwa (the second queen of Yemen, after Queen of Sheba) in the early 1000s. The ceiling is ancient and I wish we could have taken pictures, but photography was not allowed. The work they are doing on it and other parts of the mosque is amazing and I really hope to see the final product one day (it is slated to be finished in 2014...maybe).
The next day (it seems like there are amazing things to do in Yemen every day) Geri invited a group of people to come to an Indonesian cultural festival in Sana'a. Supposedly there was going to be magic, sword play, fire eating...etc. When we got there, we found it was a huge tent with a big stage up front. It wasn't exactly an indonesian cultural festival, but a Sana'a festival in which that night was supposed to feature Indonesian culture. It was packed, but of course, we got the "foreigner treatment" aka we were unfairly treated like we were better than everyone else, and they made people in the second row get up and move so that we could be in the front. (Although seating was segregated so that the women were all on the right side and men were seated on the other side of the fence on the left side). We were talking with the guards and the organizers of the event, and they asked us where we were all from etc etc...well, as soon as the event started, he of course welcomed his "friends from America, France, Spain, and Italy!!!" (he mentioned us twice during the night). Also, the entire event was being filmed for television, so about half the time the cameras were trained on us because we were foreigners at a Yemeni event. (Also, this is not my first time in the Yemeni news...a video was taken of us all chewing qat and was put on the school's website, and then it somehow found its way into a Yemeni newspaper and on YouTube). Instead of Indonesian things, most of the night was focused on a group of Palestinian singers and dabka dancers. The Palestinian ambassador to Yemen sat right in front of us with his family (he was allowed on the women's side). The dabka was amazing and we all screamed ourselves hoarse from cheering. They did many different dances...and also they did a dramatic reenactment of Palestinians being killed by Israeli soldiers during a raid on a village...complete with a funeral ceremony in which half of the audience started to cry. There were also two singers (one guy, one girl) and they both had fantastic voices. They sung songs about freeing Palestine and ending Israel...they were not a moderate group at all. Of course all of this got huuuuge cheers from the Yemeni audience. After the performance, the group brought the Palestinian ambassador onstage to do a big dabka dance all-together...and the Palestinian ambassador didn't know how to do dabka! Even though the Indonesia part was supposed to be the feature event, about a fourth of the audience left after the Palestinian dancing was over...they didn't miss much. An Indonesian man went on stage and attempted to sing Amr Diab's "Habibi"...it was tear-wrenchingly bad...Also an Indonesian "rock band" performed a few songs, one of them being about Facebook...they were god-awful. The only 2 decent parts featured traditional Indonesian dancers and also a crazy, drugged-out guy piercing through his neck and then his cheeks with huge needles and putting heated iron bars on his tongue...he was high out of his mind while doing all of this...I guess you would have to be!
And then Yesterday, a big group of students in the program went to three mountain villages about 3 hours southwest of Sana'a--Manakha, Hoteib, and Al Hajjerah. I woke up feeling really sick in the morning and almost decided not to go, but because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I decided to make myself go--and I'm glad I did. We were all on a mini bus together, and because we were mostly foreigners (except for Sabri, the owner of the program, and a couple of the professors) we got stopped at alllll the security checkpoints. Traveling internally in Yemen is definitely an experience. We spent about 15 mins or more at every checkpoint (and there were about 4) and we had to have a police escort for the entire trip, even though we were not traveling into dangerous areas (I think they just wanted to make sure that we actually went where we said we were going).
The landscape in the Yemeni highlands is breathtaking. It is a lot greener than I expected, and everything was wrapped in fog. Because of how mountainous it is and the need for arable farmland, much of the mountains are terraced and covered in qat and coffee crops. While the fog was beautiful, it did prevent me from fully getting to see the landscape. Our first stop on the trip was just outside the village of Manakha. The owner of the program, Sabri, owns a mountain and is in the process of terracing it and beginning work on his mansion. We climbed to the top and saw a few waterfalls as well as where he is digging out of the mountain to build his house into the rock. Afterward we went to the village of Al Hajjerah. This town used to consist of a mixture of both Jews and Muslims living in harmony, but the Jews left after the creation of Israel and the persecution that followed. Traces of Jewish crafts still remain. All of the towns are built atop craggy peaks in places that seem impossible to built. Many of the old houses are simply piles of rocks with tin roofs that jut into the air. The air was so clean and a huge group of children ran out to give us a tour of the town. None of the little alleys were big enough for cars to fit through and it was very quiet (probably because it was morning on a Friday). You can definitely tell that the area has been hit hard by a drastic drop in tourism following fears of Al Qaeda and Houthi Rebels, even though this particular region does not have either of those. This region is populated mainly by Ismaili Shia.
