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.