Camels and More Camels

So I don't like riding camels but I've ridden them a lot. That's because I like them better than 4WD vehicles!


Kneeling Camel



Camel in Wadi Rum

Old photo of young white camel

My Camel Caveat

There’s one thing I didn’t mention about camels in my previous posts. And that is: I don’t like to ride ‎them! ‎

I got to ride my first camel on an island near the East African mainland. I don’t believe this island had ‎camels until recent history. The long trek up and down gravelly terrain with a camel whose hooves are made for ‎sand was unpleasant. Swaying with a camel that couldn’t easily find its footing through the rocky ‎areas was more than terrifying.

My first camel was a young male that audibly complained without stop all ‎day long. It was the only camel of the tour group of six of us that did this. When we took a mid-day lunch break, it ‎complained even more. I gave the camel to another member of the party and said I’d happily walk. ‎

I next was forced into riding a camel around the Pyramids at Giza. And it was forced. I don’t like the ‎swaying movement but I really wanted to see the Pyramids, not be taken around them like every ‎other tourist. The pyramid security insisted that we arrived too late to walk around even though we ‎saw other walkers and I could have walked faster than the camel who was made to stop by its ‎handlers every ten feet for another picture. We hadn’t requested this photographic service and didn't take any photos. I never got to go inside ‎the pyramids.

So no camel rides for me but I still like camels.

Camel Face Cool

On Lemon

I know a family once attached to American embassies in the Middle East region. They have a great ‎story about what their kids thought about being posted to Yemen just a few decades ago. ‎

Their young son who had trouble pronouncing some letters (like the letter 'y') was overhead speaking excitedly with one ‎of his neighborhood friends while outside in the backyard.‎

Son in a sing-song voice: “I’m going away, ha-ha-ha ha-ha, ha-ha-ha ha-ha.”‎

Neighbor Boy: “Where ya goin’?” ‎

Son: “I’m going to Lemon.”‎

Neighbor: “What’s that?”‎

Son: “I dunno but it’s very far away.”‎

No kidding!‎

Witches and Water

I couldn’t help having visions of bubbling witches’ brew, chanting “double double toil and ‎trouble” as well as Harry Potter and Salem, Massachusetts all dancing in my mind's eye. ‎

Tweet and I had a tame beach visit (no long hikes, major swim workouts), just pure relaxation. The ‎mood fit the hotel’s beach, a well-manicured strip of sand with fairly straight lines bulldozed that ‎morning (and apparently every morning) in the sand. The palm trees were spread out carefully every ‎so many meters. In the distance smallish mountains and sparkling blue water capped the look of a ‎miniature perfect get-away (even with the visible next hotel beach over a fence but not as well sculpted).‎

It was a weekday and no one was out until a young woman dressed in all black of course ‎arrived with her three children. (And yes for those believing folks she styled herself "Ninja Mom.") The youngest boy and girl played right at the shoreline; the oldest, ‎another boy of about ten or so, got to rent and take out the hotel’s jet ski. (I guess the hotel waives age limits for certain families.) He played for about half an hour but wasn’t ‎doing a great job.‎ That jet ski was just not moving very far or even all that fast.

Ninja Mom got up and walked into the water. She didn’t seem to care that her expensive abaya was ‎soaked. She pushed off the boy forcibly from the jet ski. He landed in the water with a stunned look and started to cry. Ninja Mom didn't seem to turn her head a bit at the crying.

Now my attention was really caught.‎

She then got on the jet ski and took off. Her face veil and extra abaya fabric flapped behind her in the ‎wind. Drats! I could have made a fortune selling the photo of a witch on water to Yamaha!‎

Laws of Gravity in Amman

Finally have categorized all my photos from our Jordan trip. Here's one for this post. The laws of gravity are not applicable in Jordan. We have two dimensional buildings (see the last Jordan post I wrote). And now fawcets that suspend from mid-air.

This fawcet was photographed at a juice bar in Amman. By the way, I confirm that there really is water coming out of the spout!

Of Course

Of course, Barbie has a Facebook page. In case you didn't know, here's the link to the wall: http://www.facebook.com/barbie?sk=wall

Banned

The dolls I grew up with are banned in Saudi Arabia. Barbie® dolls supposedly sport too revealing ‎clothes. But more importantly, Barbie can be posed in some “shameful postures”. ‎

Well, umm, I’ve been to some weddings on the Arabian Peninsula that might cause one to reassess ‎the ban. Those long black flowing abayas, undone in the wedding hall of women only, hide some extraordinary ‎bits and pieces of clothing. Revealing is an understatement when postures or dancing are attempted. And I say bits and pieces because that's often what we're talking about even on a designer level.

I remind myself to never knock ‎the abaya again. That abaya may be covering something that should not be called a fashion ‎piece and should probably be banned! :)‎

Change

Well now there is a new interface with Blogger - gotta get used to it. Hope I can post some cool stuff . . .

Inglorious

Inglorious! That's the word some friends of ours used during our couple's dinner date in the fast and furious spaces of Clarendon in Arlington. (The wikipedia article mentions some great Vietnamese eats that sadly have disappeared. Our favorite was Cafe Da Lat and we ate there shortly before it closed. So sad!)

