Yemen

cairo

2008-03-31T23:55:00.001-07:00

The Nile River.

Cairo at night.

P-Cakes in front of a massive pile of garlic.

View of Cairo from the Citadel (pyramids in background).

At the Citadel. Nate fending off a mob of excited children (and their teacher, holding on to Nate). These little tykes followed us around for quite some time, enchanted by Nate's height and ability to speak Arabic.

At the Citadel's Military Museum. This sign reads: "The First Cannon in History." They also had many artifacts from the Six Day War that apparently--or at least according to the museum's signage--Egypt won in a great and glorious victory in 24-hours.

Fun times.

egypt: the requisite sites

2008-03-31T08:23:00.001-07:00

We began our adventures through Egypt by embarking on a Nile Cruise (from Luxor to Aswan). And oh, the fannypack-toting tourists we would meet along the way.

Transportation from Cairo to Luxor was via a train ("First class! Five stars!" our travel agent promised us, and like good little tourist sheep we believed). While the cruise was lovely, the train was not. Apparently a nationalized rail system is not working so well for Egypt. Not only was the room filthy and the bathrooms unusable (which made the 14-hour ride rather painful), but there was a constant flow of train workers through our room the entire night asking for bribes. One employee barged into our room and when Nate gently lifted his can of beer in the air, more as a salute than anything else, the man snatched Nate's beer and downed in it one massive, burb-inducing gulp.

This is generally where we spent our time while on the boat. While the Egyptian government may not be able to run a train system, they sure do know how to make a great cheap beer!

The beer was great. I would not, however, recommend Egypt's nationalized liquors (brands include the like of "Johnny Wadi" packaged to resemble Johnny Walker, of course). We opted for a bottle of vodka, which (surprise!) smelled like vanilla and tasted like ouzo.

Giza

We generally felt like, as tourists in Egypt, we had a massive "sucker" sign written across our foreheads. Such as when we were essentially forced to take this picture by a very persistent and pushy camel entrepreneur (he literally grabbed my arm so hard it left a bruise in order to shove me in place).

After visiting the pyramids we had the great fortune to visit a rug "school" (our theory: if they call it a "school", the unpaid child laborers can more acceptably be labeled as "apprentices"). Here's Nate learning the finer secrets of weaving from a four year old.

Memphis Museum.

Our cruise package included a carriage ride to sites in Aswan. P-Cakes and I were not thrilled (the horses were all on the brink of starvation, and we felt horrible contributing to the system).

Nate and Eric, however, kinda dug the ride.
Our carriage-driver pulled over, snatched our camera and took this gem of a shot of the boys, and then of course demanded compensation for his extra efforts (and clearly they should have been rewarded...)

The Aswan Dam is not impressive (both as a tourist site, and for it's human and environmental costs, but that's for another blog).

Eric conquers Lake Nasser.

Valley of the Kings.

We went on my tours. And each tour included the exact same recaps of the exact same stories from Egyptian mythology (this is us listening to our guide in the Valley of the Kings in 100-degree heat). Apparently by day three we could no longer disguise our boredom.

Hatshepsut's Temple in the Valley of the Queens.
Also the site of the 1997 tourist massacre.

Karnak Temple

We felt like sheep, being herded from one temple to another, usually with a layover at a papyrus or alabaster "school" in between. Egypt really is a tourist machine.

Night at the Luxor Temple.

Hieroglyph of a barbecue. Seriously.

window tour through cairo

2008-03-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

Just in case you couldn't see how absolutely terrifying this mannequin's face was in the previous picture.

Wadi Dahr

2008-03-20T01:09:00.001-07:00

Imam Ahmed's over-the-top rock palace in Wadi Dahr.

Nate, chill-axing in an ancient burial cave.

more tours with the family

2008-03-20T00:23:00.001-07:00

Me, Nate, Uncle Boyd, and P-Cakes. On top of the hotel Burj al-Salaam in the Old City.

View from the roof of our apartment building.

Our neighborhood camel, used to pull a grain mill.

Wandering around the souq.

P-Cakes dress shopping for a new special outfit.

Uncle Boyd in his new head scarf.

Chicken restaurant.

Salta.

Nate and Boyd are significantly too tall for the buses here.

Yemeni ambulance.

Me and President Saleh. He makes my heart sing with joy.

Eric chews qat.

kamaran

2008-03-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

Headed to the island of Kamaran, leaving from the port of Saleef.

Outdoor bar, perfect for sunsets and bota box wine smuggled in from the states.

Splashing around in the Red Sea.

Boat tour to a mangrove forest, nate with his new army b.f.f.

And finally, Nate gets to shoot an ak-47.

the family has arrived!

2008-03-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

father-in-law and son, chewing the qat

dressing up uncle boyd

for the fashionable yet conservative swimmer

2008-03-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

bikini + burkha = burkini.

fashion in yemen?

2008-03-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Burkhas and fashion you ask? Why, yes. Check out this new Burberry number, the "burkhaberry".

twenty-six

2008-03-06T00:56:00.000-08:00

Today I am twenty-six, and feeling pretty old. Nate arranged a fantastic celebration for me yesterday, which started and ended at the embassy. We spent all morning by the marines' pool with guacamole (Sana'a just got a shipment of avocados!) and bloody marys. We then had Thai food for dinner with a group of friends, along with an amazing carrot cake Nate whipped up, and ended the night back at the embassy with a marine house party. The best part of my birthday celebration, however, will be arriving in one week (my parents and uncle Boyd); I'm not sure of a better birthday present than a visit from the family.

The Month of Love

2008-02-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

Hey all. We've been inexcusably bad about posting recently, sorry, but this is partly due to the fact that our internet line was hijacked and is now shared with about 20 other students. We've also been really busy--me (Nate) with food poisoning, and both us with school (in addition to our regular classes, we started taking a dialect class at night and are learning lots of great slang). This month has been pretty exciting though. We bought a new hookah, had a nice qat chew, spent Valentine's day at a 4-star (by Yemeni standards) hotel, checked out some local art galleries, and I took to wearing a skirt.

There's our new hookah at our qat party. In attendance were a handful of teachers and administrators from our school, and a few male students. Also of interest: see the massive monitor in the back left-hand corner of the room? Yeah, that's because the monitor to our brand new laptop died and Sony refuses to honor the warranty (reason # 932 Macs are better than PCs!)

Qat Lovers!!!! Pretty impressive wads we have going, for non-Yemenis at least.

Our good buddy Isam

Local art. It's pretty impressive since representational art is frowned upon here.

the old city

Valentines Day, celebrated at the Sana'a Sheraton with $10 mugs of Heineken. We pretty much hung around the pool and napped all day.

As promised: Nate in a skirt!

zoo adventures

2008-01-24T00:25:00.000-08:00

After class yesterday, along with a small group of students, we navigated the bus system to the Sana'a Zoo. Quite an interesting experience. They have about 20 lions, a few hyenas, a cage full of monkeys, goats and sheep (although these, we think, were actually food for the big cats and not really meant to be on display), pigeons, and my favorite, about 100 guinea pigs. The zoo was surprisingly clean, the cages sturdy (in Ethiopia we saw a lion in a cage made from chain link fence, and were expecting something more along these lines), and the entrance fee was only $0.25.

This sign reads: "The zoo is not a souq (market) for the buying or selling of animals." Good to know.

But isn't this behavior discouraged? Well, no, incidentally. The zoo actually encourages and facilitates feeding the monkeys by cutting out holes in the fence and selling bags of popcorn and seeds. There were a couple Yemenis yesterday who were so excited by this feeding process that they started tossing in soda cans, in addition to the standard corn and nuts. (Click on photo to enlarge and check out the monkey's expression and chompers up close.)

Haram!

the littlest yemeni

2008-01-24T00:23:00.001-08:00

all decked out in his wednesday best

Josie Jr.

2008-01-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

We've decided to test our skills at raising poultry, and are now the proud parents of a chicken. Nate bought this beauty at the local livestock market (see pictures below and past blog entries for more). Since we don't have a yard, our little neighbor (pictured with turkey) has offered to keep her for us, and has promised us one egg every few days. All we have to do is bring it our bread scraps. The best part: She only put us back $2.50!

Little lady got scared by the camera flash and let a little loose...on Nate's jacket.

If all goes well with the chicken, we might try our hands at breeding rodents.

Morning Egg Song

2008-01-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

It's not bad enough that all of the neighbors have roosters that like to crow at all hours, our new neighborhood egg seller has made his own funky remix that plays on repeat as he drives around the hood selling his product (kind of like the American ice cream truck). The kids have taken to screaming this song at the top of their lungs. We took this video out of our window so the visuals aren't spectacular but the song can't be beat.

random photo part one

2008-01-19T05:46:00.000-08:00

incredible new yemeni invention: the movable stick

birthday wishes on the 13th

2008-01-12T22:44:00.001-08:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Indiana Maxwell!

xo, auntie bits & uncle naysan

day at the park

2008-01-11T04:54:00.001-08:00

Inspired by yesterday's fieldtrip, we decided to embark on another today, this time spending the afternoon studying at a local park--it's actually an amusement park next to Fun City, but it only has about three rides. The gardens were definitely more impressive (and safer) than the offered amusements.

