oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree...

I just realized I don't know the words to that song beyond "how evergreen your branches" -- Real point. I went to Target last night and bought my Christmas tree for a dolla and a qwata. and also some decorations for half-off as well. Then I took them home, decorated my tree and set it on my television. Hey, i still have most of the Christmas season to enjoy it. (Actually, I might leave it up until Lent)

islam & jerry

So, i'm flipping through the channels and Jerry Springer is on with "Blood Cousins Wed" and I only think that throughout the Middle East it's completely OKAY for first cousins to marry. I mean, Muhammad said it was okay. And then I start thinking of what these people would say/do if confronted with the knowledge that many muslims have no problem with their behaviour. Would they change their minds?

oh what can i say? i adore you.

I slept for 17 hours when I got to STL. mmm blessed sleep!

dubai

So I'm sitting on the floor in the DUBAI! airport. I'm about five hours in to my 42ish hour trip and doing okay. I was going to download podcasts, but either my iTunes is being weird or the network has a block on that sort of thing. But apparently I can still download other things, so that's cool.

My next flight is supposed to leave at 2 am (and it's 2:45 now) so I have a lot of time to do whatever. In an airport. I think that might end up getting old. However there are like fifty terminals in this place.

One of my headphone speakers decided it didn't want to work, so whatev.

I thought my bag was so small that it couldn't possibly be overweight. Oops. I have 45 kilos or so (which i think is near the maximum for international flights, but they also have some kind of weight per bag (i think 23 k or so.) but they didn't charge me extra, hamdulillah! and they didn't check them through to STL. I know I have to pick them up in JFK for customs, but I hope I don't have to hang on to it until I check in to my flight to STL. Not only because it's a lot of stuff but because American would probably try to charge me overweight baggage for an internal flight. Also I was hopeful (but realistic) that I could make it to mass in New York. MMM Jesus!

Also, Am Sayeed was amazing this morning. I came downstairs this morning and went over to the other building to check my email. When I came back, he was standing in the doorway and was asking me about when I was going to leave, and who was taking me. When I explained that I thought Muhammad was taking me he was like "Is Muhammad around? I think he might be in his village." I really had no idea. I talked to Jameel, the director, the week before and he said there would be someone at 8 am to take me. Am Sayeed (who might be as ancient as days) walked over to the other building to see if Muhammad was around.

Of course, he was gone to his village (today is a holiday for ... um... the last british soldier leaving ? mumkin?) and he found this other guy who works for the center to take me. I got to the Airport in plenty of time. no hitches. Mum-taz!

And that brings you up to the moment with me ... sitting on the floor updating my computer in Dubai.

I HAZ TIKTZ!

I bought a rug

and some chocolates.

honesty, of sorts...

I'm not really sure if I should be impressed or offended by shopkeepers here.

A couple of friends & I went into this shop where I had, several months before bought an incense burner and one of them asked how much a simmilar burner was. He answered about 200-300 riyal more than I paid. When I called him on it, he said "yeah, but you must have bought it four or five months ago. Now, there are tourists and everything."

nuns

You know what I love about the nuns? Sometimes they ... (wait. clarification, it's not the only thing i love about the nuns, but it is one of those little things) ... Sometimes they burp during adoration.

I was talking to Arwa today during class, we got started talking about the Bible, so I brought mine down and was showing her Old Testament, New Testament, Gospels. She was surprised that the entire book wasn't just JESUS! I think she felt a little superior that the Quran is entirely directly from GOD! but at the same time, she wasn't condescending. She also was amazingly diplomatic when it came to Jesus. According to Islam, Jesus didn't rise from the dead -- I think maybe he didn't die on the cross according to Islam. I don't remember rightly. But instead of "after he died" she was able to use "after he ascended" or at least that's the translation I'm using with hand motions and all. It was just nice to know that I have a teacher who is openminded, at least in words.

In other news, I bought a new abaya. Diana looked at it before I bought it and agrees that it is beautiful. I'm not sure why I decided I needed it a month before I left, but I did.

a list of vocabulary i am becoming acquainted with through my arabic readings (in english)

thick
thick
tight
thin
thin
transparent
translucent
loose
cover
covering
to cover
cover
cover
to reveal
embellishments
colorful


seriously, i'm enjoying it.

women in islam

I have two hours of class a day right? Doesn't sound like much, but it really can be a lot. I restarted class at the beginning of the week. On Saturday I go to class. My teacher & I do what we generally have been doing. First hour is Al-Kitaab and the second hour is a reading exercise. Well, it's supposed to be reading. I generally get bored with the story about a sentence in and then just go as fast as possible. screw comprehension or vocabulary additions. We got through the first page of a story on Sindibad. And I began stalling. Bringing up just about any subject I could think of to NOT move on to the next page. It's soul crushing.

Finally, I looked at her and I was like "I don't want to read this." (I should probably note that I've gone through about three books, reading one story or so from all of them and finally just being like "No, I don't want to do this.") Seriously, most of the time the stories are okay enough, but I'm not that interested and they are too difficult to do in class with my teacher who doesn't speak very much English. So I ask her if we can read something about Islam or life in Yemen. Because this stuff interests me more than stories that I've heard before in English. She sounds excited and tells me that she will bring something in the next day.

So Sunday comes around and she's brought books from her house. Which is cool. We look through them, and I run upstairs to show her this random book that I bought in a bookstore because it says "to muslim women" on the cover, with a picture of a woman in hijab. She looks at it, reads part of it and is like "yeah, it's good" so I decide to use that one, because then I can feel free to write in it and all that jazz.

And thus we start! We get about a line in and I'm like WHOA! This is amazingly difficult. Especially since (i repeat) my teacher does not speak English very much. So, I stop her, and we agree that I will look work on it at home with the dictionary and come back to class and we can talk about it. She suggests I try to get through the entire section on hijab, about a page and a half. I think "Sure. It might be alot, but I'll get as far as I can, maybe half-way or something"

I go home and start in with the dictionary. After working for probably three or four hours, I am four lines in. I haven't even finished the first paragraph. On top of that, the subject keeps changing back and forth. So, I give up for the evening.

