Cinderella

It's not everyday when you meet some named Cinderella, but it happened today. Today, my friend Paul and I went to the Stone House, one of the more famous sites in all of Yemen. It is a house built on top of a rock. While there, we met a woman from Holland named Cinderella. She said her parents didn't know the story when they named her that. She was an interesting woman, who is now spending two years travelling around Africa and Asia. Seems like a pretty good way to spend time. We ended up sharing a taxi back to Sanaa and had lunch together. Just another interesting person on the road of life. I am really looking forward to getting home soon, but the thoughts of travelling the world for a good long while seems so appealing. Good luck Cinderella.

My brain hurts

It is hard to believe that my course is almost over. I think I have actually learned a lot. Perhaps too much. It is all going around in my head too fast. So I will have to review more when I get back to Kuwait.

When I came to Yemen I thought I would take a six week group course, but since I was almost a beginner they put my into a three week private course. Same material, but less time. It has been intense, but at least I am the only student, so when I mess up (if you can imagine such a thing) or am slow, I am not holding anyone back.

I thought about taking another three week course, but have decided against it for two reasons: 1. My brain is already too full and is starting to hurt;

2. Yemen is actually kind of boring (and I will scream if I have to eat more chicken or beans);

3. I have a ticket booked to Thailand in about three weeks. So I think I will just go home to Kuwait and relax in the 47 degree heat. Then maybe on to Thailand. I haven't paid for that ticket yet, so I will have to see what happens next.

Well Yemen has been okay. But Wednesday it is back to Kuwait.

Year of Reading 11: "The Beggar"

I have been enjoying the works of Naguib Mahfouz for some time. This is the fourth novel of his I have read (third this year). This work revolves around the malaise felt by a lawyer named Omar. His doctor recommends he takes some time off, and give up smoking and drinking. So he goes to the beach and tried to rediscover himself. In this he is unsuccessful. The on his return to Cairo, he starts many affairs with dancers and bar girls. He still doesn't find happiness. By the end he leaves his family, restarts he career as a poet, reflects on the nature of the sunrise, and finally isolates himself in a garden, where he perceives outsiders as mere illusions. In the end he is being rushed off to the hospital with a gunshot wound, but he still believes that it isn't real.

I was really surprised at the Buddhist aspects of this novel. Omar's journey seems to be modelled on Prince Bodvistatha's. Considering this is coming from an Islamic country is more shocking, but it seems that Mahfouz was actually quite "with it" when it came to his analysis of the world.

The good and the bad

I guess I have been here long enough to start making observations. So here is a list of good and bad things about life in Yemen.

Good:
1. The weather is wonderful. Cool every day. I wish I could send it to Kuwait. Then I would never leave.
2. The juice. The fruit juice scene is here in a big way. Everywhere you go you can have a wonderful glass of something.
3. The architecture is to die for. The old city of Sana'a is a UNESCO protected area and is a site for sore eyes.
4. Cheap internet. Since there is really nothing else to do except eat beans and chicken, you might as well search online. Two hours will set you back a buck.

Bad:
1. Every man is high on qat. For three to five hourse everyday, it seems like every man in Sana'a is slumped against a wall with a big wad of qat in his mouth. This average joe spends anywhere up to half of his daily salary on his chew.
2. Where in the hell are the women? When you see them they are covered. Mostly they are hidden away behind walls.
3. Aren't there any condoms in this country? There is a plague in Yemen worse than any biblical locust plague. I am talking about the children. For fuck sake, strap on a rubber or get yourself fixed Mister. Of course wearing a condom would cause the average joe a loss in sexual pleasure. But it couldn't be any worse than cutting off your daughter's clitoris.
4. The food. You want to eat beans or chicken? Those are pretty much your only choices here. The bread that comes with it is good though.
5. The pollution (noise and trash). Yemenis seem to share the love of pollution with the rest of the Arab world. What great fun it is to drop your trash wherever. And if you want to yell at your buddy in the middle of the night feel free. Who cares if you wake up half of the neighborhood.

Stupid Numbers

Numbers in Arabic are starting to kill me. There are so many different forms. Aargh! I just want to say "wahid" and forgetaboutit. But I guess I will have to keep plugging away. Today's lesson was intense. I did really well last week, relearning everything I already knew, but now the material is new so it is definitely getting tougher. I must go home and study.