Nate, in front of some "sculpture" in the park. It's hard to tell from this picture, but there were loose wires coming out of all the dangly arms. Hopefully they'll wait to cap off the ends prior to turning on.

The Presidential Mosque. Not "presidential" in that it's dedicated to Saleh, but that in it's HIS personal mosque. Still under construction, and costing a reported $40 million to build because, you know, Yemen's so wealthy and there are no better places to put that money, such as, oh, education or basic infrastructure. This gross misappropriation of government funds somehow sounds familiar (Bush?).

The park's partially-completed amphitheater. The stadium in the background is used by the President to make speeches.

Shibam-Kawkaban

2008-01-11T00:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, along with seven other students, a few faculty members, our grounds keeper/school security guard, and a reporter from the Air Yemenia in-flight magazine, we drove an hour northwest to Kawkaban for a little adventure outside the city.

Kawkaban is located on top of a mountain (elevation of 9200 ft) and the city is built alongside a cliff overlooking the town of Shibam.

Shibam, as viewed from the cliffs of Kawkaban.

A hotel in Kawkaban (can barely be made out in the center of the picture), reached on on foot, about a 15 minute hike down some cliffs from the main town center. We had a coffee break here in the mafraj (living room) overlooking Shibam--the view was absolutely amazing. We're hoping to come back here and stay a night with the parents in March.

After our coffee break, we hiked from Kawkaban to Shibam, a 45-minute descent (and drop in elevation of approximately 1650 feet).

Picture break during the hike. Assif is a fellow student at SIAL, and the man crouching is the reporter, doing a story on us and our field trip--finally, my 15 minutes of fame...in an in-flight magazine.

Waterfall in Shibam we discovered during another short hike. Yemen is such a dry country (in more than one way), it was really unexpected to see so much water.

House built precariously on the edge a cliff, on top of the waterfall.

We had a small picnic in Shibam and were approached by a large group of female Yemeni university students. They were so excited to practice their English with us, and even spoke to the men in our group (unheard of in Sana'a, which is apparently much more conservative that the outlying towns). Also unlike Sanani women, many of these ladies did not wear the full veil and they were willing to have their pictures taken. I'm not sure who the man standing in the background was, but he somehow made it into all of our pictures with the Yemeni gals. We ran back into this group after hiking to the waterfall and found them to be setting off fireworks.

Door made of "Girl" brand ghee tins.

House?

Cow, with a really punk nose piercing.

Horse, symbol of President Saleh's political party. Most buildings in the area, as a sign of political allegiance and support, had either the horse or a sun painted on them (symbol of the Religious Party).

guest of the sheik

2008-01-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

Bab al-Yemen is probably the most famous place in all of Yemen. We've been here for a little over 4 months now and had yet to visit (even though it's less than a mile from our house; since we're here so long, there's this "no rush" feeling of we have time, we'll do it next month). So finally, I decided to go on a little adventure yesterday and see the elusive Bab al-Yemen. I ran into our neighbor Sammy and his friend Ahmad and off we went.

We walked through the old city of Sana'a and made our way to Bab al-Yemen, which is the main gate into the old city and, to be honest, it is really underwhelming. It is, however, a great place to hang out and watch foreigners snapping away photos and looking lost. I invited the boys to tea right across from the bab (door)--for all three of us it was less than 10 cents--and we sat down with some other Yemenis who immediately began to chat at me. They seemed dumbfounded that I was able to answer their rapid-fire questions. The main topic of conversation in Sana'a right now is the fact that a really popular Sheik died last week (he was also the equivalent to the Speaker of the House in the Yemeni Parliament).

The guy across from me asked if I could read Arabic--once again he was surprised--and he then handed me a government document that basically stated that he was a Sheik of a region just north of Sana'a (near Marib, location of the bombing last August). He looked to be around 60 (although it's hard to guess ages here), is a Bedouin, and has 16 children and 4 wives. He then passed me his cellphone and demanded that I call my mother (to prove his Bedouin generosity). I told him that it would cost about $5 a minute, but he kept insisting. I finally got out of it by explaining the time difference (it was about 2am back home). Since I didn't take him up on his calling offer, he instead offered me one of his 10 daughters. I explained that my wife probably wouldn't approve, although I was positive that his daughters were beautiful. Further insisting, he told me that if I ever converted to Islam, one of his daughters would be be mine. I thanked him and he walked with me to the middle of the square (holding my hand the whole time) and we bid farewell. I left with the promise to come stay with him and his family in traditional Bedouin fashion (camping in tents in the desert). Just another typical Yemeni day...

happy new years!

2008-01-01T02:40:00.000-08:00

Fun City, Sana'a

2007-12-21T07:58:00.001-08:00

We're on a week-long "Eid al-Sacrifice" break, corresponding nicely to our own western holidays, and are taking full advantage of the time off school. The night before last we attended a gathering at the Embassy with the six marines and one FBI agent stationed in Sana'a. Festivities included included foosball, government- subsidized beer, and little spontaneous dancing. The embassy party was then topped last night by a trip to "Fun City" with our friends Fernanda and Jess. The biggest amusement park in Sana'a, Fun City has a bowling alley and a small handful of poorly-maintained rides. Not bad, considering the entrance fee is only $1.00. We managed one ride on some spinny cars and a round of bowling, which would have been great, except the lanes were warped and not waxed. Bowling was made even more interesting with the numerous women in full burkahs rocking the game and the small children running down the lanes and climbing in the ball-feed machines.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T02:10:00.001-08:00

With Santa, in the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai.
Click on picture for enlarged version and check out Old Saint Nick's chompers.

The Yemeni Farmers Market

2007-12-17T05:48:00.000-08:00

This morning our favorite chicken farmer Ahmad (see previous post with the pink chicks) invited Morgan and I to go with him and his brother to buy chickens this afternoon. We took a bus across town to the farmers market, it was quite a bit different than any farmers market I've been to, in fact it was much more like a chaotic 4-H gathering. Today is a busy day for the market as the day after tomorrow marks the beginning of the holiday of Eid al-Sacrifice during which everyone supposedly slaughters a goat or sheep.

Ahmad with a pigeon

They call these "bunnies". I suppose GuineaPIG would be haram to eat.

Porcupine

Some weird feline/lynx thingy that kept hissing

Everyone in the souq wanted their picture taken with the animals, this guy was especially persistent.

"cowboy" and camel

The sea of sheep

A couple of herders

Goat!

Success! Ahmad with new chicken in hand on the bus ride home.

United Arab Emirates

2007-12-13T07:54:00.001-08:00

We spent the first night in a youth hostel in Sharjah, where we had an entire dorm room and balcony to ourselves, which we turned into a little mafraj with an old mattress for a couch. Sharjah is apparently the self-proclaimed culture capital of the UAE, but as we arrived late at night most of the city was shut down. Good thing for the case of Heinekens we bought in Duty Free! At the hostel we met two men from Morocco who have been walking on a peace mission, for the past year, from Indonesia back home.

First day in Dubai. Dubai Creek and part of downtown in the background. Our hotel was just a few blocks up from this area. Our hotel was a bit seedy, but definitely among the cheapest in Dubai. There was some sort of electronics smuggling operation being run out of the lobby, and our "bellhop" (room cleaner) sold black market Heineken.

Dhows, used as transport across the creek.

View across the creek at night.

Ski Dubai! Located in the Mall of the Emirates, this is the world's largest indoor ski course and boasts real snow, several runs, a quad lift, and a luge course. Definitely the highlight of our trip.

They even have a chalet with hot cocoa and Christmas trees.

Another famous mall in Dubai: The Gardens. This mall is divided into areas modeled after world regions (i.e. Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Andalusia, and Persia). Here's Nate in China.

And me in Tunisia.

Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building. Still under construction. It's hard to get a perspective of how big this building is, but the final structure will stand over 1,900 feet and will contain 156 floors (World Trade Center was just over 1,300 with 110 floors). It will also have the world's fastest elevators, moving at a rate of 40 MPH. The whole city of Dubai seems to be under construction. In fact, 24% of the world's cranes are in this one city.

Another famous structure in Dubai: the Burj al-Arab Hotel. Rooms start at $1,200 and include a private butler and chauffeur to drive you around in a Rolls Royce. The protrusion off the left side near the top is a helicopter landing pad, just in case...

Right around the corner from the Burj al-Arab is a huge shopping/hotel complex called Medinat Jumeria that has a beautiful river running through it. The Dubai International Film Festival is being held here (we were hoping to run into George Clooney who is supposedly in town).

The Persian Gulf. We spent a lovely afternoon lounging on this beach. Bless Dubai for having a more relaxed attitude towards women and covering!

