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!‎

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.