Next, we drove to the village of Hoteib, which is a famous site of pilgrimage for Ismaili pilgrims from India and Pakistan. In fact the road to the village as well as the care-taking of the tomb site are all financed by a group of Ismailis from India. Jutting from behind the village is a huge rock with a shrine built on top. A group of about 10 of us decided to climb to the top. I definitely got my exercise for the day. The view from the top was gorgeous.
We then got back on the bus and headed back to Manakha for a huge Yemeni lunch, traditional Yemeni music and dancing. For lunch we had: mushakil (a mixture of veggies cut up into chunks and cooked with tons of spices), spiced rice, grilled chicken and peppers, salta (Yemen's national dish), lots of bread, bint as-Sahan (a delicious bread and honey pastry dessert), and another dessert that reminded me a little of very thick cream of wheat mixed with oatmeal and tons of sugar and honey. After we ate, musicians played traditional Yemeni music and a couple of guys got up and started to dance, sometimes pulling out their jambiyyas, sometimes parading around with huge rifles, and once one of them had a tissue in his mouth and another one followed him around trying to bite the tissue....! At one point they dragged all of us foreigners up and made us dance in a big circle...I can safely say I do not have a future career in Yemeni dancing.
As it was starting to get late, we all got back on the bus for the drive back to Sana'a. It got dark very quickly and the fog was extremely thick. Also, the roads in the part of Yemen are not the best. It is barely wide enough for 2 cars, has no guard rails and weaves around the edges of the mountains. For a lot of the drive, we had to go at about 15 mph because there was no visibility due to nightfall and the fog. About an hour or so outside of Sana'a, it started to storm. It was beautiful watching the lightning snaking through the fog. We were supposed to get back to Sana'a around 7, but because of the weather, we didn't get back until 9:15. The trip has really made we want to explore Yemen more, and more than ever, I wish I had more time to do so.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Yemeni Wedding
Last night I witnessed a Yemeni wedding...I have seen some crazy things, but nothing compares to this. While I was in Jordan, I went to two different weddings, so I assumed weddings in Yemen would not be much different...I was so wrong. I was totally blind-sided by craziness. First of all, I'll explain what I was doing at a Yemeni wedding. There is a woman in the program with me who used to teach English as a second language back in the States. One of her students was Yemeni, and it was his wedding. She really didn't want to go to the wedding alone, and I really wanted to get to see and talk to Yemeni women, so I gladly went along with her.
Well, in Yemen, weddings are segregated male/female. There is no ceremony in the mosque, it is just a huuuuge party with loud music and dancing. We weren't exactly sure about the dress code for the wedding, but from our previous experience at other Arab weddings, we assumed there would be fancy clothes and lots of make-up. I didn't have any really nice clothes with me, so I put on a black dress and put on (what I thought) was a lot of make-up (meaning eye-liner and mascara). So we have to be totally covered up when we arrive, but as soon as we walk upstairs to the women's party, we are totally ambushed by hundreds of un-veiled women in the tackiest, craziest, brightest prom-dress-esque dresses I have ever seen...neon green, pink, blue, red. Plus they are all desperately crowding around the mirror, doing their hair, touching up their make-up....and their make-up is ridiculous. They cake on really pale foundation to make themselves look white and then put on pounds of eyeshadow in neon colors. It was such a shock. Two seconds before, we were downstairs and all of the women were in black niqabs which completely cover them in black from head to toe, sometimes they even cover their eyes with black fabric. Before last night, I had never really talked to a Yemeni woman before...I felt really cut off from them and unable to approach them because of the wall of black fabric between me and them. But the second we walked in, we were grabbed and paraded around the room by women whom neither of us had ever met before. We got so much attention because we were foreigners, and I guess it was a sign of status to have "ajnabiyat" at your wedding. So immediately we met the groom's sisters and mother and cousins. And then we met the bride's sisters and mother. For every woman, you have to shake hands, kiss cheeks, and if it is an older woman, then you kiss her hand, and you can also (this is optional) touch your hand to the top of your head to signify that it is a great pleasure to meet them. This happened with at least 50 women. Finally we are led to a place where we can sit down, and then the women descended on us with questions.