"Dune bashing" is apparently a sport in the Emirates. We went on a tour (but unfortunately got stuck with the really cautious driver who refused to fly like the others). We went for the fun desert sport adventure, although the package included many other perks: Drink Arab tea and coffee! Ride camel! Take picture with real Arabic woman! Get picture taken in traditional Arabic costume!

The odd thing about the Emirates is that only 10% of the population is Emiratee, meaning that the majority of those working in the service industry are Indian and Pakistani. So while I didn't opt to get my picture taken in a baltoo (as I wear one everyday in Yemen), we did walk over to the "real Arabic woman" in her booth and were tickled to find an Indian in a burkah. Likewise, the man dressed in a thobe and traditional head scarf working the sheesha booth was definitely not Arab. So much at our attempt to have a "REAL! Arab experience."

Real Arab camels! Although on second thought, they might have been imported from India... We got to ride one of these beasts later in the night (in a really small circle). Nate's refused to sit down after the ride and started spitting.

sunset over the dunes

view from our balcony

our favorite billboard

recent happenings

2007-12-02T07:36:00.001-08:00

Admittidly, we've been pretty lazy about adding to this blog lately. I think that as we become more and more settled into Yemeni life, all our daily encounters and events begin to normalize in our minds. But here's one recent story, and as they often do, this one took place in a taxi.

Last weekend we went to Pizza Hut AND KFC (gasp!) with a few friends for a late night guilty snack. While I can count on one hand the number of times I've been to either the Hut or KFC in the States, I find their food to be a really nice (and expensive) break from traditional Yemeni chicken and rice. So on the ride home our cab driver, as usually happens, wanted to exchange numbers with Nate. Nate didn't have his cell on him to add in the number, so we wrote it down with the only pen I had, a really thick, black Sharpie. And we had no paper, so I wrote it on Nate's arm. Not being great with the Arabic number system yet, the cell number ending up being about 6 digits too long. Now with one side of Nate's arm covered from wrist to elbow, the driver took a shot at writing it on the other arm. And here's the slightly confusing but amusing part: The driver, for reasons unsure to us passengers, proceeded to take the sharpie and draw large x's all over his face. In permanent pen. The more I tried to tell him that the ink would remain on his face for "waqt daweel" (a long time), the more furiously he drew. I'm not sure what happened when he returned home to his wife and family, but I am certain he was horrified to discover the ink would indeed remain for a long time.

Here are some recent photos, and unfortunately, I did not manage to get a shot of the driver.

Sana'a

an artisan making jambaya blades in the Souq al-Milh
(photo credit goes to Comfort P.)

congratulations

2007-12-01T22:22:00.000-08:00

Congratulations, Alice, on the birth of your daughter, Savannah. We're excited to meet our new niece when we return home!

upcoming travels

2007-11-27T23:59:00.000-08:00

Heading to the UAE and Iran next week!
We're flying to Dubai for a few days, then plan to take a ferry to the Island of Kish off the southern coast of Iran. Will keep you all posted...

thanksgiving

2007-11-23T21:41:00.000-08:00

Against all odds, we somehow managed to pull together a really nice Thanksgiving (with a little Yemeni-twist). About 15 students came over to enjoy a potluck feast. Nate made turkey, and I did my best attempt at stuffing. Others brought such requisites as mashed potatoes, green beans, and pumpkin pie. And we also had shisha (hookah). Definitely missed the wine and our family though.

Serving up food in the kitchen.
Please note our brand new stove! My mom said there was absolutely no way we could cook a turkey in our toaster oven, so we went out and bought this stainless steel beauty.

Nate's turkey. Poor thing was only about 6.5 lbs, the biggest we could find in Sana'a.

more food and another wedding

2007-11-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

I just returned home, totally worn out, from a long day with the neighborhood women. They invited me to their house this morning to cook lunch, which was then to be fed to the men. So I went over, but wasn't too much help cooking but did my best to keep them entertained with photos of our wedding, house, and family. The photos were a big hit and they kept most of the wedding pictures, in addition to requesting that I print out multiple copies of each so they could have more copies.

After the men had been served, the ladies and I sat around the kitchen floor to dig into the feast (typical lunch for them). Food included: rice with saffron; lamb (although they kept pointing to it and saying excitedly, in English, "Chicken!"; spaghetti noodles, small, thin noodles with chicken flavoring, flat bread with salsa, flat bread with mystery mint-colored sauce, bread rolls, salad, potatoes, water, and tea. Good lord, so much food! I think the best part of the meal, however, was that every other bite, the matron of the family would grab me and shove huge spoonfuls of food into my mouth. As far as I could tell, she was worried that my own spoonfuls were generally too small, and I wasn't eating fast enough.

After the feast we headed up to the ladies mafraj, where I assumed we'd sit for a minute and then I would return home. Apparently they had other plans, as we sat down and they demanded to know what I was wearing under my baltoo. They weren't impressed so they brought me a whole new outfit, did my lips with red lipstick, bathed me in perfume, then told me we were heading to a wedding. So off we went. To the brides house. Where we sat on her bed and had tea with sesame seeds. Apparently today was the "pre-wedding" and tomorrow we're headed back for some other party.

Today's wedding outfit. I'm definitely down with these new clothes and plan to only wear outfits such as this upon my return to America.

After settling in, the ladies began the requisite baby talk and inquest into why I don't have a baby. Apparently not satisfied with my answer "in the future, god willing," they proceeded to ask what was wrong with me and have I seen a doctor about my infertility. A bit frustrated with their questions and accusations, I finally broke down and said that we cannot have a baby until Nate is done with school and return home to America and so I therefore take "medicine" to prevent getting pregnant. Although I expected them to respond with horror and a lecture about god, they instead asked me the name of the medicine and if I could have some sent to them from America. Sigh. I wanted so badly to tell them that I believed in freedom of having the choice, and that I would absolutely be willing to have the pill mailed from America. But I think birth control is highly frowned upon here, if not illegal, and I can't imagine how the husbands would react if they found out their wives were on birth control, and that I provided it. So instead I had to say that I could try to have it mailed, but the police might take it away, and maybe their husbands would not be happy. Following the awkward conversation about birth control, during which, I should add, the grandmother kept nudging me in the ribs and happily pantomiming the act of copulation, the ladies then got on to shaving and wanted the full detail of what and how I shave. Ya Allah.

Some 8 hours after my day began at their house, our ride finally came to take us home, all 10 of us, in an Echo. To be fair, 4 of the passengers were children, but still. It was pretty crammed. And al-HumdulAllah, I'm so glad to be back.

2007-11-15T23:59:00.000-08:00

local chicks and small boy with box

portland visitors

2007-11-14T06:14:00.000-08:00

We’ve had a busy past week, spent with our dear friends from Portland, Comfort and Susan. The gals arrived, via Cairo, early Tuesday morning. Wednesday we visited Wadi Dhahr, which is home to an incredible 18th-century palace built atop a massive rock.

Wadi Dhahr and the Dar al-Hajar rock palace

Thursday morning we headed east with a group from our school to the island of Kamaran, off the west coast of Yemen. We were treated to swimming in the hot bath tub of the Red Sea, freshly caught jumbo shrimp for dinner, many bottles of Red Wine (first time in Yemen for that!), a midnight fireworks show followed by splashing in the water with glowing ocean phosphorescence, a wonderful night of sleep outside under the stars and next to the waves, a morning acrobatic show by the island’s resident dolphins (including an itty bitty baby), and a mangrove forest tour. Fun fact for those of you who have read Motoring with Mohammed (a brilliant book, I’d recommend it to all), the author’s story takes place just off the island of Kamaran. Our adventure was fantastic, but far too short. And Nate broke his big toe, which was both sad and painful. We’re definitely planning to head back in the spring when the Brakken parents come visit us.

small boat in large sea: heading to Kamaran from the mainland

sleeping accommodations on the island: straw huts or beach (both equally rad)

fireworks show (to celebrate our friend Jess's birthday)

water camels?

swimming in the mangrove forest

The remainder of Susan and Comfort’s stay in Yemen was spent in Sana’a and involved lots of shopping (especially for jambayas, baltus, scarves, and Saddam Hussein lighters). They also had the fortune to be invited to several of our neighbors’ homes. Our Yemeni friends were wildly excited to meet Nate’s “mom and sister” (it was easier to say that than explain the concept of a surrogate family in Arabic, and hosting strangers overnight probably wouldn’t go over too well here). Susan had her makeup done, and the ladies even dressed her up in the infamous “fertility jewelry”. I think they both had a truly wonderful time in Yemen, and Susan is thinking about coming back to Sana’a in the spring with her kids, inshaaAllah.

charlie's (yemeni) angels

susan tries qat, in special makeup and dress...

