The Weekend and Other Miscellaneous Stuff

I'm back,

Hello everyone, I hope everyone is currently enjoying their weekend in the states because mine unfortunately ended two days ago. So, where to begin. Well I've already pretty much filled you in on the game. As for how I played, well not too bad. CALES United only has about 4 players with football experience so we are to say the least not a very skilled team. On top of that I am the only one in shape, so excluding our goalkeeper who is very good, a large amount of the work load is up to me, which is difficult in a game which consists of the participation of 11 players. Anyway I scored our only goal on the penalty, had two shots on net that were stopped, hit the cross bar once and put one inches over once on a free kick. Those shots consisted of about 80% of the scoring chances so you get the point. Hopefully within the next two weeks we'll actually have high speed internet at the school so I'll finally be able to put up my pics. I have a couple good ones from the game. As for the game as a whole it was a tremendous experience. We had another large crowd that was loud and for some reason quite partial to the home side (I wonder why). Plus a couple of my young buddies I met the other day actually came to the game so that was really sweet.

After the game I was incredibly sore but kept quite busy. That night (Thursday) a bunch of us went down the the local souk (market) around the corner from school and watched some of the wedding celebrations which were going on. I pretty much consisted of about a hundred men gathered around (Yemeni women aren't allowed) doing the jambiyya dance about 5-6 guys at a time to the beat of a man playing the drums. Pretty much the men would move around in circles, rhythmically waving their jambiyyas in all directions in coordination with one another. I took a pretty nice video for all to see when I get back.

From the wedding it was off to dinner and then to the Russian club. The "Russian Club" is this seedy little bar inside a compound on the outskirts of town called Tourist City. Yemenis aren't allowed in but foreigners are, a nice double standard. Anyway we (Ryan, Thomas, Daniel and I) headed over there and spent the night American style conversing with one another while drinking numerous whiskey and cokes. Of course we picked the only night of the week when they charge to get in and it was 3,000 rials (actually expensive). Nothing really exciting happened other than us watching bad Russian television shows and probably drinking one too many drinks. I don't think I'll be attending the "club" again anytime soon because I spent too much money and slept in way too late on Friday.

As for Friday, nothing much happened. I slept in really late, then spent most of my day reviewing Arabic, walking around town, reading, etc.

Then the new week started on Saturday (yesterday) which meant four hours or Arabic a day for me from here on out. My first class with Abdul Rahman went well in the afternoon. He is a laid back guy who works somewhere in the morning and then teaches at the school at night. He will be a nice balance to my other teacher, saghreer (little) Amin, who is full of energy. As for my Arabic, I'd say it is coming along quickly considering, even though I get frustrated regularly because it is very difficult. I am able to string together simple sentences now which makes conversing with natives and getting around town a bit easier. With my four hours of class a day plus a good 2-3 hrs of homework, my schedule is going to be more rigid from now on. Pretty much my day looks like this: 8:30am- Wake up, shower 9am- Go to Square for potato and hard boiled egg sandwhich plus tea for (35 cents), 9:30am-10:30am Review Arabic for class . 10:30am-11am- relax (usually means read for leisure), 11am-1pm Arabic class w. Amin, 1pm-2pm= Lunch Time (go out for chicken, rice, bread, veggie dip stuff, potatos in sauce, etc) 2pm-3pm- Do Arabic homework/review, 3pm-4pm=relax, 4pm-6pm=Arabic Class with Abdul Rahman, 6:30-8pm- Dinner Time/Relax, 8-10pm- More Arabic, Yeah, 11pm(ish)= bedtime.

Oh also, this is for Mark Driscoll, the other day I saw a Arabic karate instructional book with Chuck Norris on the front but I didn't have any money! If I see it again I will make sure to purchase or steal it.

To Mio, as for the driving being like NYC cabbies, imagine NYC cab drivers, than get rid of all traffic lights, stop signs, rules of the road/laws, etc and make the road narrow and then you have driving/traffic in Yemen.

Also, breaking news, I gave in and got a cell phone because I was relying on Skype to talk to people on the phone and it turned out to be very unreliable with the crappy internet connection. Plus the fact that everyone in the school has a phone and kept asking me for my # and I didn't have one so it makes it easier to contact my teachers and friends in Yemen. If anyone wants to call me my cell # is (967) 734-737-469, click on the link below and use the third option: SIMPLY and you can get an international calling card for cheap.

http://www.comfi.com/calling-cards/Yemen

Other than that I don't have too much to report at this time. Because I am going to be spending most of my waking hours now in class, doing homework or studying Arabic my life is probably going to become a bit lame, but I will try my hardest to keep the blog exciting and informative.

I hope all is well in the states!

Much Love to All.

Anthony Richard Rivaldo Mahmood Heffron III

P.S.- This is directed to my Father, I apologize for not having impeccable grammar but I am lazy and do not feel like proof reading my blog. Think of it as a whole stream of consciousness type of thing.