I would like to note that even though it was difficult and a bit frustrating, I was holding up pretty well. I looked up all but maybe 10 words from those four lines and I mostly found all of them (Arabic dictionaries are harder than European languages, I swear)

I think my teacher was a little disappointed in how far I got, but we worked through the rest of the paragraph together and then I went and got it translated with the dictionary. It has some great vocabulary. Though I got a little frustrated when I looked up this word and the dictionary told me it meant "to look up alphabetically" and I was trying so hard to figure out how that fit into the sentence. Trying trying, and I get to class, where my teacher is like "No! That's a name of Satan!" OH! and now the sentences sense!

And suddenly I realized how long this post was. I guess I'll leave it just as suddenly.

too much time with the catholics?

So, I have a tendency to talk about church-y jesus-y things with the foreigners here, right? And thus they find out I'm going to mass. Some of them are Catholics themselves and are like "I really should know where the church is." Some of them are not but think "Damn, it would be totally hilarious to go to mass in Yemen" and decide they want to go with me. And I take them. (for those who might be disappointed in my consent to the latter, EVERYONE I've taken with my has always been respectable. [Besides, going to mass in Yemen is totally hilarious. I mean, it's Yemen.])

Anyway, back to the story. In my time here, I've cycled many people through the Catholic church here. Today, I ended up taking my two house mates. (Though really, I have a hard time saying that I take them to church. Generally word gets around that I go to Mass and they ask if they can go with me. I'm going anyway, so whatev. come one come all. Besides, it makes dealing with the debab drivers easier if there are more people.)

Wait... where was I? Oh yeah, taking my house mates to church. So, they went with me and afterwards, one of the nuns stops me.

nun & dana:
nun: Did you bring your friends with you?
dana: Oh, yeah. I guess.
nun: Maybe you will be a missionary...
dana: I think I would need to become Catholic first.
nun: Oh, are you interested in becoming Catholic?
dana: Uh. not really.
nun: maybe you will. God knows when you will become a Catholic.
dana: insha'allah.

***

the last line was kind of a joke. Though I don't think she got it. insha'allah means "if God wills" and I generally say it to the children if they try to do the conversion speech on me. I generally mean it as an "I will only convert if God literally hits me on the head and says 'be Muslim'" Even then I would have doubts.

So, what I'm saying is that ALL the Cathoics think I will convert. But I don't.

The end.

i want nachos like whoa.

'om sayeed

We have an old man who lives in our building, 'om sayeed. He's rather adorable, as old men are, but really, I don't think he's all there. The other day, after I had come home from Ethiopia and everyone else in my house had left for home or gone on this trip to the Red Sea coast, I came in the building. 'Om Sayeed was sitting in his little room by the door and looking at this piece of bread. When I went in, he handed the bread to me. I was like "for me?" he nodded in agreement. Rather than try to politely refuse, I thought the easiest solution would be to take the bread. "shokran, 'om sayeed, shokran"

And I thought "That's weird. Also what is up his nose? It kinda looks like he shoved some bread up there." and promptly forgot. The next day, I come in the house and he hands me this really large bag of loh. (Loh is a type of slightly bitter bread, like Ethiopian injera) "oh, thank you very much, 'om sayeed" now I'm a little weirded out and start wondering if I need to talk to the director about this.

Thankfully (for me), the girls on the Red Sea trip came back early. Apparently he's been doing that for a while. So maybe it's an Eid thing...

yet another conversation.

I'm pretty sure this was not just random.

isaac: All of the Catholics think you're going to convert to Catholicism.

dana: Not all of them! Diana doesn't!

isaac: Yeah, she does.

dana: NO!

i: Yeah she does.

d: NO! Really? But I don't want to.

i: Well, I don't think you will because you really don't want to, though I don't understand why you don't want to.

d: You know, Merton was totally right -- all protestants have a distrust of catholics, it's part of their religious upbringing.


Okay, so I go to mass, but only once a week. And I go to evening prayer with the nuns, but again, only once a week. And besides. The nuns are amazingly beautiful, you'd want to go to evening prayer with them as well. And I still don't want to be Catholic.

winter?

I'm back from Ethiopia, what a wonderful trip!

It gets dark about an hour earlier here than in Ethiopia, and that combined with the colder weather is making my body feel like it is the middle of winter. All I want is to curl up in a blanket and hibernate for a while. We have this week off of class for eid, so that might be more feasible than it really should be.

ticket reconfirm.

The other day, Henry & I went back to Ethiopian Airlines to confirm our tickets. While I was there, I asked about carry-on restrictions.

dana: Are there any restrictions for what I can bring on the plane?
salesman: You are not going to the US. Bring whatever. You can bring your sandwich.

So, sandwiches it is! I assume that means my swiss army knife and all the liquid soaps i can fit are good to go as well.

two conversations.

some time last week, a conversation with my teacher.

d: yemeni men are ugly
a: No! Not all Yemeni men. Maybe the ones around here, but there are good looking ones as well. Do you want to see a picture of my husband?
d: yeah
a: you think he is ugly.
d: no. but why do Yemeni men have this horrible mustache?
a: men must wear a mustache.
d: why?
a: otherwise they will look like women!
d: You only think that because all the women hear wear face veils and you've forgotten what women look like.

and then this week:
a: when do you go to Ethiopia?
d: next week.
a: oh, you will stand out among the Ethiopians because you are so white, and they are so black.
d. yeah probably.
a: when you come back., you will think Yemeni Men are handsome because they are not as black as Ethiopians.

Kawkab's Mother.

So, Sophia gave me a bag of things to give to Kawkab before she left and yesterday evening as I was entering the internet diwan building, I saw a woman (in niqaab) standing in the doorway of her house. So I think to myself "OH! I can give it to her NOW!" I grab the bag and take it over there, the woman in niqaab is looking in the door, waiting and I'm standing behind her. She turns around, I scare the bajesus out of her. Turns out it IS KAWKAB! I hand her the bag and she is like "Are you busy now? Would you like to come with us Samia's house?" I know Samia, she speaks wonderful English and I'm really not all that busy, so I'm like "Sure"

So we go, and I stay for a while. Best moment of the evening: (arabic in italics)

Samia's mother : Dana, do you speak Arabic?
(simultaneously)
dana: a little.
Kawkab's Mother : NO!

(bold is incomprehensible dialect)
I'm pretty sure after that is an explanatory "every time I try to talk to her in the street, she never understands me! NEVER! I always have to find someone to translate for her! ALWAYS!"

