Food, Football and Jambiyyas

Asalam u alaykum everyone,

Greetings from the internet cafe in Tahrer, a little section of town in New City. I can say after three days, I have started to get my bearings in Sana'a. There is so much to tell you, so I hopefully my travel log will help me inform you of everything which has happened so far. If you are sitting down to read this make sure you are comfortable. Heck you might even want to print this out so your eyes don't go crossed reading from the computer screen for too long.

Alright, lets start at the beginning. Last time I left you I had just arrived in Sana'a. My first night was quite depressing. After being driven to the school from the airport and settling into my room I was overcome with a swell of loneliness. It was difficult knowing that I had no clue where I was, knew no one at my school, was hungry and thirsty, plus it was midnight and I couldn't even contact my parents to let them know I had arrived and was alive. Since that night, things have been improving steadily and with each minute that passes my adventure has become more surreal and enjoyable.

My first day here, Wednesday, was spent eating great food and being shown around town. In the morning Mohammad, the man who drove me from the airport the night before took me out to get breakfast, call my parents, and exchange my money. Than for lunch I was lucky enough to be invited to the director of my school, Jameel's, house for lunch. Talk about a feast. All of the new students were invited to lunch. I guess this happens once a month so I was fortunate to arrive when I did. Plus it allowed me to meet some other students. For lunch, we all sat in a room with cushions on the floor and the food was laid in front of us. There was rice, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, some type of yogurt bread dip, salta (mix of cheese, meat and veggies), flat bread and for desert fried bread laced with honey, oranges and bananas. Most of the food you ate with the bread which you tear off into pieces and use to pick up/ dip whatever you want. So you'll tear off the bread, scoop up some salta and enjoy. After the delicious meal we went into the sitting/living room, which had cushions around it and enjoyed hot sweet tea while we introduced/talked to each other.

Later in the evening, I was lucky enough to have Eric, a student from New York, who has been all over the Middle East the past two years take me out for dinner and show me around a bit. We walked about 30min to a fish shop where we got fresh shrimp, which the picked and cleaned in front of us. Then we brought the shrimp next door to a restaurant (unaffiliated with the fish shop), where we had it prepared to eat. We had half the shrimp "fried" (not gross greasy style" with some type of seasoning and the other shrimp was cooked in this tasty red sauce. Along with this we once again had tea (shaee in Arabic), and oh is it good. To eat the shrimp we used flat bread like usual. After dinner we headed to Tahrer where I am now and got gelato for dessert. Eric also pointed out different things to me, one of interest was a honey shop which is on the US terrorist organization list for supposedly funneling money to Al-Qaeda. Who would've guessed? He also showed me the gym where he runs everyday. It is walled so he runs around the inside perimeter of the wall, about 400m. I don't know if I'll be doing that because its 15,000rials a month to belong (75 bucks) and I'd probably go only a couple of times a week. Before heading home I bought oranges (bortuqal), bananas (mouz), and water (ma'a) for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Woke up early this morning and ventured around Old Sana'a. I couldn't find my way to the Baab Al Yemen (door to Yemen), the front gate of the city, so I was pretty bummed that I couldn't even get to the main entrance of the city I am living in. The Old City has a huge wall around it so there are certain points of entry, thus I felt like an idiot I couldn't find the main gate. It is tough though because the streets are very narrow, winding and the buildings are pretty similar. Plus the fact that my Arabic is still limited and on top of this everyone stares at you everywhere you go, making you feel like even more of an outsider. Luckily, when I arrived back to my "dorm", Amin, one of my teachers who lives in our dorm was there and offered to show me around a bit. So he took me all around. Then for lunch I was fortunate once again to get invited to another feast. This one was hosted by Mohammad (different one from the one who works at the school: it is quite a popular name), who had a bunch of students over. Once again we sat on the floor of a room and ate exorbitant amounts of food. It consisted of many of the same things as yesterday. I've noticed to that Yemenis LOVE HONEY. Once again we had fried bread with honey on top and although it was supposed to be for desert, the Yemenis ripped into it about half way through the meal and devoured it. It is like a natural aphrodisiac for them. After lunch we headed up to the mafraj, on top of the house. It has windows on all sides, with the perimeter surrounded with sitting cushions. You can see the whole city and mountains because it is at the top of the house, plus it is ornately decorated. I'm definitely adding a mafraj to my house someday because they are comfortable and beautiful. Up there we sat around and talked. I got to meet a lot more of the students from CALES. This helped to raise my spirits. The only upsetting thing about lunch was that Mohammad our host explained to us that he was a good man, not a terrorist, and that Yemenis were good people. I felt bad that he felt the need to defend himself b/c I would like to believe that the students at the university are open minded enough not to stereotype the native people. Other than that lunch was tremendous.

