upcoming travels

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

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

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.

local chicks and small boy with box

portland visitors

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