# 3 - Morning commute to work

 

Driving west toward Hadaa St

  

West on Zobairi toward the Hodeida Rd.

  

 Heading west, up the mountain, past the Egyptian Memorial and the Chinese cemetary

  

Up, up, up my little car chugs

And then down again, toward school

# 2 - Veiled Women

 

Shoe shopping - Intesar, her husband David and baby Akram (Sana’a, Yemen, Jan 2010)

  

A woman in a *setarrah*, a large piece of fabric brightly died in red, blue, green and yellow,. The setarrah is going out of fashion as most women,  at least in Sana’a, are converting to the  all encompassing black balto   http://www.yobserver.com/news-varieties/10012842.html

 

Medina in black enjoying the view from the remains of a stone fort in Wadi Hadramawt (Sept, 2010)

As the above photos indicate, women in Yemen cover themselves, in an extreme way. No flesh visible aside from the eyes and the bridge of the nose. Sometimes the hands, though these can be tucked inside the balto. Sometimes the eyes are covered as well.

David’s wife Intesar is a traditional village woman, reluctant to be seen unveiled anywhere at anytime by any man aside from her husband.

Sam’s wife is different. She was born in Vietnam, to a Yemeni father and Vietnamese mother and was raised mostly in Yemen. Their 21 year old daughter translates US security documents at home. Sam is reluctant to let her interact with the huge contingent of young marines at the embassy. However, when the driver delivers packages, she can walk out to the street to meet him, uncovered. She and her mother sit comfortably on the mufraj at home, with unrelated men present (such as my friend David, above), uncovered.  Intesar could visit Sam’s home, but by her own choice would be in a back room . It is unlikely that she will ever meet Sam.  She is 24.

Photo-a-Day: Yemen

 

 

I think I shall re-name this blog *photo-a-day: yemen*. this will require commitment, however. Am I up to it?

9:14 on fri evening. Tomorrow the school week starts and I would like to finish instructions on making a book report before I sleep. Plus get my pack lunch together and tidy up.

Stopped by Dave’s place this evening. His young wife, a conservative young woman from a small Yemeni village, held baby Akram well bundled in a blanket in her lap. As a veiled woman she was uncomfortable, unable to be in the same room as a man not her husband, so she did not accompany us to Sam’s.

Sam smokes Rothmans and took me into his daughters room to see this shelf made entirely of empty Rothmans cigarette packs glued together.  On the drive home I snapped a photo of the al-Saleh mosque, blurry as I was driving quickly.

Medina exploring Prophet Hud's shrine (Hawdramawt, Yemen, Dec 2009)

Henna after lunch

 
Saleh, my driver in Wadi Hadramawt, brought me to his home in the middle after the day, when the sun is bright and everything slows down. We had spent the morning exploring al-Kathiri Palace in Seiyun, and some crumbling palaces and the famous library in the nearby town of Tarim, and wanted to wait until late afternoon, when the light is better for photographs, before going to Shibam.

After admiring his father’s impressive classic car collection, I was invited upstairs for lunch. The women and children and I sat cross legged in a spacious room, no furniture but numerous pillows stacked against the wall. Presently food was brought in for me on a large tin tray. I felt a bit self conscious eating alone, but ate happily - a succulent piece of grilled tuna, rice, salad of thinly sliced carrots and tomatoes, a bowl of stewed vegetables. Delicious.

Presently, Medina arrived and slowly prepared the henna as she chatted with the other women.  I ate and smiled, and watched Medina mix the dark powder with a bit of water in a small bowl, then spoon it into a cone of plastic cut from a plastic bag, tipped with a bit of electric tape.  When I had finished eating and cone was filled, she piped delicate designs of leaves and vines on my hands and wrists, front and back. Saleh’s wife nursed the baby boy, then fed him bits of boiled potato mashed with her fingers. The girls watched and giggled.  The young mother shifted the baby and dabbed the designs with sliced lemon. The henna formed a thick crust which I scraped off hours later back at the hotel. The delicate designs remained for ten days or so before fading away.

Medina was not interested in visiting Shibam that afternoon, but agreed to accompany me to the Shrine of the Prophet Hud the next morning.

Ta'izz, from Qalat al-Qahira (Cairo Castle)

A veiled woman and her uniformed sons look at Ta'izz

One weekend in October, Chrissy and I were driven to Ta'izz, a trip arranged through Universal Touring Company.  Mohammed, our driver, was a friendly chap who spoke some English and paused each afternoon to buy qat.  Ta'izz is a large town between Sana'a and Aden, set amidst rugged mountains. Mohammed drove us up to the Qalat al-Qahira (Cairo Castle) high above the town.  It was a long trek up from where he could park, but the view was majestic.

Bayt Baws (350 words)

Bayt Baws, a crumbling ghost town crowning a rock island 7 km south of Sanaa, provided a well protected home when it was a living city years ago. The single entrance, a massive stone gate, is still intact, though the wooden door, once closed at dusk, is long gone. Closely packed, multistoried homes of stone are built to the very edge of sheer cliffs, surely an insurmountable barrier.


No locks or guards or signs prevent intrepid explorers from exploring the numerous abandoned buildings. Climb the narrow stair cases of the old homes to the roof for good views. Inspect the ruins to see the building process: thick walls of stone, cut laboriously into blocks, fit closely together and covered with a smooth layer of mud mixed with chopped straw, frosted with once white plaster.

Note the lovely architectural details. Niches carved into the thick walls, delicate arched windows deeply set, white washed shelves. Look above or below to see collapsing ceilings and floors built of slim tree trunks and branches and dried mud.

A few women and children still live in Bayt Baws, but the city is mostly abandoned. Though an old woman followed us quietly, and two young men asked to have their photo taken, we wandered about freely, unmolested by children, guides or shopkeepers.


After exploring the town, walk up the wadi along the path that follows the cliffs. Cross over and walk back on an expanse of smooth rock for lovely views of the town, as well as of Sanaa, far below.

Bayt Baws lies within the Sanaa perimeter so travel permission is not required. To get there, head south of 50 Meter Rd. Bayt Baws will be on your right after you pass 14th October / Sabien St. There are no signs so you must feel your way. Look for the shaggy outline of Bayt Baws up high. You can drive up a narrow dirt road that eventually widens enough to park. To get to the town you’ll walk through a cluster of homes, a Jewish community before the Jews were forced to flee Yemen in 1949.

Qat (100 words)

Selling Qat

Chewing Qat

Qat is ubiquitous in Yemen. Everyone seems to chew - guards, drivers, soldiers, vegetable sellers, business men. Women too, but they do so indoors. You can’t avoid seeing cheeks swollen with the green leaves, as if all males over 15 had some strange deformity activated every afternoon. Not a quick high, the chewing process takes hours, and a large portion of slim budgets. Children beg at busy intersections to fund their father’s habit. Vast amounts of water, labor and land is dedicated to the crop. Some say the habit is tolerated, even encouraged, by the government to keep potential trouble makers peaceful.

Looking south toward Taiz from Bab al-Yaman (25 words)

Originally uploaded by Kate B Dixon

Climb to the top of Bab al-Yaman through an art gallery built into the wall on the right once you have passed through the gate.