I take back what I said earlier about Yemeni Arabic being relatively close to Jordanian and about being able to understand a lot...I guess earlier I had been talking to relatively educated people that mixed in a lot of Standard Arabic...women in Yemen are not very educated. They don't know fusha. Almost always, they stop school as soon as they are married, and the average Yemeni woman marries at around age 17. So it was very, very hard to understand their questions. Again, it was a total shock because Yemeni women are so meek and quiet on the street, but I was constantly being grabbed, pushed, petted, pulled and questioned. One of the girls was a nightmare...she was the sister of the bride and was 15 years old...she had already been married one year, but because they are all forced to grow up so early, they all act a lot older. But she was ridiculously nosy and took an immediate liking to me. For every woman I met, the questioning went something like this:
What is your name? ...Betsy. How old are you? ...21. Are you married? ...No. WHAT? YOU AREN'T MARRIED? BUT YOU ARE 21! YOU DON'T WANT TO BE MARRIED? ...I do, but not yet. I bet you want us to find you a Yemeni husband? Me: ....inshallah...(NOOOO).
And then: Are you Muslim? me: No, I'm christian. Them: Do you cover your hair in America? me: no. Them: WHAT? You don't COVER??? Me: no, Christian women don't cover. Them: !!!!! Do you pray? ....etc etc.
The one 15-year-old literally asked me these questions, in this order, 5 times last night.
They also asked me about my family, and when I mentioned that I had a dog, they flipped out. Almost all Arabs are terrified of dogs and they asked me a million different questions about where it lives, what it eats, why I am not scared of it, and if it gets washed. Then they asked me who washes my dog. I answered that sometimes I do, or my sister, or my parents. They absolutely flipped out that a woman would wash a dog...they just could not fathom it.
After the initial round of questioning, we were told that we needed to dance. These women, who, in public, are not allowed to even acknowledge music or bob their heads, were crazy without the men around. I'm still in shock from the difference and I wish I could have taken pictures, but cameras are strictly forbidden because no pictures can be taken of the women without them being totally covered.
Near the end of the big dance-hall portion of the party, we went up to be introduced to the two brides...it was 2 weddings in one, probably to cut down on the cost. One bride was 16 and the other was 20...I felt so bad for them because of how huge and hot their dresses were...without airconditioning and the ceiling fans were broken...they looked miserable and shell-shocked. But of course we had to pose and take pictures with both brides...even though we did not know one of them at all...they wanted pictures with the foreigners.
At this point, it was about 9pm, and we were about to leave when the sister of the groom invited us back to their house to a special ceremony. This is something that outsiders normally never get to see, so of course we wanted to go. This is the part of the wedding where the women of the families gather in the house and prepare it for the bride and groom, and the men go out in the street and dance and shoot off fireworks and recite a prayer.
This part was very frustrating...back in the dancehall, the women are uncovered and dancing, and you don't really notice that it is segregated. But at the second part, the men are outside having an amazing time, while the women remain indoors, covered, just in case a man comes in, and they are all crowding around the windows, trying to see what is going on below. But of course they cant pull the curtains aside, even though they are veiled, because they can't act interested in the party. And the lights have to be turned off, just in case a man looks up, he cant see the women in the window. it was ridiculously hot and frustrating. Also, because, as foreigners, we have to have the best view, the crazy mothers-in-law and sisters were dragging us up and down the stairs to find the best windows...for 2 hours. Keep in mind that all this time, I am being questioned again and again and again on my marital status, age, religion etc. Also, being very tall and very pale and very ginger, they were all over me. My friend got off a little easier because she is tan and already married. Another fun experience was standing over a big bowl full of burning incense in order to make all my clothes smell good....perfume is considered haraam, but they stand over burning incense to the point of almost being burned in order to smell good.