Shortly after lunch I was invited to play football (soccer for you Americans) with a bunch of the guys from the school. We took a bus (dabaab) to an outside part of town where there was a full sized dirt pitch. We had ten guys, three Brits (Calum, Ryan and Alex), a german (Ben), a Chinese (Tim), a Frenchman (Gillam), a Spanaird (Sergio), a Dane (Tommy), and two Americans (myself and the crazy hidden sheik, Dan). We played a official Yemeni team and there coach reffed. It was pretty official. We had two halves and played full length. The field was dirt, so it was not to great a surface because the ball bounced all over and you were constantly slipping. In the end we ended up winning the game 7-6, even though the Yemenis were much better than us and probably out shot us 40-10. There was quite a crowd by the end of the game also, hanging around to watch the foreigners play. The only reason we won was because at halftime we got a good Yemeni striker who scored three goals for us and because our goalie used to play semi-pro in Ireland and their goalie stunk. Around halftime it dawned on me that this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Sitting there, playing football in front of 150 Yemenis, on a dirt field in Sana'a, at 8000ft, with the mountains providing a serene backdrop. As for myself, I played pretty well considering I haven't play in so long, plus the altitude was burning up my lungs. I also took a nice digger which tore up my right knee pretty good. Today I can barely walk I am so sore. Next Thursday we have another organized came against another Yemeni team.

Then last night I went to a Yemeni hotel for dinner with my new friends Tommy, Calum, and Ben. They had all types of food and I actually got spaghetti and meatballs, haha, and it wasn't too bad. After dinner I picked up a key essential, toilet paper, and got some delicious fresh mango juice for the equivalent of 20 cents. Before bed I had a very interesting conversation about politics and religion with Amin. He is a Sunni Muslim and it was great to hear his point of view on different topics. For instance we were talking about Sadaam Hussein, because in Yemen after his execution he has become a popular figure. Everywhere you go there are posters of him, I'll make sure to bring some back. Anyway, Amin was saying that most of the Yemeni's look up to Sadaam because he did not flee Iraq when it was overthrown and he showed pride and gumption by standing his ground after he was arrested and put on trial. Amin though said he deserved to die because he didn't repent for his sins before he was killed. Thus he committed haram (sin) and was a non-believer so he deserved to be executed. Personally I think the Yemenis also like Sadaam because his daughter wanted to have him buried in Sana'a. Anyway, I could talk forever about what Amin and I discussed but do not have the time or patience. Maybe another time. I can tell you that he is a devout Sunni and truly dislikes Shiites.

And now, on to today. I had my first class this morning, two hours, one on one with Amin. I learned more in those two hours than I learned in a month in the States. Right now I can go out and carry out a basic conversation, order food, and little things. I think my arabic skills will improve rapidly though because I am constantly using them. After class, I went out to eat for the first time by myself and had no trouble ordering my food. I got a half of chicken, rice, vegetables and tea for about 2$. Then I had the gratifying experience of helping a fellow American tourist order his meal b/c he did not know any Arabic. I talked with him after and he was here for some conference for a couple of days. That brings us to the present.

Now for the miscellaneous:

Driving in Yemen is insane. There are no lights, or traffic patterns. The cars and motor bikes go everywhere. I have already seen two accidents. I worry most about the little children you are constantly not paying attention and run in front of the impatient/hostile drivers. Not to mention that cars do not yield to pedestrians so you have to constantly keep your head on a swivel. Most of the cars are old and beat up but run okay. The motorbikes are the most annoying because they come flying around blind corners. Horns are like the national anthem of Yemen. It is one big cacophony of horns and people yelling arabic.

The call to prayer at 5am is loud and annoying. Every morning the mosque down the street has speakers which blast the "call to prayer". So pretty much, at least for now I'll be waking up around 5am, and then attempting to go back to sleep. Most of the Yemenis pray five times a day. The other day I went by the mosque at 1pm and they were all lined up with the prayer lines on the street facing mecca praying. A pretty awesome site. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed in the mosques because I am a non-Muslim.

Overall, people have been very friendly and helpful. You get many stares when you walk around but that is to be expected. The Yemenis are very honest and so far no one has tried to rip me off. Only twice have I had "altercations". Once walking home a child was telling Eric and I, "shame, shame" and then the other day we were playing football in the street with the kids and I man came up and kicked the ball away. He said we weren't allowed to play on the streets and told the kids they should be ashamed for playing with foreigners. Other than that though everyone has been helpful and friendly. I like talking to the children because I can carry out basic conversations with them.

Oh, I also say a man swing his jambiyya (traditional Yemeni dagger which is worn tucked into the belt) at another man in a fit of rage in the Souq (market) the other day. He missed though and then was restrained. Exciting stuff.

That's all! Ha,ha! Now I am off to the supermarket so that I have food at home so I won't have to go out to eat all of the time. I apologize for what I may have forgotten but I'm doing my best to give a detailed account.

Good luck to the Bobcats in MD.

Much love to my Family and Friends.

Hopefully I'll talk to you all soon. Inshallah (god willing)