We’re quite sad and lonely now that our family/friends have returned to Portland, but fortunately for us we have a big event tonight to cheer us up: a private party at the US Embassy! A full report to be posted soon.

halloween in yemen

2007-11-10T21:14:00.001-08:00

wedding

2007-10-26T03:34:00.000-07:00

groom & family

evening processional, outside our house

music inside the tent

People have been talking about tonight’s wedding all week long. I shouldn’t say “tonight’s wedding” however, because this, like the funeral, seems to be at least a week-long activity. Today I went to the house where the newlyweds married. We all waited in the courtyard for the groom to exit, whereupon everyone pushed me, the foreigner, up to the groom in order to congratulate the young kid and take lots of photos with him. He looked terrified the entire time. The procession ended and all the men quickly scattered to begin their (male-only) qat chewing parties, which I guess constitute the reception.

Next morning…

Yesterday afternoon we began chewing at 3:00, then I returned home at 6:00 to check on Morgan and take a break from the wedding. Around 8:00 I resumed partying, this time chewing with about 400 men in the huge tent. Along with qat, the tent also held a famous ooud player that serenaded us with 5-minute song sessions (followed by 20-minute breaks). My friend Josh came with me to this evening celebration, and we were the only non-Yemenis in the tent. We felt pretty famous, as everyone wanted to greet us. Around midnight all the guests surrounded the groom and escorted him to his house to consummate the marriage (which is overseen--outside the room--by the parents, who then parade around the bloody sheet as proof of the consummation/wife‘s virginity). And I, with my huge ball of qat, returned home to my own wife.

the week-long funeral

2007-10-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

We were in Ethiopia during Eid al-Fatr, the end of Ramadan. During this major week-long celebration many Yemenis travel and the auto fatality rates skyrocket. The brother of our neighbor, with whom I’ve become close (his wife did Morgan’s henna), was one of the casualties. Along with several other members of his family, he was in a bus traveling to Aden that drove off a cliff (near Ib). Fortunately Abdula was the only fatality. So our last week, since returning from Ethiopia, has been characterized by attendance at nightly funerals (read: long sex-segregated qat chews).

Morgan attended the all-women’s chew the first night we were home, spending some 4 hours with the neighbors. They fed her and watched her eat, then chewed qat in the ladies’ mafraj (living room), while making her read from an English grammar book (horribly misspelled and riddled with grammatical errors). While Morgan hung with the women, I chewed qat in the building next door with the men, listening to them alternately state, “Adbul is dead, aluhumdu allah” and “Qat is good for…you know what.” Although Morgan opted out of the remaining nights’ funerals, I attended several more throughout the week. And now that the funerals have ended, wedding celebrations have begun, right outside of our house. Though I have no idea who the groom is (or bride for that matter), I seem to have been invited to attended all the festivities.

Men's Funeral / Qat Chew

My biggest ball of qat yet, taken after last night's gathering.

Ethiopia

2007-10-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

We're back home in Sana'a with plenty of stories from Ethiopia. Our only complaint from the whole trip is that the food is terrible. Normally we love Ethiopian food however some of the dives that we ate in were frightening and much of the food tasted like soap. Nearly all of us got sick (beer might have had something to do with that). We arrived in Addis Ababa in the evening of the 10th and crammed into a 1960's cab, bound for the Piazza neighborhood to get a hotel for the night. We found a nice little hostel above a restaurant, where we proceeded to drink our first beer in 2 months (oh, how you were missed). Dinner from the first night, a sample of traditional Ethiopian lentils:

After dinner we found a cute bar playing early '90s American pop music, and later in the night stumbled into a nearby bar, which we assumed was a dance club but incidentally turned out to be more of a brothel. After witnessing a pimp and his buddies beat up a young prostitute at the "club", we took our cue and headed back to the hostel for our first bed-buggy night.

The following morning we hired a driver and car to take us up north. We considered taking the bus, which would have been considerably cheaper, but as the buses are filled to about twice the safe capacity, and as the trip would take twice as long, we opted for the luxury of driver and private car. Split between 5 people, this luxury cost just $20 per day (per person).

Our next 8 days were spent in a 1980s Toyota Land Cruiser that had two bench seats in the back (which served nicely as beds for napping). We spent the majority of the trip driving north to Lalibela, and returned to Addis via the Awash region in the east (thereby completing a large, 8-day loop). Although we didn't actually cover a huge area, the roads were really rough and we spent many 9-hour days in the car going 40 km / hour the entire time. In light of these bad road conditions, we were especially happy to have opted for a car over the bus.

Nate, playing tour guide, and driving the beast.

We left Sana'a to see other lifestyles, however we just couldn't get away from qat, which is really cheap in Ethiopia of much better quality than that grown in Yemen (supposedly the President of Yemen only chews Ethiopian qat). Many long hours in the Cruiser were spent listening to our iPods and chewing qat, a lovely way to take in the Ethiopian countryside.

In Gondar we were able to visit a bar featuring traditional Ethiopian dance--Fernanda and I really took down the house with our own take on the shoulder shaking. We also took a tour of the series of castles which make Gondar famous, all built on a single compound by successive ruling kings during the 17th - 19th centuries. Gondar is also where I 1) ate uncooked vegetables, and 2) broke the bed with my knee in an acrobatic leap during the middle of the night from the bed the bathroom (where I then remained until sunrise).

After visiting Gondar, we headed up to Lalibela, which is known as the Petra of Africa. Lalibela boasts a dozen rock-hewn churches, constructed during the 12th century (each church is carved out of a single rock). The pictured church shows how they are subterranean (and massive!). UNESCO is currently constructing covers over the series of churches to protect them from further erosion from rain.

A monk, perched on a rock, showing off for us at one church.

After Lalibela we headed southeast to towards Dire Dawa (Awash region). Our guide prefaced our trip east (which took us pretty close to Djibouti) by telling us that the government is scared of the tribes in the east, and that if he were to hit a camel on the road he would be shot (and if someone else in a white car like ours were to hit a camel, we might be mistaken as the guilty party...and shot). This region boasted not only nomadic tribes of camel herders with AK-47s, but also a village that doubled as a black-market of stolen goods (Fergus bought a brand-new VDC player for $10). Our car held up the entire drive, until we got to the Awash region (shortly after passing a dead camel on the road), and we got a flat. No problem, except the jack was broken (our guide managed to fix it with a rock....?)

The main purpose of driving east, however, was not to buy stolen electronics, but to visit Awash National Park:

Although the park is sort of a joke of a nature reserve (they had one lion in 12' -wide cage, and then some monkies...our guide book said the park was good, however, for bird-watchers), we were required to hire a scout to accompany us on our "safari." Nate was excited, however, at the prospect of taking pictures with the scout's gun.

Morgan & Fernanda in Awash National Park.

After Awash we spent our last night of the tour in Kombucha, which is home to the St. George beer factory. After closing down the factory (you can't beat 20-cent bottled beers!!), our tour guide (who had also been taking full advantage of the cheap ales) took us on a little bar-hopping adventure. We have no idea who this man is, but he spent the better part of an hour dancing with Nate. And see the picture in the background? Every single bar in Ethiopia is plastered in these erotic posters (or maybe we just went to the really seedy bars?) -- what a difference from Yemen!

We returned to Addis and spent one last night in the big city before heading back to Sana'a. Our trip was amazing. Difficult at times (witnessing the prostitution of young girls, the poverty and death...and using the toilets which made Yemeni bathrooms look like they belonged in the Hilton), but I think we were all forced out of our comfort zones, which is how travel should be.

travels to ethiopia

2007-10-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

At last, we're on the final countdown to our Ethiopian adventure. We've been busy running around in preparation for our trip--charging the iPod, hiding money in secret pockets, shopping for miniature bottles of shampoo, etc. This was made all the more difficult by the fact that we were without electricity until 5pm tonight. Why no electricity? Well, our (14-year-old) security guard (who lives in the hallway of the building's main entrance) and his buddy were playing with the building's main electrical wires last night and shorted out the electricity for the entire building. And as nothing gets fixed with much speed here (not to knock the pace of life in Yemen, we're totally digging it), we were without lights for a solid 12 hours. From adventures with electricity in Yemen we head off to find more adventures tomorrow, on the African continent....

We will be gone until the 19th, but promise to post all sort of goodies on the blog when we return.

xo,
Bitsy & Nate

i've never felt cuter

accidental yemeni bride

2007-10-07T23:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight was, undoubtedly, the strangest night I've had so far in Yemen. It actually started with the night before, when the neighbors invited us to their house for dinner, or so Nate thought. 6:00 rolled around, and as we were preparing to head out, they showed up at our home with plates of food: fenugreek salta (with kidney??), samboukas, boiled potatoes, bread, Yemeni coffee, and juice. The meal was delicious.