But finally, at around 10:30/11, the brides come in and the rooms are arranged. Minutes later, the dancing outside stops and the groom comes in to see his bride for the first time. The groom is the only man allowed in at this time, and all the women have to cover up. The bride sits on a dias at the front of the room with a veil on and the groom comes over, puts his hand on her forehead for a moment, and then lifts the veil. They the women drag them both up and push them into their new bedroom and shut the door....both of them look totally shell-shocked and nervous and exhausted from the craziness of days of partying.
Finally, around 11:30, we tried to make our escape. It took 30 minutes for them to let us out the door, but they loaded us down with baked goods. Needless to say, I didn't get any homework done. I wish there was a better way to explain the craziness...even as I type this, I know I am making it seem tamer than it actually was. After being in Yemen for a few weeks and seeing the way the women carry themselves and then seeing the wedding party...its a complete shock.
Well, in Yemen, weddings are segregated male/female. There is no ceremony in the mosque, it is just a huuuuge party with loud music and dancing. We weren't exactly sure about the dress code for the wedding, but from our previous experience at other Arab weddings, we assumed there would be fancy clothes and lots of make-up. I didn't have any really nice clothes with me, so I put on a black dress and put on (what I thought) was a lot of make-up (meaning eye-liner and mascara). So we have to be totally covered up when we arrive, but as soon as we walk upstairs to the women's party, we are totally ambushed by hundreds of un-veiled women in the tackiest, craziest, brightest prom-dress-esque dresses I have ever seen...neon green, pink, blue, red. Plus they are all desperately crowding around the mirror, doing their hair, touching up their make-up....and their make-up is ridiculous. They cake on really pale foundation to make themselves look white and then put on pounds of eyeshadow in neon colors. It was such a shock. Two seconds before, we were downstairs and all of the women were in black niqabs which completely cover them in black from head to toe, sometimes they even cover their eyes with black fabric. Before last night, I had never really talked to a Yemeni woman before...I felt really cut off from them and unable to approach them because of the wall of black fabric between me and them. But the second we walked in, we were grabbed and paraded around the room by women whom neither of us had ever met before. We got so much attention because we were foreigners, and I guess it was a sign of status to have "ajnabiyat" at your wedding. So immediately we met the groom's sisters and mother and cousins. And then we met the bride's sisters and mother. For every woman, you have to shake hands, kiss cheeks, and if it is an older woman, then you kiss her hand, and you can also (this is optional) touch your hand to the top of your head to signify that it is a great pleasure to meet them. This happened with at least 50 women. Finally we are led to a place where we can sit down, and then the women descended on us with questions.
I take back what I said earlier about Yemeni Arabic being relatively close to Jordanian and about being able to understand a lot...I guess earlier I had been talking to relatively educated people that mixed in a lot of Standard Arabic...women in Yemen are not very educated. They don't know fusha. Almost always, they stop school as soon as they are married, and the average Yemeni woman marries at around age 17. So it was very, very hard to understand their questions. Again, it was a total shock because Yemeni women are so meek and quiet on the street, but I was constantly being grabbed, pushed, petted, pulled and questioned. One of the girls was a nightmare...she was the sister of the bride and was 15 years old...she had already been married one year, but because they are all forced to grow up so early, they all act a lot older. But she was ridiculously nosy and took an immediate liking to me. For every woman I met, the questioning went something like this:
What is your name? ...Betsy. How old are you? ...21. Are you married? ...No. WHAT? YOU AREN'T MARRIED? BUT YOU ARE 21! YOU DON'T WANT TO BE MARRIED? ...I do, but not yet. I bet you want us to find you a Yemeni husband? Me: ....inshallah...(NOOOO).
And then: Are you Muslim? me: No, I'm christian. Them: Do you cover your hair in America? me: no. Them: WHAT? You don't COVER??? Me: no, Christian women don't cover. Them: !!!!! Do you pray? ....etc etc.