That's just conjecture based on personal experience and how emphatic her "NO!" was because I never understand her talking, she always has to find a 'translator' for us.

But I really like Kawkab's mother (honestly, I have no idea what her name is) She's always very friendly, always tries to talk to me in the street. Once, when I was at her house, I was sitting in Kawkab's room, but she was out in the house, getting ready for noon prayers. Kawkab's mother sneaks into the room and starts digging through Kawkabs plethora of purses. She kept making the "shhh, quiet" noise and motion. Finally she found Kawkab's wallet where she took out all the pictures and showed them too me, giving me names and relationships in this hush-hush voice. It was ADORABLE. Seriously.

stupid shopkeeper.

(arabic in italics)

d: i want a big water
stupid shopkeeper: one hundred ... (proceeds to pull out coins for one hundred forty riyal)
d: uh, no. fifty.
stupid guy sitting outside: sixty
d: no, fifty
sgso: arabs pay fifty, english pay sixty
d: bullshit. bye.

Ramadan Kareem!

Happy Ramadan. Ramadan has fallen, and I'm about to see my first night of it. I was talking to my teacher Wednesday about fasting in Ramadan and Lent, the differences and similarities. Later on, I was talking to one of my flatmates, and I think I am noticing more and more the differences. I mean, Happy Ramadan. No one would ever ever say "Happy Lent" it's not a "happy" time. It leads to good things and celebration afterwards is happy, Happy Easter! no doubt, but Ramadan is a happy time. Every night is filled with breaking the fast and merriment (you know, or so I'm told) Things shut down during the day. While people are fasting, I think it is actually very different from Christian liturgical fasting.

I don't know what that means, but I will think about it more.

Sophia's last day

sophia (via phone): could you go to the pharmacy and pick up a syringe to apply the henna with?
dana : yeah sure.

dana (in pharmacy) : Can I get a syringe?
pharmacist: What size? Three? Five?
dana: Uh... I don't know... big.
ed (to me): dana, you sound like a druggie.
pharmacist: dermal or intermuscular?
dana: i have no idea... the biggest.
pharmacist: I think maybe you aren't using this for it's intended purposes...

ed and i are cracking up at this point. al-akbar. the biggest.

class

So, yesterday my teacher and I put aside the reading book for the second hour and talked for a while. We had a pretty good conversation about hijab. an excerpt: arabic in italics

A: But Christians wear the veil!
d: um...
A: I saw it on tv!
d: arwa, you shouldn't believe everything you see on tv.
A: no. I saw women on tv wearing the veil! (begins drawing picture)
d: well some people do, but ... it's different
A: (finishes picture -- of nun)
d: OH!! okay, but very few, those are special people -- nuns
A: yeah nuns (it should be noted that the root of nun and monk is also "to terrorize")
A: they are very Christian, you are just a little bit Christian.
d: wow.


I suppose in terms of me v nuns I am indeed "Christian qaleela" but in comparison to the unvowed world, I probably hold my own.

sounds amazing.

So, I'm better yo. and seriously craving the haram goodness of a totinos pepperoni dollar pizza with dr. pepper.

dana is

sick. seriously. got the works, stomach, fever, ect. not the funnest thing ever.

a simple list of things i love

(edited and reposted from facebook)

josh.
alias.
osama.
salaam.
cheese.
tall socks.
rachel ray.
alphabets.
the adhan.
my mother.
old people.
butt books.
bob marley.
jesus kitsch.
john wesley.
blue october.
the grimmies.
ordinary time.
surat al-fatiha.
white russians.
regina spektor.
women in hijab.
the middle east.
religious theory.
episcopal liturgy.
nazarene hymns.
elementary math.
the social gospel.
al-lugha al-arabia.
news anchors' ties.
regaining my dialect.
finding english books.
general tso's chicken.
pants-less wonder-day.
burton, who is amazing.
cowboys with cellphones.
things mother kathy says.
being a second floor whore.
josh hugs during the peace.
guy-with-a-guitar type music.

can't get the nuns off my mind.

So, I did go to mass this morning, and I'm glad I did, it was the feast day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who is the patron saint of the Missionaries of Charity (you know, the ones we have here) and all the nuns were there, several have been gone for quite a while on retreats and such -- there are seven in total). There were also quite a few Indians there as well. Afterwards they had a reception, and I was quiet and awkward like usual, though I really should talk to the priest about communion. Because I want it.

And then I took a four hour nap and listened to some of the podcasts I've downloaded recently. And then a group of us went out to Indian food. It was pretty tasty.

The End.

conversation between the oh-so-adorable nun & i

N₁: Do you have class tomorrow morning?
d: No, I have the day off.
N₁: Oh, we have Mass at 7 am, you are invited to come.
d: that's kind of early...
N₁: It will be a good discipline.

later

N₁ to N₂: Dana is coming to Mass tomorrow!
d: I am?
N₁: yes

Seriously, I have class at 10 am, I roll out of bed at 9:57, brush my teeth, throw on the balto and run to class that's downstairs. Also, I don't think they realize how completely unappealing it is to wake up at 6:30 or before to ride in a debab across town to go to Mass when you're not Catholic and therefore can't take communion.

In other news: I'm probably going to Mass tomorrow. Maybe I'll steal some communion.

on sleep.

I finally got to sleep before fajr last night. Three nights in a row of not being able to sleep before that awful horrible screaming mosque began (and subsequently ended) at four thirty or so. mmm mmm sleep. unfortunately, I didn't get my homework done, but it was worth it. Let us see what happens this evening...

simply sunday.

So, I made it out to mass this evening -- after missing three weeks. It was good to go, unfortunately I just don't get anything out of the priest's homilies (which are more of a protestant length). However, on the way out, the bus driver recited the Quran all the way until the turnoff for Hadda Medina (probably 30 + minutes) when everyone else got off, and then stopped after that. So, it must not have been for my edification... Also, we sang Hail Holy Queen, you know, as in "sister act" it was nice.

Other than that, I bought an incense burner and incense today, then I went to find coal but didn't find the traditional stuff, and this shop keeper was showing me this stick stuff that I didn't really want, so he gave me a stick to try. And so I played with that for a while. mmm incense.

Skype.

