Please excuse my typos...
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Today is my first day of class. Jameel told me that he really wants me to study with a specific instructor, but because of his other student obligations, the time slot is from 6-8pm. Supposedly this will only be for a couple more weeks as some of Mr. Ghaleb’s students will be leaving then.
I was lucky enough to get a room in the CALES proper. At least I feel it to be lucky, even with having to use the squatter. Evan explained to me that there is another residence building that actually has Western toilets, but I’ve personally grown quite fond of the squatter. I also won’t have to worry about getting to class once the rainy season starts (it rained yesterday, btw)
I have decided to answer the question of where I am from with:
“ أنا من أمريكا ولكن في قلبي أنا يمني ”
(I’m from America but in my heart I’m a Yemeni)
Why you ask? Just in case. Just in case…
Sleepy Gary – 2, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 2
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Today I set off on my own to find a place to get a haircut and promptly got myself lost. I wasn’t worried as I was sure that I’d find a familiar landmark eventually.
As I walked along I noticed quite a strong police presence which made me wonder if I should have stayed at home that day. Soon thereafter I stumbled upon to gentlemen that I believe said that they were part of some sort of civil defense (don’t quote me on that). What I did understand was that the reason for all the police on the street was that the “president of Palestine” was arriving in Sana’a today. They also shared some of their watermelon with me. After thanking them for their generosity I continued on my way, more relaxed for having found out that the police presence wasn’t a concern of mine.
As luck would have it, I found a barber shop and got myself a spiffy haircut and about ten minutes of conversation practice. After my barber had finished I asked him how much I owed him. Although, I didn’t understand him at first, I realized he was playing the how much do you think you should pay game. I asked him how much the price was normally. He said 500 riyals which I knew was too high so I offered 300, and what do you know, he said okay! To be honest, 300 riyals was still a bit too much, but I did get some conversation practice thrown in there so I figured it was a wash.
The internet café that Sophia took me to the other day is pretty good so I’ve decided to continue using it (plus it’s smoke free). I’ve yet to pay more than a dollar for any of my visits there. I think I’ve been averaging around $0.75 per visit or so. Aaron mentioned that there are some cheaper places around so I may look around for them later.
Speaking of Aaron, he’s found several places that sell DVDs. Of course, they’re illegally copied, but it’s okay because when I was in Korea a gentleman explained to me that it’s not wrong to buy illegal DVDs because the average person couldn’t afford to buy the legal DVDs. I’ve often wondered how much weight that defense would carry in a court of law. Last night Aaron showed those of us in the mafraj the latest t-shirt he bought in Tahrir Square. It had a logo in the upper right corner that stated (in English) the wearer of the shirt was a counter-terrorism instructor. I’m not sure if he plans to wear it, but my money says he will.
Sleepy Gary – 2, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 3
Monday, February 27, 2006
Today was laundry day. Please don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t actually DO the laundry myself – I took it to a laundry that is very close to the school. Six days worth of clothes ended up being 830 riyals, or about $4.50.
I haven’t been very hungry since arriving in Yemen. English Tom says he heard it was because of the altitude but who knows. I’m gonna have to find some food tonight after my class as I met Evan at the internet café and ended up skipping lunch and just getting some juice at a fruit stand instead. It seems that Evan had been violently ill the night before and had no desire to try his luck with food right then.
Sleepy Gary – 3, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 3
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Just down from the internet café I frequent there is a nice gentleman selling sweets; baklava mostly with some other variations – a street vendor. When Evan and I first happened upon him he asked us where we were from and I could visibly see his expression change as we told him we were from America. When he muttered in a somewhat dejected manner that he was from Iraq I understood his reaction.
The irony of the situation was palpable. Here is a man that probably left his country due to the conditions resulting from America’s invasion and he was serving sweets to people from the nation that invaded his country. I’ve decided to make a point of stopping by his stand after every visit to the internet café to buy baklava… an apology of sorts.
Tonight was dinner at the Syrian restaurant (Al Sham I think). Unless you have been to Yemen, you probably don’t realize the significance of this.
Yemen is like no other country in the Middle East. This difference extends to their food. Traditional dishes from the Levantine that normally pop into a person’s head just don’t exist here. Yemenis also tend to eat with their hands and use flatbread to scoop up anything they don’t eat with their hands. Perhaps the sole exception is rice, which they use a spoon to eat. Eating at Al Sharm was a more enjoyable experience inasmuch as we had a full set of flatware and a much larger selection of food (Yemeni meals don’t tend to have much variety).
Towards the end of our meal the owner (who is Syrian) came over to our table to ask us how our meal was and then brought us some dessert and tea on the house. After the more basic experience of Yemeni restaurants, it seemed a luxury.
Speaking of traditional Yemeni food, Evan has been rather ill the past couple of days. We think it’s food poisoning as it began a few hours after we left a restaurant. Luckily I wasn’t hungry and only had a coke. And speaking of coke, I’ve pretty much decided to switch to Fanta soda whenever I decide to drink something other than water. The carbonation from Fanta as compared to Coke or Pepsi is much smoother, in my opinion, when consumed at this altitude.
I think that the food poisoning episode (if it was food poisoning) kind of got to Evan as he was a little down on the Yemeni restaurant scene and was declaring his intent to find the Pizza Hut before the week was out. Not having gotten sick, and having an ungodly ability to eat the same thing day in and day out, I haven’t reached Evan’s level of desire for Pizza Hut but then, I’m not one for turning down pizza if the opportunity arises :)
If you are planning to come to Yemen to study, please don’t bother with an AIDS test as you will just have to get one here (if you are going to study longer than your tourist visa is good for). As a matter of fact, you’ll have to keep getting one for each month that you stay past the time for which your tourist visa is good.
I also have to get a letter from the embassy (due to my need for a residency visa) stating that they have no objections to my being/studying here. Evan has already made that trip and it seems that not only does the U.S. Embassy here in Yemen not care if I live/study in Yemen; they have no clue why the Yemenis want it.
I think that there are currently about 30 or so students studying at CALES. There seems to be a good mix of nationalities. So far I’ve encountered students from England, America, Spain, France, Germany, Australia and Finland. Supposedly enrollment picks up towards the summer months.
Sleepy Gary – 4, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 3
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