Sunday, March 05, 2006
Yesterday was English Tom’s 24th birthday and his third in the Middle East. He leaves for England in about seven days now and as part of his final testing, his instructor went with him to the souq and had English Tom barter for a jambiya (which is a decorative knife worn by Yemenis).
Somehow his instructor had cajoled him to bedeck himself in full Yemeni regalia on his birthday and to wear it for the entire day. English Tom asked me to lunch that afternoon and I’m assuming that wanted me as his security blanket as he felt a little conspicuous. He complained often on how everybody thought it was funny to take the piss out of him, but I think he privately enjoyed the attention.
Of course, like any Englishman worth his salt, he had prepared for a big booze-up in the mafraj. I donated 3,000 riyals to the cause and he even managed to convince the female students to cook for the party. After securing a couple bottles of gin and vodka, English Tom was set.
Now, alcohol in the mafraj isn’t technically permitted at CALES but we weren’t worried that staff would come up to see what was happening due to the fact that the staff assiduously avoids the mafraj. I think it has something to do with the male and female students utilizing the mafraj at the same time. I’m pretty certain that the mundane conversations that take place between the male and female students is viewed with the same disapproval as if orgies were going on (they aren’t, btw).
Andrea managed to procure some birthday balloons and a string of flashing lights and the food was surprisingly good. Aussie Girl somehow got a head start on the drinking and seemed pretty well lit by the time everybody else got their drinks. Around 9:00pm, English Tom poured Aussie Girl into bed as she had begun flopping around like a fish even though we stopped serving her at 8:15 or so.
Three students have come down with an illness of some sorts. My friend Evan got sick almost a week ago, then about three days ago Aaron became sick. This morning Andrea was complaining of chills. I think Evan’s illness may be unrelated as his symptoms appear to differ from Aaron’s and Andrea’s.
Today Evan had finally had enough and went to the Yemeni-German Hospital to try and find out what was wrong. About four hours after he left, Evan came back to describe his experience. The appointment consisted of some blood drawing and a, ahem, stool sample.
So, they hand Evan a cup and told him to go into the bathroom and get busy. The first thing that Evan noticed was that there was no soap in the bathroom. The second thing he noticed was that there was no light in the bathroom. Now, one of the symptoms of Evan’s sickness is uh… loose stool. So here is a guy with loose bowels, in a bathroom with no light, trying to crap in a cup. Oh yeah! The kicker, according to Evan, was when the guy escorting him around the hospital shook his hand right after he came out of the bathroom.
Evan has started taking some antibiotics that they gave him before he left the States and thinks it is helping. Personally, I plan on not getting sick.
Earlier in the week when I went with Evan to look for Pizza Hut, we stopped by the Shumaila Hari Supermarket on the way back. For the past few days I’ve been eating Fruit Loops and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – Yeah baby!
It’s not that I have a problem eating Yemeni dishes; it’s just that it is a pain to go out every time I want something to eat. I still average about a meal a day at a restaurant. Eating out is cheap depending on what you order and where you eat. I usually get a half order of chicken with rice or hummus, some bread and a Fanta Orange to wash it down. The cost averages about 360-400 riyals (or about $1.90-$2.10).
If you order meat, you have to be careful to specify that you want beef and not goat or you’ll end up paying more for that little privilege. If you order chicken, you have to specify how much of the chicken you want. I find that a half order of chicken and some rice is more than I can finish.
Since most eating is done without utensils, I lick my fingers every so often to get the majority of the grease/juices off and then tear off and eat a piece of flatbread, which has the effect of cleaning off most of the remaining junk from your fingers.
Monday, March 06, 2006
This morning Evan and I woke bright and early so that we could head down to the local clinic and have our blood drawn for the monthly AIDS test. They let me give them about $30.00 for the peace of mind of knowing that I don’t have AIDS.
The clinic was beside the Kuwaiti Hospital and although it seemed rather basic, I didn’t get the impression it was dirty. The nurses spoke to me in English and they did a better job of drawing blood than the nurse at my doctor’s office did right before I left for Yemen. Evan, unfortunately, was unable to have his blood drawn as he did not have the two passport photos that were required.
Evan and I walked back from the clinic and stopped in at an internet café. I tried to Skype Traci but the connectivity was so bad that we couldn’t get through. This was enough for me to get irritated to the point that I told Evan I was going to go buy a cell phone.
Now, I had wanted to make friends with a Yemeni before I bought a cell phone here so that he could help me with the purchase as I didn’t want to pay the “foreigner” price but I couldn’t be bothered to wait any longer. After walking around and asking in my best Arabic “Do you sell mobile phones? I don’t need a new one, just a cheap one.” in about 7 or 8 likely looking shops (of which only 2 actually sold cell phones), I finally found a place that would had one for about $57.00, and new to boot. I even got a one-year warrantee with it! Woot!
Earlier, Evan had told me that one of his Yemeni friends had gotten him a cell phone for $40, and that a female friend of his bought her phone on her own for $120, so I figured my price was in the right ballpark. The other place I found that sold cell phones quoted me a price of $140, so I decided to go ahead and buy the one for $57. Of course, I can’t actually use my cell phone today as my passport is at the hospital where I had my blood test done and they can’t sell me a simcard for the cell phone without my passport.
On my way back from purchasing my new cell phone, I stopped to take a photo of a doorway to one of the Yemeni houses.
Right after I had taken my photo, out popped a cute little Yemeni girl who asked me to take her photo.
That was the calm before the picture storm. I suddenly became besieged with requests to take pictures by every kid in the vicinity. I finally managed to beat a hasty retreat and returned to my room.
One of the additional photos I took of the children was actually worth keeping so that was a nice surprise.
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