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.