After dinner, around 9:00, it was then determined, we were to head to their house to hang out. Their son came to get us, promptly at 9:00, but as the three of us began the walk to their home (just around the corner from our apartment), the son informed us that Nate was not invited. So alone, with my limited Arabic, I went to spend the evening with a group of strangers. I arrived at the house and was escorted to a small room on the 4th floor, filled with a large mattress, armoire, t.v, three adult women, and several small children. After exchanging greetings and pleasantries the ladies set into what was to be the main topic of our evening: babies. Did I have babies? Did I have a baby inside of me? When was I going to have babies? How many babies did I want to have? Deciding that perhaps if I was made up like a Yemeni bride Nate would be more likely to "give me a baby," the ladies set in with makeup. Lots of makeup. Turquoise eyeshadow, several shades of eyeliner, large circles of fuscia blush, coral lipstick, and a fake mole. Happy with the makeup, the ladies then began to dress me. Out came colorful scarves and bridal jewelry (beaded headwrap and necklaces). Once dressed, they began the henna, covering the entirety of both arms, and another faux mole on my face (which, mind you, I'm told takes at least 2 weeks to fade. Awesome.) All dolled up, the ladies continued to press me about babies, and then religion. Was I Muslim or Christian? Christian, I told them. This response was satisfactory to the ladies, although they then requested that I demonstrate for them how I pray. My mind raced back to Catholic High School and the order of crossing yourself (up, down, left, right?). In addition to the makeup, the night also included qat (the mildly narcotic leaf chewed socially here). I'm not a big fan. It didn't induce any sort of fun, hazy state, and it tastes just horrible (really bitter). You're not supposed to swallow it, either, but the ladies forced me to drink an endless cup of tea, and I found it impossible to not swallow the qat with the tea. I'm sure my stomach will love me tomorrow! Some 3 1/2 hours later (now past midnight), I finally announced that I had to return home to sleep. And so my night came to and end, and I sit here with arms that itch like poison ivy (I've heard the black henna, which I have, often causes severe skin reactions), and makeup that will not seem to come off no matter how much I make Nate scrub at my face (I can't get my hands wet or else the henna will smear and cause even more of a semi-permanent disaster).

nate, the social butterfly

2007-10-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since we've written here, lots has happened. We have some new arrivals: Kate and Yondrich (another married couple! From the UK and Poland, respectively); Fergus, the Oxford transplant; and Fernanda, our friend from Atlanta (side note for the Beery's: she just graduated from school in North Carolina). I've been making tons of friends and trying to speak Arabic as much as possible. I've sat in a neighbor's mafraj (living room, or literally "room with a view") till sun-up, speaking about the cultural differences between amrika and alyemen. Differences Abdullah and I explored: religion (I was informed that my liberal interpretations of Christianity do not fly here, and apparently my suggestion that like Jesus, we are all children of god, is very haram); marriage (and the concept of multiple wives). And just as we were getting into a discussion of the role of the woman in the household, his wife brought us fresh bread (that she baked), saltah (a slow-cooked traditional soup), and macaronah (a nice pasta). This food was to be our fajr. the last meal before the day's fast begins. After eating, Abdullah bid farewell and headed off to Mosque for the early (4:30 a.m.) prayer. My night/morning spent with Abdullah represented both his way of repaying me for being nice to his two children, and a more basic symbol of the extraordinary generosity of the Yemeni people.

Through my friendship with the local kids, I have also befriended another father (approximately my age). For the past week Walid's parents have been sending their son to our house with sweets and sambukas (beautiful deep-fried, filo dough triangles, filled with potatoes and veggies). Because of his family's kindness, I decided to give Walid my old Razr phone, for a fun toy. You can imagine his excitement...and the ensuing jealousy and trouble this has caused in the neighborhood, as now all the kids demand their own cell, not understanding that it doesn't work in Yemen, and I only had one. Cell phone issues aside, tonight Walid took me to his house to visit with his dad. Morgan, being ill at the moment, had to stay home. For the first time I sat in a mafraj with Yemeni women. Walid's mother, her sister-in-law, and Walid's grandmother quizzed me about almadam murjan (Madam Morgan) and I told them she was quite ill but, inshaallah, she will visit them tomorrow. They became so excited (I think mostly to have a western woman in their house) and immediately offered to henna my wife's hands and feet. So tomorrow we will go for dinner at their home, and afterwards I will chew qat and smoke cigarettes with the men while almadam murjan and the ladies do their lady things.

night out at the movenpick

2007-10-04T02:00:00.000-07:00

At the Movenpick to break the day's fast (as it's still Ramadan) with a gourmet buffet (yeah, none of that "Country Kitchen" stuff). Endless humus, babaganoush, swedish lamb meatballs, curries, desserts... Oh, it was delicious.

A little shisha after dinner. Two-Apple, Melon, and Cappuccino create quite a unique combination.

thobin' out

2007-10-04T01:46:00.000-07:00

Nate's new thobe & head scarf.
Because he's so tall, the thobe had to be custom-made by a tailer.

volcano

2007-10-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

Yemeni Volcano Erupts, Leaving Several People Missing (Update2)

By Massoud A. Derhally

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Naval forces were searching for as many as nine people who were missing after a volcano off Yemen's Red Sea coast erupted for the first time since the 19th century.

Four Yemeni soldiers were killed in a lava flow after the eruption late yesterday, Agence France-Presse said, citing soldiers who survived. Two people were rescued from the sea and 21 others were evacuated from the island, Cable News Network reported. The volcanic island, Jabal al-Tair, is 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the Yemeni city of al-Hudaydah.

The Yemeni Navy was joined in the search for the nine missing people by the Canadian Navy frigate Toronto, Canada's military said on its Web site. The Canadian ship is from a North Atlantic Treaty Organization fleet that was heading to the Suez Canal, according to a statement on the Web site. Yemen's Coast Guard and Army were searching for members of the country's armed forces, the state-run SABA NET news agency reported today.

A series of tremors were recorded in the region yesterday, Yemeni Petroleum Minister Khaled Bahah said, according to SABA. The volcano, which was spewing lava and ash, hadn't disrupted shipping between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Canadian Navy spokesman Ken Allan told CNN.

``It lit the place up,'' Allan, who witnessed the eruption, told CNN.

The volcano, one of several at the southern tip of Yemen, southwest of the Farisan Islands, last erupted in 1883, according to the Web site of the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program. It rises from a sea depth of about 1,200 meters (3,900 feet) to form the 3 kilometer-long island.

The Canadian naval spokesman added that the search for survivors would continue until the Yemeni authorities decide to end it.

Last Updated: October 1, 2007 07:19 EDT

source: www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aDs7b5invD4A&refer=canada

magic lighters

2007-09-29T23:26:00.001-07:00

Nate's new lighter:

But this is not just any lighter. It has a flashlight on the bottom. And when you shine the light, a little picture illuminates the room:

camel in the city

2007-09-29T22:53:00.001-07:00

a few blocks from our apartment

blue skies over the old city

2007-09-29T01:09:00.001-07:00

weekend fun

2007-09-29T01:05:00.000-07:00

Tzara, smoking shisha in a burkah.

new pet for bits

2007-09-28T09:14:00.001-07:00

Morgan will be checking the shoes much more closely from now on in the morning.

fancy hotels

2007-09-27T02:06:00.000-07:00

Last night we set out on an adventure with a few other students from SIAL. As Yemen was celebrating Independence Day, we decided to celebrate as well. And so with Taiz, Bill, and Fernanda, Nate and I hopped into a cab and requested the driver drop us as "Tourist City." Tourist City isn't as much a City as it is a small area of Sana'a, perched on top of a hill, completely surrounded by a massive wall and armed soldiers. The "City" boasts a Sheraton, an apartment complex that is rumored to house exiled Iraqi generals, and the infamous Russian Club. The name, "The Russian Club" is also a bit misleading---it's not so much a Club as it is a small, dark hut that serves alcohol to westerners (and exiled Iraqi generals?). The driver dropped us at the entrance to Tourist City and we meandered our way through the apartment buildings to an overgrown lot housing a small, dark, and very closed Russian Club. Two men walked up to us (Jordanian plane engineers), and after telling us that the Club is closed during the month of Ramadan, invited us into their apartment to share one non-alcoholic beer. Being on a mission for some nightlife, however, we declined their invitation, but did exchange numbers so that we can visit them in Jordan later this year. Feeling confident the Sheraton would at least have a small offering of wine or beer, we trekked to the top of Tourist City into a very empty Sheraton. Although their bar was also closed (damn this month of Ramadan), they did have a tent set up outside showcasing a singing duet. Rules for entering the tent were, however, too strict we decided: an entrance fee of $5, enforced dress code, no cameras, and (our favorite rule) "No Dancing!" Not giving up, we left tourist city and took a 4 minute cab ride even further up the hill to the Movenpick, Yemen's nicest hotel. Security at the hotel is strict, and our cab's undercarriage was swept with a mirrored wand for bombs prior to entering, much to the delight of Nate and our driver who, to the defense of the security guards, looked much the part of an angry Yemeni terrorist: approximately 80 years old and 95 lbs, cheek stuffed with massive ball of qat. The Movenpick has a gorgeous infinity pool and is perched at one of the highest points in Sana'a, offering an incredible view of the city. Although their bar was also closed for the month, we were able to purchase a feast of ice cream, fries, and fancy sandwiches (pictured). We decided that, should possible plans to travel over Christmas fall through, we will all get rooms at this fancy hotel and treat ourselves to a night of luxury: swimming, bloody marys, and ice cream sundaes.

warm fries (hard to find in Yemen), and a grilled halloumi sandwich

in front of the Sheraton

friendly neighbors

2007-09-27T01:46:00.000-07:00

Nathan has made quite the impression in our neighborhood. We like to call him the Pied Piper of Sana'a. Every time he steps outside, about 20 to 30 small kids swarm my tall, blond husband and follow him around as he smokes, goes to the store to buy water, or heads to school, practicing their English the entire time: "Hello! I love you! What's your name? F--- You!" This odd assortment of nice (and the occasional naughty) words is learned, we think, from the odd assortment of old American movies that are constantly shown on (free) satellite t.v. here. Nate now has his own self-titled "personal assistant," who also likes to aid as a translator; however, as he speaks little to no English, he translates Arabic-to-Arabic, repeating verbatim Nate's Arabic requests for, say, 5 bottles of water and a pack of Karaman smokes, in Arabic to the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper already handing the requested items to Nate.