So, I'm thinking of getting Skype. It's a nifty little program to call people. Does anyone have it? Any thoughts? I've heard from people around here that it is nice, though the connection can be bad.

computer randomness

difficulties involved in hard drive formating in the yemen:

I have my music, hamdulillah! but i'm going to open this document, a nice excel spreadsheet, yeah? and all of a sudden I realized -- no, no you're not going to open that because your microsoft for mac cd is in the states.

Along with that, my iLife is gone as well (granted the only thing I used from iLife was iPhoto, which is kind of important as I still take pictures. Maybe I'll go down and see if they have iLife 08 at some point.

So, that's probably pretty boring. and now you have a slice of my life. boring, yo. it's like life in the states but instead of being able to understand everything everyone says, I can't. oh. and i'm unemployed. but so is everyone else.

i hate stupid people.

in particular, two non-yemeni students at the institute. so dumb.

In other news, the embassy sent several representatives to the institute to talk to the American students. It mostly was about how the Embassy can help, when you should notify the embassy of a status change (marraige, going from student to worker, ect), travel restrictions for embassy employees, ect. I've definitely sat through less interesting meetings and on top of all this, I actually got on the warden's email list. Which is exciting! Or something...

that's about all that's going on with me. Happy Weekend!

SO!

So, [I have no idea why but EVERYTHING I write starts with "So," every group email I have sent since being in the Yemen has begun with this phrase (and most of the other paragraphs as well). It is only because I know I have academics reading my emails that I go back and change it. Which doesn't really explain the quality of the rest of the email, because it's BAD iedon, but I do make the initial effort. -- follow through has always been a personal weakness, though]

But anyway. I have my music back on my computer now, which is fanfreakintastic. I'm currently listening to that (it has been over a month without it) playing snood and throughout that writing this. So this writing will probably be a bit scattered.

Have I mentioned recently how much I love high church? (hint: itsa lot!) Seriously. I haven't gone to mass in three weeks. I considered going today, but then I remembered how much I dislike mass here. I mean the priest is a nice enough guy, I guess but I don't get anything out of his homilies, the liturgy just makes me miss St. Stephen's and it's about 45 minutes away by debab. And I'm not 100% sure I can get there by myself. I should try at some point, though.

felt up.

I missed the chance to slap the shit out of a man today. I was walking down the street when this guy passes me and totally feels up my ass. So, I yell at him in arabic and then my arabic runs out, so I go off in English at him. This guy comes around the corner and I think he yells at the guy, I really hope so. But I left because I was on the way to meet some friends. but next time, I'm totally slapping the shit out of the guy.

simply put:

MY COMPUTER WORKS! ALHAMDULILLA! ALLELUIA!

conversation with the german catholic

"have you read any merton?"
"oh, that's right, you're reading that catholic book. you should convert to catholicism"
"but I don't want to convert to catholicism"
"but you should"
"no, i don't want to. anyway, i go to mass more than you"
"yeah, but we're in diaspora."
"whatever"

anyway, i'm surrounded by catholics.

tourist faux pas

dear tourists,
please don't be an idiot. You are coming to Yemen, remember that when you are packing. I'm not saying that you have to cover yourself from head to toe in black (hell, I don't even do that) but use some kind of common sense!

example 1) I know that nearly-no sleeve bright white top with super-tight neon pink crop pants is a fine "conservative" look in the States, maybe even in Europe, but look at the women around you. If more women than men stare at you, (everyone is staring at you, even this American female tourist is staring) maybe you should reconsider your wardrobe choices.

example 2) Oh, you've decided to cover your head! How very polite of you. However, look to example 1. Are you dressed just like her, but with a headscarf? I know, I know, you're trying to be culturally sensitive, but honestly, you're just being an ass.

example 2b) Headscarf, check. loose, long sleeved shirts and pants and/or skirts check. awesome. However, if your neck is visible because gap between the scarf and shirt, why bother with the scarf? It is ridiculous and pointless, at least in this society.

oh. You're making me want to go down to bab alyemen for some more inspiration. But that will suffice for now.

more computer update!

So, my amazing computer fix! wasn't so amazing. In that it didn't work. I'm still hopeful, I just have to track the right disk down. or get an amazing sister to send me hers. But imma talk to some people and see what they say.

note to my flatmates

a) please wash your dishes in a timely manner. sometimes i like eating at three because i'm too lazy to eat before then, and it's not really a motivator to actaully cook when i have to clean all of your dishes as well. or wash your dinner dishes before going out for the evening. or ... just wash your fucking dishes.

2) please please clean your hair out of the shower drain. eww.

3) who used my razor?! gross. at least have the decency to clean the hair out! double eww.

nabi is prophet.

Rogia: Why don't you love Muhammad?
dana: uh...
R: I love Jesus. Why don't you love Muhammad?
dana: Muhammad was a good person.
R: He was a nabi.
d: mmm..
R: Nabi!
d: Fii islam, Muhammad nabi.
R: tamaam.

computer update.

i have hope
that my computer
will start
while i am
still in yemen.
so excited.
insha'allah
(crosses self)
b'ezrat hashem
hamdulillah
ALLELUIA!
(updates to follow)

Haraz Mountains

I went to Manakha this past weekend (which is still Thursday and Friday). My pictures turned out kinda bad so I might post some later, but it was nice to get away. We went hiking in the mountains for around 4-5 hours both days.

I really don't have anything interesting to say about that.

facebook photos.

If you're interested in pictures, I have some new ones up on facebook. I have come to realize that facebook is so much faster and easier for me than flickr, though probably much more difficult for ya'll. sorry. kind of.

dana is...

wondering if chips (the american ones, not the british ones) count as a meal. Seriously, my eating habits are very bad here. Very bad. But I still have managed to loose about 4 kilos. KILOS! I'm not really sure how that happened.

And while all of my friends are reading the newest harry potter book, I'm not. but then I realize that I would still have to read book six -- which I have only not read out of mere stubbornness. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! 4realz.

Also a matter of stubbornness, I haven't bought that niqaab yet. I forgot how things go here, with every store in sight closing at 1 or so for lunch. and I'm not about to go back an hour later when it's SO FAR away. so far. and the debabs make me want to throw up. no. it's not just the debabs, it's the starting, sudden stopping, possibly riding backwards combined with this nasty diesel and non-diesel gas guzzling car exhaust.