The one 15-year-old literally asked me these questions, in this order, 5 times last night.
They also asked me about my family, and when I mentioned that I had a dog, they flipped out. Almost all Arabs are terrified of dogs and they asked me a million different questions about where it lives, what it eats, why I am not scared of it, and if it gets washed. Then they asked me who washes my dog. I answered that sometimes I do, or my sister, or my parents. They absolutely flipped out that a woman would wash a dog...they just could not fathom it.
After the initial round of questioning, we were told that we needed to dance. These women, who, in public, are not allowed to even acknowledge music or bob their heads, were crazy without the men around. I'm still in shock from the difference and I wish I could have taken pictures, but cameras are strictly forbidden because no pictures can be taken of the women without them being totally covered.
Near the end of the big dance-hall portion of the party, we went up to be introduced to the two brides...it was 2 weddings in one, probably to cut down on the cost. One bride was 16 and the other was 20...I felt so bad for them because of how huge and hot their dresses were...without airconditioning and the ceiling fans were broken...they looked miserable and shell-shocked. But of course we had to pose and take pictures with both brides...even though we did not know one of them at all...they wanted pictures with the foreigners.
At this point, it was about 9pm, and we were about to leave when the sister of the groom invited us back to their house to a special ceremony. This is something that outsiders normally never get to see, so of course we wanted to go. This is the part of the wedding where the women of the families gather in the house and prepare it for the bride and groom, and the men go out in the street and dance and shoot off fireworks and recite a prayer.
This part was very frustrating...back in the dancehall, the women are uncovered and dancing, and you don't really notice that it is segregated. But at the second part, the men are outside having an amazing time, while the women remain indoors, covered, just in case a man comes in, and they are all crowding around the windows, trying to see what is going on below. But of course they cant pull the curtains aside, even though they are veiled, because they can't act interested in the party. And the lights have to be turned off, just in case a man looks up, he cant see the women in the window. it was ridiculously hot and frustrating. Also, because, as foreigners, we have to have the best view, the crazy mothers-in-law and sisters were dragging us up and down the stairs to find the best windows...for 2 hours. Keep in mind that all this time, I am being questioned again and again and again on my marital status, age, religion etc. Also, being very tall and very pale and very ginger, they were all over me. My friend got off a little easier because she is tan and already married. Another fun experience was standing over a big bowl full of burning incense in order to make all my clothes smell good....perfume is considered haraam, but they stand over burning incense to the point of almost being burned in order to smell good.
But finally, at around 10:30/11, the brides come in and the rooms are arranged. Minutes later, the dancing outside stops and the groom comes in to see his bride for the first time. The groom is the only man allowed in at this time, and all the women have to cover up. The bride sits on a dias at the front of the room with a veil on and the groom comes over, puts his hand on her forehead for a moment, and then lifts the veil. They the women drag them both up and push them into their new bedroom and shut the door....both of them look totally shell-shocked and nervous and exhausted from the craziness of days of partying.
Finally, around 11:30, we tried to make our escape. It took 30 minutes for them to let us out the door, but they loaded us down with baked goods. Needless to say, I didn't get any homework done. I wish there was a better way to explain the craziness...even as I type this, I know I am making it seem tamer than it actually was. After being in Yemen for a few weeks and seeing the way the women carry themselves and then seeing the wedding party...its a complete shock.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Just finished up my first qat chew....now I feel like I'm in Yemen. For those who don't know, qat is one of the biggest crops and also one of the biggest problems in Yemen. Instead of growing food products, they grow qat, which is a plant that is used as a drug. While it isn't technically addictive, the habit of it is addictive to *most* Yemeni men. Basically, from 1pm to late at night (and some men sleep with the hunk of chewed qat in their mouths) they chew qat. It is a green, leafy plant and you break off the top, small, soft leaves and stick them in the side of your mouth and chew them up into a big hunk and let it sit there for HOURS. You don't even start to feel anything until 2 or 3 hours. And I'm not talking about feeling anything much, but usually it is just an elevated feeling of being very awake and not-hungry. But it was a lot of fun sitting in the mafraj just being able to talk to people. For me, the hardest part about going to America is that no one seems to understand my experiences in the Middle East or give a shit, but I was in a room full of people that have had experiences even cooler than mine as well as my Yemeni professors who have a lot of interesting things to say.
