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.