The problem is: I can smell chicken. I must say I really like eating the chicken here. There is a great restaurant up the street called the Palestinian Restaurant. For a few bucks I can really fill up. Let me think about it for a minute. Okay, that's what I will do.

So let me eat and then crack open the books. But of course, I might want to wash off (or at least lick off) my fingers first.

Cheerio

Year of Reading 10: "Descartes: His Life and Times"

One of the best parts of my job in Kuwait is the fact that I get to teach Philosophy. Considering I only took two classes at university, this is pretty amazing. I have been teaching the subject now for two years, and while I sometimes have to let another teacher teach another section, I guard my turf pretty severely.

Of course, by teaching this course, the administration assumes that I know what I am talking about (the fools). To make sure I really do, I get to read Philosophy books from time to time. The first one I have read this summer is a biography of Descartes by A.C. Grayling. I really enjoyed this book, particularly all of the side histories that were taking place during Descartes' life. I got to read a little of the Thirty Years War, the Fronde, learned about Jesuits and Galileo, and the slight masculine Queen of Sweden. I also learned a little bit about Descartes, though to be honest, not a whole lot of his philosophy.

Of course, I already know a bit of his philosophy. Descartes is most famous for writing "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"). I get to teach about this every year. Descartes was trying to prove his own existance, and ends up also proving the existence of a loving God. His argument isn't the most modern, though he is considered the father of modern philosophy.

One thing I liked about the book was Descartes exploration of the issue of happiness. He compared different types of people and their potential. Even though some people have less potential than others, this doesn't mean that they can't be as happy. As Descartes says: "A small glass can be as full as a large one."

So if you'd like to learn a few things (and who wouldn't), check out this work.

There is just something about me and books...

Today something totally unexpected happened: I found some English books! Okay, so that is not the most amazing thing in the world, but I was worried I would run out of books. Usually I take too many books on vacation, but this time I decided to just take a few. Well the way I have been reading that means I would run out before the end of the summer. I went to a few bookshops here but they mostly sold things like abridged versions of "Little House on the Prairie." I wasn't that excited about learning more about Laura Ingalls and her family.

Today after class, I went walking past the bus station (on my way to the internet cafe). There was a bookstand there. I found some amazing old books. I ended up buying a history book by Barbara Tuchman. I already have a copy of it in Kuwait, but I will donate the one I bought to the library when I get home.


Then a man pointed me to this little shed that had even more books. There were quite a number of intriguing ones there. Too bad there were really any about Yemen or the Middle East. I was hoping to find more of that sort of thing here.


Class went well today. I am learning to tell time. Let me tell you it isn't easy. My teacher thinks I am progressing nicely though, mostly because I have been relearning stuff I had already learned on my own. Tonight I have a lot of studying to do.


In other exciting news, I almost finished the biography of Descartes I am reading; I talked to my friend Paul about religion; I did laundry (missed a dirty sock), but the power went out halfway through (the power does that around here; I missed the ending to a really bad police drama the other day); and I ate some Indian leftovers from yesterday. All and all it was a pretty awesome day.


Cheerio.

Noses and noises

Hey no more bloody noses. I guess I have finally gotten used to life at 22oo meters. So I won't complain about my nose. I will complain about the noise though. If there is one factor that united all Arabs, it isn't their religion or language, culture or heritage, it is their love of making noise at the most un-Godly of hours. I can sleep in the hours when the kids and adults stop yelling (1 or 2 am sometimes) to about 7 or 8 when it resumes. Everywhere there is noise. A friend of mine who is moving to Thailand admires how the Thais are so quiet. I do too. I don't understand why people need to yell.

In other news, things are going okay. Yesterday I bought milk and then this morning I made myself oatmeal. The was a nice change. The other housemates are all pretty nice, but the Nigerians are quite dirty. They throw food on the floor and never clean up. It looks like they might soon be kicked out of the house. They are trying to get jobs here as soccer players. They might be great at that but they will never excell in the world of cleaning up after yourself.

The house also has a cat. It is a little weasly thing that likes to attack. Kind of cute though. I have been thinking of a cat curry for sometime. Yummy.

I need to figure out how long I am going to be here. I guess I should decide in a couple of weeks. I have a ticket booked to Thailand at the end of July, so I might take it. It is nice here, but I really wouldn't mind seeing women out in society, as opposed to being completely covered in black. Just not my style.

