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.