Although the kids know that it is forbidden to knock on our door, they frequently test our limits and come pounding late at night (as it's Ramadan, most kids stay up until at least 4:30 a.m.) So the other night, when we heard a rapping on our door, Nate jumped up, ready to pounce on one of the tykes for disturbing our peace. Throwing open the door he found, indeed, one of the neighbor kids, but Mohammad was not at our house to request that Nate buy him a "Bebsi" (no "p" sound in Arabic) or fireworks; instead, Mohammad came with an armload of treats for us to "break our fast" (during Ramadan everyone fasts during the day....except naughty Americans). His mother had prepared a small feast for us, as pictured below: mashed potatoes fried in filo dough, spicy bean & scallion cakes, and a bowl of dates.

headed to ethiopia!

2007-09-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

We just bought tickets for our first vacation (while on vacation).
Ethiopia, here we come! We will be traveling with our friends Bill (from the UK) and Fernanda (fellow American) in a few weeks (leaving October 10th). If anyone has any experience in the region and has recommendations of "must see" towns / churches / bars, please send them our way.

nate on teaching

2007-09-17T07:40:00.000-07:00

Our first English class was a success! We had three students: Fahid (28) is a dentist, Malik (25) is a computer engineer, and Isham (29) is SIAL's computer engineer. Fortunately they all have a solid foundation in English, so we can focus on speaking (rather than basic grammar, for example). Last night we discussed our jobs, families (Isham has 11 siblings), and goals for the class. We spoke at length about dentistry, which is incredibly cheap here; to fill a cavity with composite it costs around 3000YR ($15), which we might have to take advantage of soon (Morgan's tooth had a run-in with a bone fragment hidden in a hamburger last night). We discussed the effects of qat on teeth, and Fahid informed us that the pesticides, not the qat itself, destroy the tooth. He also told us about the miswak, a kind of branch Yemenis use as a toothbrush. The stick is about the size of a middle finger and can be chewed on or used to rub the gums and teeth. It's minty-flavored and has "120 health benefits." And with the engineers we discussed Windows Vista (and how much it sucks), Apple computers, programming, networking, computer history, and the like. Each night we will pick a different topic and will focus on idioms, vocab, pronunciation, etc. Tonight's topic is the history of Yemen, which is a bonus for me as I only have a western view of the history and it will be nice to hear about the civil war from people who were alive during the time (all of our students were all in high school). I think that the class will be a lot of fun for all of us; these guys have a great sense of humor and I think that we will all become great friends.

students & teachers

2007-09-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

As of 10:00 tonight Nate and I are officially paid teachers! Our school asked us to run an English class for our Arabic teachers. And since it's Ramadan now--meaning the day goes from noon to 4am --our class will be held at 10 pm, 3-4 nights per week. We have a basic lesson plan for tonight (class introductions and goals), but are not sure what direction to take following the basic introductions. One of our students/SIAL teacher asked me today what text book we'll be using. Text book? Huh? Hadn't thought that far ahead. So, if anyone has recommendations of a great beginning English text book (heavy on grammar and vocab), please email us! I'm excited about this great opportunity (and money, you can't beat $2.50/hour!) but I also feel a bit nervous and under-prepared. I love school and being a student, but am I really teacher material (especially with my propensity to blush whilst public speaking, haha)? We'll see...

pictures from our pad

2007-09-15T07:04:00.001-07:00

Wiring in our kitchen. Cousin Mike: how would this score on your home inspection?
An additional note on our wiring: plugs in the Middle East are supposed to be European. However, in our apartment alone we have European, African, and North American outlets, in addition to some that we can't place. This means that our vacuum only plugs into the living room, the toothbrush only plugs into the bedroom, and the tv has to be taped into an outlet to function.

This is our "new" washing machine. How does this work, you ask? Well, we fill up the left half with buckets of water from our kitchen sink, along with the clothes and soap. After it mixes everything together, we rinse the soap out of the clothes in the kitchen sink, and then put them in the right half of the machine to spin. The right half only holds about a third of what the left half holds, so the spinning part takes a few cycles. Unfortunately this beast still lacks a connection to the drain, so for now it's just a nice object d'art for our kitchen.

A note from Nate on this post: Morgan wouldn't know how this really worked unless it were for my detailed explanations, as I'm the only one who does laundry here. We have to use the washing machine in the boys' dorm (as ours doesn't actually work), and Morgan's not allowed up there (lucky for her).

food

2007-09-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

Per Shelby's request, I've taken some pictures of our food standards/staples:

Fruit. The pomegranates here are delicious, plentiful, and cheap (about 25 cents each). We can also buy fresh squeezed pomegranate juice from corner stands for about 50 cents.

Rice (colored with tumeric) and veggies. Nate's started making a killer vegetarian curry. We haven't been brave enough to cook our own meat (as this entails buying a live chicken in the local souq and then killing it or taking it to the local butcher to kill it). We do often eat meat at a local restaurant; the broast (half of a fried chicken) comes with fries, watery tomato paste, coleslaw, bread, and a metal prison tray, and costs under $2.00.

A selection of our spices: cinnamon, turmeric, and chili & curry powders. Each of these 1lb bags cost between $0.25 to $1.50. We'll definitely be bringing bags of these home with us!

Ramadan?

2007-09-11T02:26:00.000-07:00

So.....Tomorrow is Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast. Mumkin (maybe) it is tomorrow (in sha allah). The most we've been able to get out of our teachers is that it is either tomorrow or the next day (possibly depending on the moon?). This means that we will not be able to eat or drink (even water), or smoke in public for 30 days. Nothing opens before noon, and grocery stores won't open until an hour before sundown. At sundown people pray then drink some water and eat some dates then party like it's 1999 till dawn. It is not the law here like it is in Kuwait, however I'm sure we would not be looked upon fondly if we were to eat during the day. Looks like I might be smoking a lot less of those $.75 a pack cigarettes.

new photos

2007-09-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

The view from our rooftop.

A Yemeni skybridge.

the weekend begins

2007-09-06T07:27:00.001-07:00

I woke up yesterday morning to a dream that Nate and I returned to the U.S. and I remember feeling a deep sense of sadness at being back in the States. After spending the first week battling constant bursts of tears of frustration and fear and certainty that I would not be able to handle this new world/life for a year, I realized, when I woke from my dream, that I finally feel at peace with our decision to move to Yemen for this next year. I realized that the trash littering the streets, and the strange (to be polite) smells that radiate from the old buildings and alleys, and our kitchen and bathroom (that despite any amount of scrubbing will never be clean)...all these things, I realized, no longer bother me. I love that, after carelessly stepping into an intersection into the path of an oncoming motorcycle, the cyclist--rather than yelling at us for our our mistake-- tracked us down in order to introduce himself and welcome us to his country. I love that a hijab vendor, after selling me a new pink head scarf, invited us to stay in his shop for a cup of tea. I love that a cab driver the other night, in a gesture to welcome us to his city, tried to refuse payment and insisted we take his cell number so that we may call him next time we need a ride or assistance. This city, in which pedestrians share the sidewalk with the occasional herd of goats or cow being proudly paraded around, has captured my heart.