Well here is to a good night's sleep. I hope I can get one tonight. At least I have some earplugs.

One week into a vacation

It is hard to believe that I have only been on vacation for about a week. Seems like so much has happened in that time. Of course being in Yemen might have something to do with all of that. It has been fun here so far, though I have come down with a little cold. Yesterday I started to get a headache that lasted until today. I was supposed to go on a trip, but just wasn't up for the four hour drive. Instead I relaxed today. I was able to hangout with some of the other fellows who leave in the house.

We have an interesting group in the house. Two men are from Nigeria. They are trying to sign contracts with some of the professional football clubs in Yemen. There are quite a few Americans in the house as well. Many of them are university students, but a few have just decided to take a year off to study Arabic. I wish I could include myself in that number. It would be nice to take some time to just enjoy life. I guess that is why I have summer holidays. One of the more interesting people in the house is a man who actually went to school near where I grew up. He is on a spiritual guest of sorts. I admire his effort.

I found out when I arrived the custom's officials thought I might have been a terrorist, because of my beard. All of the kids asked me what I am: Muslim or Christian. I try not to tell anyone. A lot of people have beards though so I fit in.

A few observations on Yemen: the people are very friendly. They really like to eat chicken and chew qat. They spend more on qat than chicken. Qat is a drug, mild like coffee, but the average Yemeni supposedly spends about a third of their income on the local drug. The men sit around in a daze with a big wad in their mouth (actually the man next to me has one in now). It makes it look like everyone has stuffed their mouth with cotton because of a toothache. I said to one of the students: "It is so weird to think that people are sitting around chewing leaves." He saw the irony before I did, since so many Tennesseans chew a big wad of tobacco.

The weather has been lovely, nowhere as cold as the BBC webiste led me to believe. Fortunately I don't have to lug around my sweater and jacket.

Arabic study has been fun. I have a two hour private lesson per day, five days a week. It is fun to interact with the locals, though my language skills leave something to be desired. I have been able to interact a bit. Fortunately everything is cheap and people are very friendly. I can even get mango juice ( a big glass for fifty cents).

The school seems to have about 30 students a current. Many of the women are veiled or wearing a hijab. I have only seen a few women around town not covering their hair. It has actually become someone normal to see these black ghosts floating by.

Well, now it is time for me to go and eat some chicken. I can already smell it across the way.

Masalama.

Jojo the Blind Dog

Last night I had a dream about a blind dog named Jojo. It goes something like this.

I was walking in the countryside, near where I used to live in Blue Springs, between the train tracks and the building that was forever a mystery. All at once I come across a dog. His tag read Jojo and he was blind. He seemed to be a nice dog. He was very friendly and needed company. Jojo's eyes were missing. He had pink cuts where they should have been. I petted him for a while and then I went on my way.

Later that night I met a woman (two people actually). They ran an animal shelter and were looking for their blind dog Jojo. He had gotten out of his room when a cat was taken out. I immediately knew I had to go to the spot where I had seen Jojo earlier. When I arrived he wasn't there.

When I got there, I couldn't find Jojo. Then in a scene reminiscent of a CSI investigation, I discovered that someone was shipping something out of the country. This mystery person was also sending a lot of meat as well. We discovered that a Korean had caught and killed Jojo and was mailing him home to eat.

I could have helped Jojo when he was lost but I failed to. That is the story of Jojo the Blind Dog.

Year of Reading 9: "Parting the Desert"

I have now read two books about canals! I don't know too many people who have done that. This one focuses on the building of the Suez Canal, by Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1869. He also tried to build a canal in Panama but wasn't successful.

I was really surprised at how the British viewed the canal. They really didn't support de Lessep's efforts; but then took over the canal in 1882. Thieves! Or just being British. Americans aren't as good at exploiting the world as the British were. Britain, of course, used the canal to take over most of Africa and Asia. De Lesseps thought he was uniting the world, not allowing one end to conquer it. In the end the canal went back to Egypt. Since then the use of it has really

declined. One wonders if it will still be being used in a hundred years.

The book was not such a bad read. Slim, yet it contains a lot of information that is intriguing and fascinating. Something to carry on a trip overseas.

Of course, now I wonder if I have enough books for my remaining time in Yemen.

