Sad camel in a sad city.

Sad Return to Yemen

Returning to Yemen, in particular the Old City, is a sad thing these days. The traditional gardens are dry, shops are hurting as there are no tourists, and there are few tourists and visitors because much of the Old City is riddled with painted slogans and banners announcing a mantra heard years ago in another country of the region--death and destruction. Very sad!

The ICRC in Yemen

The ICRC in Yemen works with various levels of conflicts. Here's the story of one of its team.

http://vimeo.com/45068341

Ah Yemen, the real Arabia.

Boxes of Corn Flakes

So these boxes are not identical but the lady is. As you can see one box is censored and the other is not. Both boxes were bought in the same country. Why the censorship?

Camels in the Distance

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.