We're back in the States and it feels so strange to see so many young professionals (my mother-in-law calls them yuppies) together on Friday night out. It kind of feels like I'm experiencing college fraternity row extended life! But, I didn't get carded!

Back to the word inglorious. That's the word some friends of ours used when my husband Tweet decided to describe our time out of college in terms of fraction of century. Tweet likes to speak in terms of centuries. I don't know why. What I know is if we were talking about something that happened ten years ago, he'll describe it as a tenth of a century ago. I'd prefer describing the anniversary as a decade but so it goes.

Our friends didn't like the century description but I had to laugh. It's a good way to look at something when you are part of a generation that straddles two centuries - the 20th and 21st!

Yemen's Stories Are Getting Worse and Worse

A friend of a friend of a friend (and that is really how things work in Yemen) shared this video on refugees who have escaped the fighting in the Yemeni province of Abyan.

No one seems to know who is doing what to whom - some people talk about "foreigners" who infiltrated the area, for example. The situation is very confusing, but through it all, my heart goes out to these people. Some years ago we visited the region of Abyan. While it was rural and conservative, the people were still very kind. I can't imagine their feelings now of uncertainty, fear and loss.

Remembrances

One on of our trips to Yemen we carried with us a variety of camping supplies including a hand-crank lantern, a hand pump desalinator, and a pair of toy goggles.

After collecting our bags, Yemeni customs insisted that we open them. They pointed to the lantern and asked what's this? My husband Tweet's response, This is because there is no electricity in Yemen. The customs official looked slighly irritated and then pointed to the desalinator which looked pretty scary since it was a surplus Army stuff. Tweet responded, This is because you have no water in Yemen. Again the official looked irritated and pointed at the goggles. My husband started to say, This is because . . . The customs official threw up his arms and said Go, Go, Go!

Today we passed a store that sells beautiful swords, daggers and small pistols. Tweet reminded me of our trip and said, So this is because there is no government in Yemen, this is because there is no security in Yemen and this is because . . . Go, Go, Go! :)

In all seriousness, we hope those days of humor and understanding return to Yemen and Yemenis again soon.

Civil War Rages in Yemen - Who?

As I mentioned previously we lived in Yemen and learned some things about the people. In this civil war, which I suppose history books will note began on May 23, there are two main sides:

• the President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his supporters (members from his tribe which is based in Sanhan, an area near the capital city of Sana'a); and
• the Al-Ahmars, sons of the real figure behind the presidential throne since 1979, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmar whose tribal base is the populous governorate of Amran (north of Sana'a).

The President and Al-Ahmar belong to the same tribal confederation. They each have adherents from the same tribal confederation. (Please CNN and others stop calling them a tribe; it's a confederation - many tribal groupings.)
This is the most simplistic way to describe the current civil war, which is a power play between these two groups.

Yemen's Civil War

News reports continue to describe Yemen on the brink of civil war. That's somewhat mind boggling. The president and his key advisers just sustained an attack at a mosque in the presidential compound. In any event for those still not convinced that Yemen is in a civil war, please check the Oxford or Merriam Webster dictionaries for a definition of civil war. It's likely it will say that a civil war is when two groups of citizens of the same country are fighting each other.

Before Qatar There Was Yemen

We've lived in Yemen: It's a beautiful country with wonderful people. Today its people are experiencing fear, anguish, and tears. We feel for the people at this time and hope for the best.

New space-time phenomenon, observed Amman, Jordan

I've not been doing a good job of writing lately. I don't think I'm alone as the MENA region is undergoing a lot of change.

Anyway, from our spring trip to Amman Jordan . . .  Here's a new space-time phenomenon. Check out this two-dimensional building! By the way, we found more of these but this was the only sunny day for photos.

There is actually a small store in this building!





A Barbie Room in Paris Hotel Plaza Athenee

I couldn't resist posting this one. I'd stay here for sure!

From Luxury Travel Magazine: http://www.luxurytravelmagazine.com/news-articles/barbie-and-hot-wheels-rooms-at-hotel-plaza-athenee-paris-15776.php

A Wedding Experience

This wedding party was held in a large diwan filled with cushions A relative of the bride walked by a group of us "foreign women." Not too surprisingly, she had an enormous amount of gold. One ‎necklace alone held a round disk the size of mini-CD! 

The relative, I'll call her Fatima for fun, had a lot of hip movement and she appeared to have a lot of ‎other enhancements for the more than full-bodied look. No Barbie for sure, but she was the popular, young third wife, being all of 18 years of age according to her relatives, of a leading businessman and sheikh.

The name Fatima quickly got replaced with "Boo Peep ‎Wanna-Be." ‎Aside from her precious tastes in 21 plus karat gold gaudy (even if expensive) jewelry, she decided to wear a bright pink ante-bellum gown. The hoops were endless and also bent. As she walked by us, Boo Peep's hoop swun upwards revealing her decision to forego underwear. A very icky wedding experience!