Have I mentioned lately that I seriously hate this place? Because I do. Sometimes I don't hate it, sometimes it's okay. But I don't think I will ever love Yemen. It sucks -- sorry mom, I'm still staying.

And MASS! I'm not really sure why I'm still going. I think I was going because I met a German guy and we went together, but now, he's leaving. I wonder how the nuns would feel if I completely stopped going to mass, but still prayed with them on Wednesdays. because they are amazing, but I just don't get anything out of the priest's homily and I don't take communion. and I'm kind of like "What's the point" at this point.

niqaab.

I went out to Haddah today to this store that I had been to before that had some very nice scarves to check out their niqaab. I found a style that I really liked, but did not buy it then because they did not have the exact color for the little designer tag in the corner, so insha'allah, I will return on Sunday because they are supposed to be getting more in then.

You're probably thinking a couple of things including
a)why do you want to buy a niqaab?
b)um, niqaab style?

so, I want to buy one because they are so pervasive throughout this society that to come home without one would be some kind of cultural oversight. Just like I fully intend to buy a Saleh poster along with a Saddam poster.

and there is totally such a thing as niqaab style. I was sitting on a bus with Ed on the way home from Shibam, and this woman climbs in with two of her children and he was like "I think this is a nice middle class family. look at how well-behaved the children are" and I was like, "no. they're poor. Check out her veil, you can tell she doesn't have money." which is really judgmental and not something I would normally do/think, but Yemen screws with your mind.

The one I'm looking at is ... I'm not really sure how to explain it if you don't know what's going on with the niqaab, so insha'allah, I will post a picture later.

Tourist City.

I went to the Russian Club last night. That is what you think it is. It was a good time. A lot of people from the institute went as well, but that's about it. The drinks were really bad, but it was nice to get out and it wasn't really expensive though I don't plan on going back very soon. There were four connecting words in that last sentence. I should probably go back and change it, but I'm not going to.

hi.

i'm alive, slightly sunburned from my most recent trip to Shibam/Kawkabam/Thula but doing okay. Might be coming down with a cold, but I think I'll survive. Especially since the pharmacy has no difficulties handing out prescription medication with no prescription. :) I think I'll be Googling anything this guy gives me.

wedding update.

So, suck of all sucks, my computer won't start. I have no idea what the problem is, but something about my electronic devices + yemen = disaster.

I ended up ordering a dress for the wedding. I hope it fits well and is not hideous. Acutally, I don't really care if I think it's aweful as long as the Yemenis don't think it's horrible. I'm looking forward to it. Apparently it's like an all day thing where they get the bride all prettied up for her husband and there will probably be gat chewing and shisha smoking and all that jazz. It's an all girl party as well, so the girls are going to be all slutted up. seriously, you should see these dresses. in-sane.

wedding.

So, I got invited to this yemeni wedding. Problem is it's on Thursday and I have NOTHING appropriate to wear. So, I asked my teacher to take me shopping. I was kind of thinking the tailor route, but she took me to these really nice dress shops. But I'm not about to drop 150USD on something i'm only going to wear once and that I probably think is hideous anyway. So, I'm working on another plan now.

nuns.

dana, after mass, back in black hijab and abaya
nun: oh, you look like a nun!
dana: um...
a little later
different nun: oh, you look like a Carmelite!
(now i'm trying to figure out if that's better or worse than "oh, you look like a Yemeni" except you can see my face! I'm going with better)

dana, in the street, in black hijab & abaya, surrounded by children
Edward: you remind me of a school nun, you know, with the all black and children flocking to you....
dana: i am now seriously freaked out.

from the BCP

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen. ~Book of Common Prayer, 323 (Holy Eucharist Rite I)

gat

I chewed gat yesterday with Morgan, John and Bryan, (though Bryan didn't actually chew) on the roof. The process was something like : I walk around the corner with Noah (the American gat addict), who picks our gat out for us. Gat is basically leaves. no. it really just is leaves of this plant, that is supposed to be a mild stimulant.

So, you chew these leaves and then hold them in your cheek, basically all afternoon. and it's not like tobacco that you spit out. so this wad forms in your cheek. and it's kinda gross, really. more so when it's evening and time to spit the wad out. NA-STY.

and after like four hours of chewing this stuff, nothing. no high, no extra energy, nothing.

And then I smoked shisha with the same group. the end.
~dana.

camera update

I broke down and bought a new camera yesterday. So there will be new pictures sometime. (sony, cybershot or something)

sad times, yo.

my camera broke. i'm figure i'll try some "home remedies" i found on the internet, and when they don't work, i'll ask my teacher or someone who's been here a long time about camera repair places in sana'a. here's to hoping.

Catholicism.

Before I came here, I thought a lot about the church/jesus situation. I was very sad to leave my church. I had basically just found it, was finally opening up to people and then, the opportunity came up to come over here. I looked into it and I thought yeah, I can do the Catholic Church, it's basically the same thing, right? and nuns, surely the opportunity to be with saving-the-world nuns will make up for the theological/liturgical/accepting differences between the Catholic church and my amazingly-beautiful-in-oh-so-many-ways Episcopal Church (both particular and world-wide)

And now, now I'm not so sure. Let me start with: I can be extremely shallow when it comes to church. I went to four Episcopal churches in Des Moines during the three months I was there (not counting the Anglican/TAC that I attended pre-moving). I attended all of them twice, except the one I decided was good enough, which I attended thrice.

I really don't have any other (liturgical) options, though I heard about this ultra-protestant one that my mom would probably rather have me go to, but the stories, they scare me. But in some ways, the liturgical route just makes me realize what I'm missing. I miss the "subtitles" I miss the Nicene Creed (they use the Apostle's). I miss a hymnal - words on a screen, not the same. I miss the organ - guitar, not the same. I miss the confession of sins, [especially now that St. Stephen's is using the "most merciful god" (which is my favorite) or at least they were for Easter. Now, I don't know.] I miss hearing things Mother Kathy says. Acutally, I REALLY miss hearing things Mother Kathy says. And the cadence of the prayers is all wrong. (one of the churches in des moines, I decided not to go there because i hated how the priest ran through the Eucharist (rite d) as fast as he possibly could. (I personally don't like rite d, but doing it faster makes it even worse, not better.)