Not long after we woke this morning there was a knock on our door. Um Akhmed, one of the school's cleaners, had arrived to both clean our apartment and bring us an assortment of carpet scraps to collage our entry way floor (I kind of liked the clean, sweep- and mop-able linoleum, but it's impolite to refuse a gift...) Although we've never formally discussed this with the school, it appears we have a maid. She comes about twice a week to vacuum and clean our bathroom and kitchen. Nate and I are really digging this. On top of cleaning our flat, she has also promised to teach me how to cook Yemeni food (and I, in return, promise to post any recipes I get!) After Um Akhmed's arrival, there were several further knocks on our door: a man selling pots and pans, neighborhood kids offering us a kitten, the neighborhood kids again, this time with three rabbits to show off, and finally a gentleman by the name of Abdul Kareem who works around the corner from us at the Canadian-Yemeni Water Project (a sort of non-profit that helps establish public gardens in the City that are irrigated solely from the local mosques' gray water, an ancient tradition here). Abdul Kareem had come to introduce himself to the newest neighbors; we had a lovely visit and he has promised us a private tour of the project's 44 established gardens. We spent the rest of the morning visiting the Souq al-Milh (Salt Market), a massive outdoor market in which vendors--in addition to selling the regular items, i.e. small plastic toys imported from China & etc.--offer the most amazing spices, bolts of fabric, dresses, abayas (women's robes), and jambayas (traditional Yemeni knives worn on the belt). Immediately upon our entrance into the market a vendor demanded we accept a gift of a small bundle of qat (the mildly narcotic leaf chewed in Yemen). This first offering fueled further offerings to us by surrounding vendors. Qat leaves in hand, we stumbled into a tailor shop in order to inquire about having a cotton abaya commissioned (they're mostly polyester here). Although this was not in their realm of work, the four male tailors did invite us in (again, with offerings of qat) and had quite a lively discussion with Nate (in sha'allah I will be able to hold real conversations on my own soon!). They also gave us a stack of Muslim propaganda, which we promise to diligently read. During the course of our hour-long stroll through the Souq, Nate shook hands with no less than 30 vendors and shoppers, all of whom wanted to introduce themselves to the tall, blond-haired westerner and practice their English: "Welcome to Yemen!"

Nate's Arabic is becoming progressively better and he can now hold both religious discussions (diplomatically defending our status as "Christians" to the local kids who try their hardest to convert us to Islam) and political discussions ("Yes, I am from Amrikah, but I promise you, al hamduallah, that I did not vote for Bush," which is generally received with a big sigh of relief, a huge grin, and more vigorous hand-shaking). My Arabic is also improving, and now, in addition to writing the alphabet and offering the most basic pleasantries, I can also recite the words for chair, table, car, and purse. My teacher says that I am ma sha'allah (very clever).

parties

2007-09-06T07:26:00.001-07:00

After class this afternoon I was invited to my first social gathering in Yemen, a going away party for our new friend Lauren (who is actually from Portland, incidentally). The party was held in the courtyard of the women's "dorm" and was hosted by the dorm mother, Um Ibrahim, the wife of Am, the school's groundskeeper (see above field trip post for more on Am). Also in attendance were 2 of Um Ibrahim's 4 daughters and 2 of her 4 sons (who are both under 5 years old, which excludes them from the normal taboos of mixed-gender gatherings), in addition to several local Yemeni women, and most of our school's (+ / - 10) female students. It was amazing seeing these women in a private (women-only) setting, sans veils. The women were so funny, and loud, and outgoing. Although I understood so little of the conversation (which was almost entirely conducted in Arabic), I felt an incredible connection to the group of strong, vibrant women surrounding me, and I felt an urgency and excitement to gain proficiency in Arabic so that I too will be able to exchange jokes and stories with my new neighbors and friends.

Following the afternoon ladies' gathering, Nate and I explored the neighborhood across the silah (sunken highway/riverbed) from our apartment. We found a cafe on the roof of a 6-story hotel and treated ourselves to Becks (non-alcoholic) beers and an absolutely breathtaking view of the City. Later that evening, following our sunset "cocktails", we were invited to our first western party in Sana'a, held in the apartment of two SIAL students. Mark and Will's home, which they rent for $250 a month, is 5 stories plus a rooftop deck/patio, and contains a kitchen, bathroom, living room and somewhere between 4-6 bedrooms--Nate described it, with its hundreds of winding, cement stairs, as very "Dr. Seuss". On a side note, we hear that buildings in our quarter of the Old City can be purchased for less than $10,000. (And yes, thoughts of buying one of these mud-brick towers and moving here to retire early, very early, have definitely crossed our minds). The students at SIAL are incredible, and it is fantastic to be making friends from such diverse backgrounds, ranging from Canada, all over Europe (England, Belgium, Germany, and Slovenia), Japan, Singapore, and even Somalia.

morgan makes friends

2007-09-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

I've made my first Yemeni friends. Their names are Aliya & Latifah, and they're approximately 7 years old. Aliya lives across the street from us and yesterday afternoon, while Nate was outside smoking, she approached him to inquire about his marital status. Upon finding out that Nate did indeed have a wife, Aliya briefly went home and returned with a handful of sea shells and a request that I come outside. As I've only learned the most basic greetings at this point (in addition to the alphabet) our conversation was pretty limited, and after admiring her shells for a few minutes, Nate and I returned inside to study. Several minutes later there was a knock on our door; Aliya had brought her friend Latifah to meet me as well. I exchanged greetings with Latifah, then resumed my studies. Minutes later...another knock. Nate answered the door and told the girls that I had to study. That's fine, they replied, followed by a request that Nate open our window and curtain so that they could just stand outside and watch me study. Nate kindly told them this was not possible tonight, but maybe another time. Following this odd but endearing request, the girls continued to come to our door, about every 20 minutes, requesting that I join them for a meal, requesting a tour of our house (to which I politely said "no" but which they took anyways, squirming their way past me into the apartment, oohing and awing the entire time), and more requests to open our curtains.

with Aliya

pictures from our field trip

2007-08-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

Nate and Bill

this (small) truck, on the highway, was carrying some 20 visible people

locust swarm

outside Sana'a

volcano in Hammam al Dimt

hot volcanic water explosions

2007-08-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

The weekend in Yemen begins on Thursday, which this week included a school field trip with one hired driver, our school's groundskeeper (Am, which means "uncle" -- he's very old, and yells at everyone/everything), 3 teachers, and 5 students (including us). The day trip, advertised as "hot volcanic water explosions for men and women" (which we translated into: "come see a volcano and then go to the hot springs where men and women can have separate baths") marked our first time out of Sana'a. We got to the school at 7:00 where a "bus" (small, 1980's Toyota van) began to drive us southeast of Sana'a. Hundreds of small towns with houses built on top of huge rocks dot the countryside. An hour into our drive we pulled over in a small town to witness a massive swarm of locusts. The entire sky was grey with the insects, and the locals were rejoicing, kids leaping through the fields to catch the grasshopper-like bugs (many the size of a small hummingbird), for later eating. People were offering them to me, telling me how to best cook and eat the locust. As we were leaving, some guy ran up and put a water bottle full of living, squirming "treats" into my hands. I responded "no thanks," which was probably rude, but i just didn't want to see them go to waste. Not too far from the locust infestation, we heard a loud bang on the side of the car, scaring the shit out of us; the tread on our back tire had shredded. Fortunately/conveniently we were just 200 feet from a tire shop. The tire was quickly fixed, and we we got back on the road, driving for less than an hour when, BOOM! The spare popped. Now, several miles from a tire shop, the taxi driver and (old) groundskeeper, Am, decided on a plan of attack, which included reinstalling the first failed tire with a broken crank, which the taxi driver nonetheless twisted and turned futilely in the jack while Am dug out a hole around the area with a small rock. One reinstalled, the threadless tire limped us along to the next town, where we stopped to eat a breakfast of scrambled eggs & bean pancakes (and where the driver replaced our defective back wheel).

Some four hours after our initial departure we arrived in Hammam al Dimt, a small town with dirt roads (many of them almost completely obscured with trash). The town boasts a volcano & hot spring, which we had envisioned to be an outdoor spa, perhaps at the base of the volcano, and hopefully offering scrubs & massages. We started our adventure in Hammam al Dimt by climbing the volcano, an arduous task for Morgan in her restricting "thobe". Our hike was rewarded with a lunch of individual chickens, rice, marinated veggies, and soda (with pull tabs!), although this fantastic meal almost didn't materialize because Am got into a vicious argument with the restaurant staff, who seemed to be on the verge of kicking us out. Food was followed by a visit to the much anticipated hot spring....which turned out to be more of a bath house attached to a hotel, about 2 miles from the volcano. Morgan & I had our own private bath (like a really deep 2-person hot tub constructed of slate tiles). Our cold water tap was out of order, and without some cold, the hot (volcanic) water was essentially unbearable. The vision of an outdoor natural pool with spa-like treatments turned into an odd sauna experience, but was refreshing nonetheless. We began the journey home at 5:00, and again, our taxi ride was plagued with tire troubles. The back wheel (this time on the driver's side) had some sort of nail lodged in it, and instead of just replacing/fixing it, the driver stopped every hour or so to refill the leaking tire with air. In addition to our multiple pit stops, the driver also managed to get us lost, not once, but three times, and one of those times after we had arrived back in Sana'a, the groundskeeper, Am, yelling at him the entire time.