Names in Arabia, Part1‎

A friend working in Yemen told me about a teacher whose first name could be translated as the word for death. That’s not a great name and the pronunciation could be made different. The problem is his last name. It translates into the word for worms. Welcome to Yemen, Dead Worms! Again, Tweet does not share my sense of humor on this one.

Yemeni air shipments and CDs

Just heard from a friend who has finished out his consultancy in Yemen. He’s trying to ship some household goods back to the U.S. Nuttin’ doing. Since October 2010, no one is able to send any unaccompanied air cargo and of course airlines won’t take lots of accompanied air cargo even if you’re willing to pay. Someone made the false report that air cargo shipments from Yemen to the U.S. have resumed, but they haven’t. See http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=35634.



So our friend is trying to ship some items ahead to his next destination, Jordan, which is now open for shipments from Yemen. He prepared his first test package including legal software and music CDs. All of the CDs were removed from the package. No reason given but it seems that the shipping companies think that CDs can explode. Well, according to the Mythbusters at the Discovery Channel, it turns out that they can explode--if you spin them fast enough! http://www.powerlabs.org/cdexplode.htm; http://gadgetopia.com/post/2086. Hummmmmm......

Do soap and mullas mix?

I’ve never really thought about soap and mullas before. 

But, while looking at the dozens of options for soap (I think there are more varieties at LuLu then there are in most U.S. stores . . . seriously), I found a simple package of Indian soap called Mullapoo. I love it!

So would this make a good export to the U.S.? This site might have more info: http://panjiva.com/trends/mullapoo%20soap

Sad Friday and Sushi

Overhead: ‎

Narrator: “A woman in our office berated staff about not celebrating the holidays and ‎that included Sad Friday. We couldn’t figure out what she was talking about and told her that the last ‎time we checked there wasn’t a holiday called Sad Friday. So we asked her, if she had the name right.‎

The woman responded and repeated, ‘There is a Sad Friday and we’re not celebrating it.’”‎

The narrator continued: “Do you mean ‘Good Friday’ which is two days before Easter and ‎usually happens either in March or April?”‎

Woman: “No it is Sad Friday and it happens before Christmas.”‎

Narrator: “Sorry but there is no such thing as a Sad Friday before Christmas. We’re all usually ‎pretty happy about the Friday before Christmas because it means soon we’re giving and getting gifts.”‎

Woman: “Yes there is a Sad Friday. I saw many stories about it on the internet.”‎

Narrator: “You couldn’t have possibly seen a real story about a Sad Friday on the internet.”‎

Woman: “You mean that the Internet can be wrong?”‎

Narrator repeated the statement to a round of laughter.‎

But wait! I think that the woman in question must have meant Black Friday, the start of the holiday ‎shopping season. So I guess both were right – just a mistaken translation!‎

Maybe . . . Maybe not. I'll stick to having sushi!

Beautiful and scrumptious sushi dinner! Worth the wait!

The B&B Spin and Why Words Matter

I arrive with Tweet at a wonderful south Asian bed and breakfast that we’ve found online. This trip is our R&R from our home away from home, and it’s a belated birthday gift. We’re the only guests at the small resort on this rainy afternoon.

The hotel manager comes out and as we begin our tour, and immediately tells us about a wedding party, “You know, a local wedding party considered moving in here for the weekend . . . “ The B&B manager pauses (and my face falls), “But I explained to the local family how we had already booked a nice couple in the nicest room at our B&B and that you had requested peace and quiet.”

I process this information internally. “Wow we’re so lucky that he read between the lines of my email inquiry to find a peaceful place,” I think.

Tweet, as always, patiently listens to the manager explain what he did to prevent the other party from booking, and then offers, “Well thank you but you know there is no need to prevent other guests. We like to meet new people. If you want to invite them back, please feel free. Don’t hold them back on our account.”

I think to myself, “Tweet, no! I do want peace and quiet and I don’t want to share this great view.”

The next day a local couple shows up. They look quickly at a room and then leave. We have the B&B to ourselves for the entire five days.

On the day we checkout, we have some overlap with a newly-arrived couple, who look not too unlike ourselves – young professionals who haven’t been outside to much. Out comes the manager speaking in a tone of voice I’d heard before, “You know, a local wedding party considered moving in here today . . . But I explained to them how . . .”

I look at Tweet. He smiles, “You knew, didn’t you?”

“No I didn’t know that I just got a line.”

Tweet says, “Well you felt good. That’s all that matters. And it’s not what’s being said but why it’s being said that matters.”

Dubai Aquarium

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, we've been traveling for the various holidays. One of our recent visits was to Dubai. And we went to the Dubai Aquarium.

That trip was a challenge for Tweet because he doesn't like shopping, and he's not a big fan of zoos (I'm not fond of zoos as well but as far as shopping that's an entirely different story.) We also love to scuba dive and be with aquatic life in its natural setting.

But I do like to visit aquariums - I think this interest must have something to do with growing up with and spending a lot of time at beaches (salt and fresh water).  So we went to the Aquarium and I got this funky photo . . . Thanks Tweet!

Should we enter the tunnel?