That's probably enough. I'll probably get used to it, I don't really want to, but I do want to continue to go.

And that's that. I swear I'm not miserable all the time, just some times.

Yay for meeting random Americans in Yemen.

Yesterday I went out to eat at this Indian restaurant with Isaac and we took a debab over to the street it was on (which incidentally runs right by the MT house, so I just cut at 40 min walk into ... a whole lot less than 30 min.) But I sat next to this girl, before we got on, I was totally checking out her balto, it was very nice. Afterwards though, I wasn't wanting to move my head because I just knew my hijab was going to fall off, so I didn't even realize that she wasn't wearing the niqaab until she started talking to me in English. Anyway, we hated on the men here and then exchanged numbers. Sweet. Also, the indian food was good. Not spicy, because I just can't take that.

finishing the day

1. run errands with Jennifer
2. curse a lot about stupid yemeni boys
2. walk, walk, blah: CELLPHONE!
3. yemeni boy tries to rip me off. bastard.
3. wash abaya. it's dirty.
4. decide to finally eat something todayt
5. run outside to get beverages
6. come back home, find huge loogie on abaya
7. restart/continue to curse stupid yemeni boys.
8. wash abaya again. g-d-m-f.
9. cook/eat/curse.

that's pretty much it.

if you honk at me i will not get in your taxi.

today i have:
1. gone to the bank and set up an account
2. got lost
3. backtracked to tahreer
4. took a taxi to the blood bank
5. been utterly confused by some girls
6. had blood drawn for a test
7. got so lost i couldn't backtrack
6. finally caved and took a little bus to tahreer
7. was very confused about where in tahreer i was
8. miraculously ended up on a very familiar street.
9. made it home
10. checked my email.

and it's only 12:30. too bad i still have stuff i need to do today.

The mosquitos like me here.

Now, I just need to work on evening out the days. Less sucky ones, more generally okay ones. The past couple have been amazing/generally okay.

I made it out to Mass last night, with a German guy. The priest is Indian, and I think by the time I leave we will have had some very interesting conversations. The nuns were there and they are like "come over any time except between 12-3, we don't receive visitors then", so on Wednesday (insha'allah) I will go after class and find out what all is up with that. I'm very excited.

Today I headed over to the US Embassy to get a letter of no objection to stay in Yemen. The cab driver on the way over ripped me off, and I walked home, which I was intending to do anyway, but it took about an hour. Then to the supermarket (which is quite another walk) with Jennifer, my flatmate. I'm pretty sure I have a sunburn now. I'm so totally not diligent in sunblock application (or vocabulary memorization, or food consumption).

I'm exhausted now, so I should probably go.

i'm still not muslim

So class today was pretty much awful. I am unsure if it's depression, stress (unlikely) or just normal cultural adjustment. Things are a bit better now, but I'm hopeful that by the grace of God tomorrow will be better. Or if nothing else, it will take the wrath of god to make things worse -- which I don't think is upon me. In Surat al-Fatiha (the opening sura to the koran, recited at every prayer, I believe) there is a line, "Show us your straight path, not the path of those upon whom is your wrath" or something similar (this is my memory of a translation or of a conglomeration of translations)

prayer

"put this over your face" "oh, anti jameela"

So I went and played with Yemeni children again today. This time, towards the end, I definitely was asked if I wanted to convert to Islam, (I was asked yesterday as well, but today I was all alone with my 12 words of Arabic-- none of them particularly religious) then why not, then what's this crossing oneself thing, then something about when I, or Christians, or something pray. That one is harder because how do you say, "no, we don't pray five times a day," when, maybe this communal motion is not your concept of prayer. Definitely communal prayer is not five times a day (unless you're a NUN). But for many Muslims (though maybe not here), they go to the mosque once a week, as we go to church. I don't know. I definitely don't know the Arabic for it either.

totally inappropriate punctuation ahead

today: class: colors. sweet.
after class: no eating. because sometimes i'm retarded.
after class: psalters and random updates via computer
after class: "do you want to go play with some children?" "uh, yeah" little children teach me their names and are probably hopeful that i will remember them. poor children. i will try, but names (asma') have never been my strong point. throw in vocabulary...
after class: television and raining.
the end.

Math is like love -- a simple idea but it can get complicated.

So, apparently I haven't been writing about class. I assure you that I have class and I go to class, but let me explain a minute. Class is class. About every other day is completely craptastic and every other day is fine. Today, Grammar. sweet-tastic, let me tell you. I actually like it, at least I like it a lot more than vegetables and speaking in a restaurant. I can get by now with the foods, min fadlek, shokran, and bikam? really. If I tried to use some of the vocabulary they are teaching me, I would get strange looks, and by that I mean even stranger than the looks I get for being a chick in a restaurant.

My teacher is really nice, very patient and always tells me I did or said something "mumtaz" and I don't really believe her ever. Today she was like "and now I will show you how to tell the difference between the dual and the plural because sometimes they look the same but they sound different" "awesome" "what is this?" "mumtaz" "oh, you will get used to it." (flashbacks to math "In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.")

Um... other than that, I'm living off of Dejaj and Biskrem which are, respectively, Chicken and this brand of chocolate filled cookies, along with the occasional packet of chips, or uh... fries

As I stated before, I have found some nuns and in the process, I have arrangements to meet with someone on Sunday and go to Mass with him. I haven't decided what I'm going to do about communion yet. I guess I'll feel that out when I get there, like everything else here.

today (suked)

i bought a balto and hijab today. (that didn't suck) (the end)

revision (aka, not the end): I FOUND THE NUNS! THE NUNS, THEY WORK WITH OLD PEOPLE! NUNS AND OLD PEOPLE! (now, the end)

Chuck Norris can blow bubbles with beef jerky.

okay, i really don't know what it is with the chuck norris facts, but at least they're better than dead baby jokes...

So, it's Pentecost, and I've been missing St. Stephen's. Like, everything. The people, the building, the jesus. And today, a red day. Anyway, I miss you all.

I think I really need to find the nuns. I think they work with old people. nuns and old people! Seriously, people! need. to. find. them.

maybe that's all.

you're beautiful, it's true.