Greetings from Yemen

Well I have arrived. I am now in Sana'a, a city that was founded by one of Noah's sons after the Great Flood. (Or so the story goes.) I am living in an old house in the Old City. I am really near the New City (that is where I am now). The Old City of Sana'a is a United Nations protected site. It is like walking in a museum. So much history all around me.

Started my lessons yesterday. I am in a private course (not my original intentions), so I have two hours of lessons a day with Badi'a, a rather nice Yemeni gentleman. Yesterday was mostly review but I found it a little stressful, since I have never had an ear for language. I was also very tired yesterday since I live in a building surrounded by noisy children. Last night I slept well, though, since I had earplugs.

Most of the women here are completely covered except for their eyes. I don't know if this makes their eyes more beautiful but they really seem to be beautiful. I met a student who goes to a Yemeni art society. He said the women there were uncovered. So I look forward to seeing art and faces.

Well I must run. I have class in about an hour and must buy some mango juice before that.

Year of Reading 8: "Sugar Street"

There are certain advantages to having the temperature go over 110 F. degrees. One of them is reading opportunities. Yesterday, I needed to read 145 pages in "Sugar Street" to complete the Cairo Trilogy, so I read 145 pages. It is not like I wanted to go outside into the oven.

I wanted to finish the Cairo trilogy before I leave for Yemen in about four hours. "Sugar Street" focused more on the grandchildren and their loves and lives. The patriarch is in decline and no longer dominates the story.

This trilogy was really wonderful, since it focused on so many great issues of life. I learned more about the Middle East than from many history books. Again if you have the time and patience to read all 1313 pages I highly recommend it. If you read thirteen pages a day you can finish in 101 days. That doesn't seem to bad when you put it that way.

Well I will write more from Yemen. Have a lovely summer. Today the high in Sanaa will be a lovely 78 F. Of course I have to pack a sweater since the low today was 39 F.

Year of Reading 7: "Yemen: The Unknown Arabia"

I have been thinking of going to Yemen for some time. I bought this book about two summers ago, but finally starting reading it in earnest recently. The author has started writing a series of books on Ibn Battuta, one of the world's greatest travellers. I might read the second of that series this summer. His book on Yemen is a more personal fair, though, since that is where he has been living for some time. This work is quite fascinating. Mackintosh-Smith is a new type of travel writer. He doesn't tell you as much about where he is going as what you learn from where you go. This book has an amazing series of fables and histories about the land that he has come to love.

One of the stories I particularly liked was about a race of one legged, one armed men, who the people in Yemen ate. This race of people wasn't particularly smart, and were easy to catch. One day three of them are hopping along and one of them gets caught by a Yemeni man. The man starts to cook the one legged man and his two friends watch him die. One of them calls out to the other: "At least they didn't catch me." Since he is so dumb he has revealed his position and is quickly caught. The third one watches his second friend being cooked and says stupidly "I'm glad they didn't look over here." The book is full of little amazing stories like that. Quite enjoyable. Makes one want to learn the language so I can enjoy these types of tales.

Reading it will hopefully enhance my trip to this land. I can't believe I leave in only six days. It used to be weeks. Now mere hours. Must say, I am getting a little nervous. I look forward to the experience though.

The End is neigh (of the world that is)

A couple of updates:

Thursday breakfast might be on next year after all. The cabinet approved the new weekend but the Parliament is wanting a study to be done. They said that Kuwait doesn't need to imitate the Jews on their choice of weekend. (They also mentioned how it might affect the traffic, which is somewhat more sensible than blaming Jews for everything).So I might be enjoying scrabbled eggs and olives on the morning I have gotten used to in these four years, not a Friday. That would just feel weird.

Another shocking development is the rain! It is June 1st and it is raining in Kuwait. That is why the world is coming to an end. This weird weather must end. But it is nice to be a little cooler, though I think the humidity will be hell tomorrow.

Tomorrow I have an IB breakfast for the seniors, so I won't be in school until about 10:30! Sweat. We had the Senior Tea the other evening. There were fewer tears this year, but the seniors were happy to be finally almost graduating. I am happy for them. I taught so many of them these last few years.

Also today I picked up some old shoes. I had them resoled. With the trip to Yemen and today's rain the timing couldn't have been better.

Well have fun.