But buying the qat was an experience in itself. Basically anywhere you go in Sana'a, you can see men sitting on the side of the road, with a huge lump in their cheek, selling qat, but you can also go to special markets just for qat. After a huuuuge and delicious lunch of Salta (Yemen's national dish wish is a type of stew/chili thing made from a tomato base with ground lamb, potato, and tons of spices and heat) we went to the nearest qat souk. It was pretty big and had tons of sellers (all of them also chewing) and they were gawking at us because we were a big group of foreigners in the middle of this qat souk...I drew a lot of attention, as normal, because of how tall I am (Yemenis are tiny) and also because of how pale I am. As soon as we took out our cameras to take pictures, they all were yelling at us to take their pictures and I had to go around at least 10 different groups and then show them all the photos.
Also, as we were doing this, they had their camera phones out and were taking pictures of us!
There is definitely no risk of me becoming a habitual qat chewer, but if you come to Yemen, its a necessary experience...it is disgusting and unattractive, but hey, its the national pastime!
OK. Now I really want to address the security situation here. Before I came and also while I've been here, I've been getting messages about why I would want to come to Yemen, and "aren't you scared? there are terrorists in Yemen!"....This is what I want to say: If you are stupid and do stupid things and do not respect Yemeni culture and you decide to travel to somewhere like Ma'rib because you want to be cool and go to a war zone, then yes, something MAY happen to you. I have no shame in telling people that I am American when they ask where I am from, and I have yet to meet with any antagonism. In Sana'a, I feel safe and respected. I'm not going to go to Saada, Ma'rib or anywhere where Al Qaeda is active or the war against the Houthis is active...I like adventure, but I would never do anything to put myself at risk, just like if I were in Syria or Jordan or Palestine. Also, I don't cover my hair here....before I came, I assumed that I would wear the hijab, but being here, I have realized that I get stared at just as much with or without the hijab, and as a foreigner and a non-Muslim, I don't need to cover and am not being disrespectful by not doing so. Most of the Western women here choose not to cover. Of course I dress conservatively and I often wear my awesome abbaya, simply for the fact that it is easy and really comfortable. So, you can probably guess that with red hair, I stand out as much as humanly possible, but I don't feel like a walking target.
Enough about that...
Being in Yemen has really made me reconsider my post-graduation plans. Being in Jordan definitely convinced me that I want/need to live in the Middle East for a couple years before I go to grad school. A. I don't know what I would go to grad school for and B. I want to become fluent in standard Arabic and a dialect. I know I want to return to Jordan for at least a part of those few years, but after being here, I really, really want to come back here next summer for a couple months, assuming the security situation does not worsen. Being here only 5 weeks is not enough to travel to all of the amazing places in this country or even to really get to know Sana'a and the people here. And I love the Yemeni dialect and want to get a better grasp on it. More and more, I'm feeling a little out of place in the US. Arab culture is so warm and welcoming everywhere I have traveled and Yemen is no exception. Granted, it is harder as a woman, because there are boundaries that men cannot cross and out of respect, they tend to keep their distance and don't start conversations as much, but I've had great conversations once I've started them. I still want to get to know more Yemeni women...my plan is to just hang out in a busy abbaya shop for a while and start small talk with the women. I need to go back to the big souk in the old city and buy a jambiyya. I hope it stops raining long enough for me to go without getting drenched. Note: if you come to Yemen in the summer, bring rain boots, a raincoat, and an umbrella! These are essential!
OK, Khalas for now--it's late and I have homework.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Day 2
OK...so let me start with a description of the World Cup, Yemeni style...So I don't watch soccer, I don't care about soccer, I wanted to sleep during the final soccer game. But Yemenis had other plans. As I lay in bed, I knew every single time a goal was made because of all of the gun shots going off in the air and horns honking. It was crazy. When the match finally ended, there were so many gunshots....the Yemenis were definitely rooting for Spain.