Today, this Noah was in the internet mafraj chewing gat, and so I chewed a bit with him. Damn, that stuff is nasty. I could only take that chunk of leaves in my cheek for like an hour. They say you need to do it several times for two hours, at least (the yemenis do it for much longer, but maybe I'll pass. I'm already freaking out about money. and then I'm like "chill, dana" because really, if it ends up being that big of a deal, I can go home in December, or as many have suggested, teach English. (along with going home, or leaving in some way because apparently, you just need the break)

One of the teachers asked how my course was going. Apparently, it is possible to add more hours if I so desire. However, I think I'm going to take this month at least with just two hours a day. I'll think about adding more hours later.

Learning veggies (gag me with a wooden spoon) fruits (much better) and numbers (much needed!) so far in class this week. (given today is day one of the week, assabt)

Pictures up of a local fruit juice shop, whose love for sadam is apparent in the posters plastered over it. Sana'a is covered in posters of the President, Saleh and Sadam. The due was sure to point out the one of Sadam with his bint, daughter.

I'm meeting some very interesting, nice, cool people. The institute is overrun with Americans right now. Though there is a good European population as well, I honestly have no idea how many people are here now, though.

helen keller's favorite color is chuck norris

So, maybe tonight I was incredibly rude, but maybe I wasn't. I walked around old Sana'a with a girl living on my floor and intended to be all touristic (a word I picked up in Morocco) with the picture taking and then wasn't particularly, but I did get in and ask a couple of shops in the souq to take pictures of their cloth. This stuff is in-sane. It's wildly colorful and be-fuckin-dazzled, yet all you see when people are walking around is black, black, black. Though the cloth seen on flickr is probably more for wedding dresses (where women can be as revealing as they want because men and women have separate wedding parties.) than every day wear.

On second thought, about the touristic thing, maybe I wasn't particularly tonight, but throughout the day, I got quite a few really good pictures. (check it)

Apparently, the other day, I was talking about my old people from work and the girl I was talking (American) with asked about the dialect in Missouri, because apparently I switched to "Ozark" without meaning to or any thought involved. And... that kinda made me happy.

Today, I had class to make up for the missed class earlier this week, then I met this girl headed to lunch with some other people and went with them. Salta again, it is quite good. We went to lunch with two of the professors at the institute, and we were driving back, and then they left and there were three of us girls sitting in the car and a BUS HITS the car. Oh yeah. None of use were able to speak Arabic well enough to this guy (who has a sizable wad of gat in his cheek) to be like "yo, this isn't our car, he said he'd be back in five minutes, but maybe it's been longer than that already" but, he hung around and Lucy went of to find the teacher. In the end, the two shook hands, looked at the scratch and were like "it's okay" shook hands and we went our ways. Really, you should see the cars here, maybe they all look a bit like farm trucks.

random stuff.

seriously, what is this current obsession with Psalters? Thanks Roommate.

oh, jesus conversations, how i love thee. which transitions (somehow) to "you haven't seen ask a ninja ?!? i'm going to make you now. it's like five minutes. and by five minutes i mean a minute and a half"

speaking the president's english among the brits.

(i knew regaining my accent would be beneficial)

Yesterday, as I was walking along the Wadi (paved water-way going through the city, right now it's a road) these boys started yelling "thank you! thank you!" I think it was the only English they knew. Anyway, I was doing a pretty good job of just ignoring them, but finally I turned around and was like "me?" and they were like "sura, sura" and I was like "of you two? aren't you a little old for that?" honestly. So, look for the picture of the two "way-too-old-to-be-asking-for-a-sura" boys on flickr. (though, honestly, they were holding hands & wearing traditional dress, including jambia so it was a good excuse to get a nice picture of something I wanted anyway without me having to ask.)

Then, last night, Henry and Adil and I walked to Tahreer square and then took a bus to Haddha Street where we walked around. Mumtaza. Theoretically, that's where the Catholic Church is. Practically, I don't think there is an Catholic Church building, but that they meet in someone's house. I have a lead on how to find them now. "Just ask any Filipino" mmm-hmm... So, back to Haddha, we walked down this street for a while, it's kinda crazy. We end up drinking some mango juice (uh-mazing) and later stop for a little bit of dinner, some okay kebabs. I'm pretty sure the guy directly in front of me was ... flirting, of sorts. I mean, looking at me and tearing his bread with both hands in this "look at me" way. It was quite amusing.

There is not much harassment on the streets, as maybe I've said before. A lot of "Hello, where are you from" Probably because this is the little English they know. Occasionally some whistling, where I instinctively have to grit my teeth and clench my hands because I really want to throw the bird and be like "fuck off" But I've been very good so far.

Today, I bought Islamic prayer beads. Afterwards, I was asked if I was Muslim, and at this point, my head wasn't even covered. Whatever. I think they will go well with my rosary. (shhh, don't tell my mom.)

sometimes, it's the little things

From Elle, who is in England and went to Canterbury:
Elle: so i just wanted you to know that i went to the cathedral yesterday
Elle: and since getting something to you from the cathedral would be very difficult, i lit a candle and said a prayer for you there

you're young until you're not...

Classes are going okay. It's review, but maybe it's review of stuff that I have forgotten in the past year, so it is most necessary. My teacher's name is Ahlam, which means "dreams". I now am proficient at introducing myself and meeting people, in fusha. which might or might not be helpful here. whatever. It is a beautiful language and I love it. I have two hours of class a day, which does leave quite a lot of time for wandering, eating, napping. mm mm naps. Though it is most frustrating to meet people, because I do not have class with anyone else, so I can't meet people that way. I wouldn't recognize my professor on the street because she wears niqaab, and my building only has maximum five people.

The food I have had so far is quite good. I had Salta today, which is... meaty and cinnamony and quite tasty. (It's also the food the men eat for lunch before they start chewing gat. There is a science/art to chewing these leaves, one I haven't discovered, i just know that it's hard enough trying to understand what people are saying, add in a HUGE wad of chewed up leaves in their cheek - mushkil - problem.) other than that, I've had a lot of chicken and rice. Which has also been pretty good.

There are quite a lot more people here who wear only hijab and not niqaab than I expected. Granted, most women wear niqaab (face veil) but there are some who wear just hijab (cover hair) and some who do not cover at all. I'm not sure if the latter two groups are all visitors or maybe some are refugees from Africa as well. Sometimes, they stare, but then I stare right back, because I am just about as interested in them as they are in me, so maybe it works out.