our 'hood

2007-08-31T06:40:00.000-07:00

in our school's garden

2007-08-31T06:36:00.000-07:00

Morgan on Cars

2007-08-26T22:45:00.001-07:00

Our taxi driver home from the Embassy yesterday spent the entire drive explaining to Nate the glories of Islam, and while acknowledging that Nate was not yet Muslim, was pleased that we have a year left in Yemen, which should be enough time, in sha allah, for Nate to "come to his senses." The driver had 11 kids, and upon finding out that we are as of yet childless, suggested (albeit with a smile) that Nate take a second wife so that he too could have 11 little blessings from god. Other notes on taxis/cars in Sana'a: Many cars have fur glued to the dashboard (think '70s shag rugs, but way longer--Nate thinks it's real goat); we still have not figured out the purpose of this requisite vehicular decoration. We mentioned previously that drivers are crazy here -- I cannot emphasize this enough. Our taxi drives yesterday felt like those carnival rides in the little box cars (usually set in a haunted house) that speed up to doors, and you're certain you're going to slam into them, but miraculously they open at the last minute. Except, here, it's not doors you almost run into, but rather other cars, motorcycles and pedestrians. My final observation about the cars here: most barely run, and approximately 99% of them have some sort of battle scar (for example, our cab yesterday had a piece of thin tin--maybe a flattened soup can?--secured with wire to serve as the outside door handle). Somehow, despite all this, the cars seem to keep running (although yesterday we did see a car have to re-approach a 2" speed bump several times before successfully driving up and over it).

Nate on God

2007-08-26T22:44:00.001-07:00

I have quite the (religious) recruiter here. His name is Ahmed and he is 10. He rides his bike by during every prayer time as I am smoking. Ahmed likes to remind me that I should be at the mosque during the prayer times. I always remind him that I am not Muslim and do not go to mosque, but that he should be there, to which he always replies defensively, "I'm on my way!" I think it really hurts this guy that I'm not a Muslim, although I do tell him that I am Christian (and thus "one of the Book"), (as to not cause trouble--and my vocabulary won't permit me to explain the complexities of agnostic).

No guns for Nater

2007-08-25T00:03:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday or "Jumuah", the day of prayer. At 4am sharp the usual "allahhu akbar" woke us up, or rather just startled us from our light sleep (we went to sleep around 6pm last night). At around 7am we went on a little journey around the Old City by the National Museum. The streets were still wet from last night’s rain, and in the suq (outdoor market) men were disassembling the huge tent from last night’s wedding, which it seemed that everyone from Yemen was invited to as the streets were teeming with men wearing their finest jambias and women with their sharpest, blackest burkas. Later there were fireworks and music until at least 11:30. After the shops opened this morning I bought some water and bread. The shops here are not unlike the little tiendas in Mexico, except the only English spoken is “allo”. The bread here is amazing, and cheap; it seems as though nearly everything is done by artisans. Across from the store that sells bread is a mill that mills grains for the bread, there are shoe repair shops everywhere, and tailors also. I really enjoyed speaking with the shop people although I’m sure they were confused by my minimal utterances. I’ve found that even women will speak to me, which is way different than my expectations. One other thing that is both a disappointment and probably a blessing at the same time is that there are no fully automatic weapons allowed in Sana’a; National Geographic from 2000 exalted the beauties of buying weapons in the suq, but alas since then they have become illegal. However, outside of Sana’a they are perfectly legal and indeed part of the uniform of the normal Yemeni.

No PBR in Yemen

2007-08-25T00:02:00.000-07:00

Beer apparently exists here however it is 1000 rials ($5) a can, and although we've paid that at some of the fancy bars in Portland we just can't bring ourselves to spending a day’s worth of food on one can of beer. There is also the nefarious rumored "Russian Club" or the Chinese restaurant where vodka is apparently readily available for 5000 rials so maybe for some special occasion we will buy a bottle and get silly.

a new pink toilet!

2007-08-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

Pictures: our front door and apartment building.

Our school is very nice with a beautiful courtyard garden. The building itself is in great shape and is 5 stories with around 12 classrooms and a small library.
Good news! At about 7:10 tonight there was a knock on our door. Abdul Karim (the housing manager) told us that he got us a new hammam (toilet). A couple of guys, cheeks stuffed with qat, brought us a nice new pink one. So...they are currently in our bathroom pounding away at concrete. Imagine finding a plumber in the states willing to work this late at night let alone what it would cost. People here on average make about $4 a day so even if these guys make $20 they will probably be pretty happy. I guess "god's will" worked quickly today.

Other observations about our new city: The streets here are covered in trash; people just throw their trash wherever they happen to be. There are many Somalis who live here that clean the streets, our stoop is swept at least twice a day. Other good news, we have a maid! Apparently in our $300 a month rent she will come in whenever we want. Pretty sweet.

I was just outside talking to some little kids--they are so adorable. They started with the normal "allo" then "what your name?" followed by the compulsory "flus?" (money). Then this boy told me that his brother had problems with his eyes, I look down at the boy whose eyes were of course perfectly normal until I looked down and he crossed them for me. Quite the racket indeed. Our little "business" meeting was interrupted by rain that came out of nowhere. The main street here is sunken, and it serves two functions: 1st a highway, and when it rains like this a river. All of the cars get off the "highway" and jam into the local streets causing a huge traffic jam in the Old City. The rain lasted about 5 minutes and was gone. And while we’re on the weather, it’s not bad at all, it gets warm in the day and it is a little humid but I can’t imagine that it got above 85 today, although I'd be more accurate
if it weren't for their silly metric system and the confusing Celsius nonsense. The director of the institute Mohammed told us today that it doesn't get above 30C which apparently is a lovely temperature.

Settling In

2007-08-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

Pictured above: our living room and short doors.

This morning we woke up at 4am to the call to prayer which sounds like a man who smokes about 3 packs a day screaming at the top of his lungs "aaaalllllaaaaahhhhhuuuuu akbar" over and over for about 10 solid minutes. We also had our first real meal, saltah which is a veggie stew that is put in a cast iron pan then placed on a fire until it is lava hot then topped with a fenugreek froth this is served with a nice soup and hot fresh pita bread. We treated our new Belgian friend Taiz to lunch, with drinks (bottled water) and way more saltah than we could eat; the total came to 950 Yemeni rials--not a bad deal as we are getting 199 rials to the dollar. I also bought some cigarettes for 150 rials (and will now be able to say "I remember when smokes were 75 cents a pack").

The Yemeni people are amazing; the children are so cute, they all walk up and say "allo" or "welcome to Yemen” and we reply "sabah al khir" or "salam alikum" and they smile the biggest toothy smiles. The men here all wear the jambia (the curved dagger right in front connected to a large embroidered belt--that also often has a cellphone attached). Most women wear the burka, and some even wear scarves that cover even their eyes.

We're Here!

2007-08-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

Pictures above: our kitchen, "toilet" (and shower head, above the toilet), and Morgan's new digs.

Marhaba min Al-Yemen. So after nearly 30 hours we have arrived in our new home. First impressions: drivers are crazy here! Turn signals are never used, and instead a combination of the horn (which all sound like the horn from "Little Miss Sunshine" from overuse) and emergency lights are employed when passing or approaching another vehicle on the road.Marhaba min Al-Yemen! We have arrived and are spending our first day in the beautiful city of Sana'a.

We arrived at our apartment around 11pm Yemen time (10 hours different than west coast time) and unpacked our four 50 pound boxes (thank god we packed toilet paper). Our apartment is very nice (and approximately 2000 years old); we have a large sitting room with a t.v., bedroom, kitchen with a gas stove, industrial sink and a table with lawn chairs. The only thing lacking in the place is the toilet (we have a squatter!) The president of the university has promised that soon he will have a hammam gharbi (western toilet) installed "in sha allah" (god willing). We also have a security guard (Yousef) who lives right next door to us. He has been our guide today while we purchased necessary items like Morgan’s garb, water, a lighter and the like (see above photo).

Last day in Portland

2007-08-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

On the board at the Portway Tavern in St. Johns.

a little background

2007-06-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

We live in Portland, Oregon, where Nate is a student at Portland State University majoring in Middle Eastern Studies and minoring in Arabic. Morgan is a Land Planner (or will be until July 6th) with dreams of a joint Masters in International Human Rights Law and Forced Migration and Refugee Studies, with an emphasis on the Middle East.

Nate decided that, in order excel in his Arabic studies, it was necessary to study abroad in the Middle East for a summer. But being newlyweds, Morgan decided that a summer apart--and on different continents--would be unjust, and so she made plans to accompany Nate. The summer abroad gradually turned into a year abroad, and Yemen, some say, is not only incredibly cheap but also has the purest Arabic in the Middle East (and relatively few English speakers).

And so it was decided. Off to Sana'a, Yemen we head on August 21st for a year to study Arabic at the Sana'a Institute for the Arabic Language (SIAL).