28 July 2010
Stunning Photo
I just saw this photo on National Geographic MyShot. It's stunning--I need to convince Tweet to visit this wonder in Arabia!
The Morning After
Breaking news . . . it's a wedding!
Well it’s not really breaking news—this is wedding season in the Arabian Peninsula!
With Ramadan only a few weeks away, there is a rush to tie the knot. Apparently, there isn’t a prohibition on weddings during Ramadan; it’s just not that convenient to arrange.
The season means wedding halls are booked, so what is one to do if there’s no hall available? In Sanaa, Yemen, many families opt for the ultimate block party – street wedding tents. The tents are filled with groups of men who gather in celebration of the marriage by chewing the narcotic leaf known as qat. The tents get really warm but the tents lack the ACs one can find in the resort camp tents in Qatar. Fortunately Sanaa weather is incredible during the summer months when much of the Arabian Peninsula faces extremely warm temperatures. More importantly, Yemeni men prefer warm places as they enter the Elysian Fields of qat dreams. I've been told that the morning after the big chew day, which is usually Thursday, feels like the morning after a heavy metal act!
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| The back of a several meter-long wedding tent |
With Ramadan only a few weeks away, there is a rush to tie the knot. Apparently, there isn’t a prohibition on weddings during Ramadan; it’s just not that convenient to arrange.
The season means wedding halls are booked, so what is one to do if there’s no hall available? In Sanaa, Yemen, many families opt for the ultimate block party – street wedding tents. The tents are filled with groups of men who gather in celebration of the marriage by chewing the narcotic leaf known as qat. The tents get really warm but the tents lack the ACs one can find in the resort camp tents in Qatar. Fortunately Sanaa weather is incredible during the summer months when much of the Arabian Peninsula faces extremely warm temperatures. More importantly, Yemeni men prefer warm places as they enter the Elysian Fields of qat dreams. I've been told that the morning after the big chew day, which is usually Thursday, feels like the morning after a heavy metal act!
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| Inside the Wedding Tent on the "morning after" |
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