Yesterday, I had a lady try to speak to me in French. That didn't work out so well, then we tried Arabic and I got to "American" and then ... I'm not really sure what happened, but she was loud and I was uncomfortable so "ma' salama" "goodbye"

The institute I am at has wireless internet in one of the residential buildings, but not the one I am in. So, I can feed my addiction, but not quite as easily and much cheaper (mmm free!) than the internet cafes. Though actually, I'm not sure how expensive they are.

I haven't gone on any trips, but I have wandered around the city a bit. Tomorrow is a holiday, 22 May, I think it is unification day or something, when North and South Yemen combined. So maybe I will be able to venture out again. or sleep in. ha! The city is bustling. Always people shouting, children playing, cars honking, motorcycles, some random dude busting out in song. It works. It works even better when there are not random power outages during the day/evening/night. Yesterday there was one in the evening, the day before, maybe there were three throughout the day. It's something else, really! Though maybe the only thing really affected by it is hot water (which i do have!) internet. There is a lot of natural light during the day, so it is not a problem, really. And it's not like I've never had to use candles at night before :)

In summary: I'm here, I'm safe, I'm having a good time. I love you, send me email love!

"ain't gonna let donald rumsfeld turn me round"

(sorry mom)

So, as I'm writing this, the power is out (for the third time today) (yay battery) (insha'allah, i will post this later) Today was frustrating by all that I have forgotten in the past two years, but hopeful too.

I kind of have not been eating very well since I've been here. Like i've ate one meal on thursday and one on friday and i've generally been hungry when not directly preceded by eating. So, during the weekend, I bought some honey and cheese and I was like "i will buy some khobs, and i will be able to eat breakfast and maybe a small dinner. And then I proceeded to blow every chance of bread buying that came across. BUT! tonight, I set out, with Jennifer, who lives right across the hall. And I went to the bakery, but they were closed. sad-face. sad-face, indeed. We head back to CALES and I'm like, I know my arabic is pretty danged sucky, but let's see if Sayed can help.

For the record, Sayed is, i believe, the "guard" for CALES. He is this adorable friendly older man. The girl i'm with is like "yeah, i don't know how to say that" damn. Through the power of nouns and flailing arm motions, he points us to the souk. Where I successfully buy khobs. it might be shallow, but it was uplifting.

and then we came back and the lights went out. and i ate bread and honey and khobs and jubna (i hope that last is cheese, because that's what i mean)

ALSO: on the way back from the souk (i say that like it takes more than a minute and a half to get from there to home) I INTRODUCED MYSELF TO SOMEONE ELSE. like i did the initiating. oh holy crap, who am i becoming? must have been that post-purchase high. :)

Class is ... well, i've just forgotten everything. And people are like "it will come flying back" but i have a hard time believing them. faith has always been a struggle, but persistence, i have that in abundance. it will come back, just maybe not flying.

first day!

So, on the plane ride over here, I'm pretty sure the guy next to me stashed his porn disk in his computer before he got off in riyadh, saudi arabia (that's right. I was in the Saudi airport (on the plane) for a while. it was pretty sweet.

My first class was today, and it went pretty well. Except for the fact that I have completely forgotten all my vocabulary. Also, I couldn't sleep last night, so I was up and down and up and ... you know. until about three, and then these prayers started from the mosques. (and yeah, that's plural - there are about 10 probably within viewing distance) and these prayers kept going until... four thirty or so. it was kind of beautiful, until one of the mosques started drowning everything out with squeling icky high-pitched noises.

and, to please my mother, I am now registered at the embassy. it just might be naptime.

one last thing: because I am so totally not above posting inside jokes:Jesus of the Week for this week.

"i ask for computer, thiz iz fruit" german tsa equivalent

So, I got in late on Wednesday evening and a man from CALES came and picked me up from the airport. Driving through Sana'a was interesting. The car, the car was... well, it kinda reminded me of my dad's truck. huge crack in the windshield along with scratches and dirt that made it nearly impossible to see out of when cars were coming at you, no internal lights so good luck knowing what speed you're going. the headlights basically lit the ground under the car. The driver drove in the middle of the road, directly over the lane-dividing lines. It was an interesting trip, at least.

Thursday morning I talked to the director and got the school stuff settled. I start class Saturday morning. I'm taking individual classes and I haven't decided if that will be better or worse for me. I'm not that great at talking, as I'm sure most of you know, but maybe not being in front of a class will help. Or maybe it will be suck-tastic. I guess I'll find out soon, though I'll try to give it some adjustment time. I am nervous because I haven't spoken or written or done anything with arabic for so so long.

I also walked around the city a bit with Muhammad's son. and then went to the supermarket with another resident. I found 2.25 L of Pepsi (or is it Bebsi?) for 180 R, which is less than 1 USD so it's nice to know I'm never going to have to go through caffeine withdrawal. Though, if that were the problem, I could just drink tea. Thankfully I'll never have to be that desperate. :) I think I will, however go through Dr. Pepper withdrawal. I can probably live with that. Probably.

Thursday I redecorated my room, but when you consider that I have probably one piece of moveable furniture, that's kind of impressive. Not to talk myself up or anything. And then the other door fell off my dresser, so they are going to replace it Saturday. Which means I'll probably end up moving the table back, so it's out of the way.

The shower is nice enough, yay hot water (alleluia/alhamdulilla!). At one point on the plane I thought to myself "dana, how long has it been since you voided?" and at another, i thought " dana, you should go now so you can wait longer, if it's a squatty-potty." and it's totally a squatty-potty. which i am slowly mastering. i hope.

So, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to find a church/gathering before tomorrow (Friday is the Holy day in Islam, and since it's also weekend, Churches in the middle east hold their Sunday Mass on Friday (and subsequently lenten Friday abstinence is on Wednesday) I hope to find something by Pentecost.

One last thing, I live pretty close to several mosques, and around prayer time they all start their own call to prayer. I have yet to decide if I like the mix. I probably will decide to like it.

Now that I have given you the nitty-gritty details on my every waking moment (i did leave out some nice details about de/rehydrating + sqatty/potty), I will leave you. Hopefully a) my life becomes more interesting and b) i find stuff to do other than tell you every last detail. I'm sure it will once I begin my classes.