I really did not get much sleep last night...I'm still jet-lagged so I was actually still awake when the 4am call to prayer started. It is like nothing else in yemen...because Sana'a is totally flat and surrounded by mountains, it all echoes and you can hear everything. There are hundreds of mosques in Sana'a...it is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard, it is so peaceful and calm and soothing and it really reaches your core.
Today was the first day of classes. 4 straight hours, every day. Breakfast is served by the classroom building every day from 8am to 9am and then classes are from 9 to 1. I have 2 professors, 2 hours with each, and they only speak Arabic, which is good. My level has three students in it, including me. The other two are also Americans, and they both go to Middlebury...aka I look like an idiot because their teachers were so much better than mine...but also because the class is so small, everyone gets so much individual attention that I am bound to finally learn the grammar, and I don't really care if I look dumb because I want to learn the stuff.
Whatever, enough about classes...I should be doing my 3 hours of homework right now, but I ain't!
After class, I grabbed lunch with a group of students and young people that work for the program...we got kabob sandwiches, which they make really nice and spicy in Yemen...the food is amazing...it was made with some sort of ground meat...I have no idea what animal or what part of that animal, but it was good...i'm not sick yet *knock on wood*.
At 4, all the new students got together and 2 of the schools teachers gave us a tour of the old city of Yemen. It was all in Arabic and all the other students are at the beginning level so I had to translate...funnnn. But anyways, they showed us how to get to the old city and took us to the top of one of the taller buildings in Yemen so we could get a view of the entire city...wow. the city is gorgeous. it is so flat because it is in a valley. see facebook for photos. (and by the way, in the old part of the city alone, there are more than 166 mosques, so there are gorgeous minarets everywhere). Then, they told us that they were abandoning us and we would have to find our own way back. Apparently this was part of the plan to get us lost and make us learn our way around the old city...not a bad idea. So we actually decided to go exploring and not try to get out immediately, so we walked around all the souks. I bought an abbaya, which, for those who don't know, is the long black gown-like thing that is very loose and completely covers you. It is so comfortable and nice and hand-made...and it cost $6! And in the abbaya store, there were 3 yemeni women also looking for abbayas and I finally got to talk to Yemeni women! they were so incredibly nice and helpful and we talked for a while. I really want to make friends with Yemeni women because apparently they are the best cooks and I really want to go in a Yemeni house and see how life is. I also bought some amazing incense that smells so good and is really fresh..i think it was maybe 50 cents? And apparently Yemen is famous for having the best black pepper so I bought some of that too for super cheap.
So after a few hours of wandering around, we decided to look for a restaurant and walked along the sa'ila (which means river in Arabic, but in Sana'a, it is actually a road that is built below ground-level, so that when it rains, all the water drains into it and it becomes a river). We ended up walking into a random restaurant that opened into a big courtyard with tons of restaurants in it...all of the food in Yemen is kind of like street food. "nicer" restaurants actually have tables and chairs and they throw a piece of plastic on the table and you eat off the table using bread as a utensil. There are over 300 different types of bread in yemen...I'm in heaven. So tonight, we had no idea about what type of food the restaurant served, but I understood the word "lahmeh" (lamb) in his description, so we asked for a small assortment of everything (picture on facebook). they bring you huge pieces of bread and we got a cold soup type thing made from tomato, onion, garlic and herbs, and a dish made with strips of lamb and veggies with tons of spices and very hot which kinda tasted like a yemeni fajita, and also a dish with ground lamp and spices, and a weird omelette type thing with spices and tomato and also a dish made from kidney and veggies and spices. I don't eat eggs, and I know from Jordan that I HATE kidney, but the soup and the 2 types of lamb were AMAZING. Soooo good. And everyone said the eggs were good. Considering the levels of cleanliness, I'm shocked I'm not sick yet from the food, but I guess my 2 trips to the hospital in Jordan for food poisoning prepared my stomach for Yemen.
So...now I have about 3 hours of homework to do. Tomorrow I am going to a Yemeni body language talk, so it will be easier for me to understand the women by knowing how they communicate.
Well, if you made it through all of this, congrats!
I really did not get much sleep last night...I'm still jet-lagged so I was actually still awake when the 4am call to prayer started. It is like nothing else in yemen...because Sana'a is totally flat and surrounded by mountains, it all echoes and you can hear everything. There are hundreds of mosques in Sana'a...it is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard, it is so peaceful and calm and soothing and it really reaches your core.
Today was the first day of classes. 4 straight hours, every day. Breakfast is served by the classroom building every day from 8am to 9am and then classes are from 9 to 1. I have 2 professors, 2 hours with each, and they only speak Arabic, which is good. My level has three students in it, including me. The other two are also Americans, and they both go to Middlebury...aka I look like an idiot because their teachers were so much better than mine...but also because the class is so small, everyone gets so much individual attention that I am bound to finally learn the grammar, and I don't really care if I look dumb because I want to learn the stuff.
Whatever, enough about classes...I should be doing my 3 hours of homework right now, but I ain't!
After class, I grabbed lunch with a group of students and young people that work for the program...we got kabob sandwiches, which they make really nice and spicy in Yemen...the food is amazing...it was made with some sort of ground meat...I have no idea what animal or what part of that animal, but it was good...i'm not sick yet *knock on wood*.
At 4, all the new students got together and 2 of the schools teachers gave us a tour of the old city of Yemen. It was all in Arabic and all the other students are at the beginning level so I had to translate...funnnn. But anyways, they showed us how to get to the old city and took us to the top of one of the taller buildings in Yemen so we could get a view of the entire city...wow. the city is gorgeous. it is so flat because it is in a valley. see facebook for photos. (and by the way, in the old part of the city alone, there are more than 166 mosques, so there are gorgeous minarets everywhere). Then, they told us that they were abandoning us and we would have to find our own way back. Apparently this was part of the plan to get us lost and make us learn our way around the old city...not a bad idea. So we actually decided to go exploring and not try to get out immediately, so we walked around all the souks. I bought an abbaya, which, for those who don't know, is the long black gown-like thing that is very loose and completely covers you. It is so comfortable and nice and hand-made...and it cost $6! And in the abbaya store, there were 3 yemeni women also looking for abbayas and I finally got to talk to Yemeni women! they were so incredibly nice and helpful and we talked for a while. I really want to make friends with Yemeni women because apparently they are the best cooks and I really want to go in a Yemeni house and see how life is. I also bought some amazing incense that smells so good and is really fresh..i think it was maybe 50 cents? And apparently Yemen is famous for having the best black pepper so I bought some of that too for super cheap.
So after a few hours of wandering around, we decided to look for a restaurant and walked along the sa'ila (which means river in Arabic, but in Sana'a, it is actually a road that is built below ground-level, so that when it rains, all the water drains into it and it becomes a river). We ended up walking into a random restaurant that opened into a big courtyard with tons of restaurants in it...all of the food in Yemen is kind of like street food. "nicer" restaurants actually have tables and chairs and they throw a piece of plastic on the table and you eat off the table using bread as a utensil. There are over 300 different types of bread in yemen...I'm in heaven. So tonight, we had no idea about what type of food the restaurant served, but I understood the word "lahmeh" (lamb) in his description, so we asked for a small assortment of everything (picture on facebook). they bring you huge pieces of bread and we got a cold soup type thing made from tomato, onion, garlic and herbs, and a dish made with strips of lamb and veggies with tons of spices and very hot which kinda tasted like a yemeni fajita, and also a dish with ground lamp and spices, and a weird omelette type thing with spices and tomato and also a dish made from kidney and veggies and spices. I don't eat eggs, and I know from Jordan that I HATE kidney, but the soup and the 2 types of lamb were AMAZING. Soooo good. And everyone said the eggs were good. Considering the levels of cleanliness, I'm shocked I'm not sick yet from the food, but I guess my 2 trips to the hospital in Jordan for food poisoning prepared my stomach for Yemen.
So...now I have about 3 hours of homework to do. Tomorrow I am going to a Yemeni body language talk, so it will be easier for me to understand the women by knowing how they communicate.
Well, if you made it through all of this, congrats!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)