YEMEN!!!!

Jessica and I had a 4day weekend because of Mother's Day and to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Mohamed (). In Egypt, not everyone celebrates his birthday. When they do, they buy lots of candy and sugar dolls. It is also another reason for families to gather together. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawlid)
To celebrate the break from school, Jessica and I traveled to Yemen to visit one of my friends from UW. When we first made plans to travel, many of my friends were surprised and tried to persuade me not to go saying that there was nothing to do in Yemen (Heaven forbid we travel to a country with no shopping malls:)) and that the country is uncivilized. Going to Yemen was definitely a culture shock!!! I know I would never be able to live there but I'm really glad I visited it. I like to think of Yemen as a country full of wrinkly old men, breathtaking geography, Qat chewers, and millions and millions of little children who wanted their pictures taken. (you will understand once you see my pictures:)) Even the old men wanted pictures!! The people were really nice, always shouting "hello" and "Welcome to Yemen." The thing that disgusted me the most were the men when they were chewing qat (which was all the time!!) ( ) ( http://www.american.edu/ted/qat.htm ) There isn't a whole lot to do in Yemen and the majority of the people are unemployed, so the men chew qat in the afternoon. I don't really understand it, but from what I witnessed is that the men stuff huge wads of qat leaves in their mouths creating a large bump and then they chew on the leaves for the rest of the day. The men look really weird and it is so difficult to understand them! But I hear that the leaves help reduce hunger...which is why everyone there was deathly skinny!! Qat chewing is a bad habit because not eating is very unhealthy, but at the same time approximately 75% of the population is malnourished and living below the poverty line. So maybe its helpful psychologically. However a friend pointed out that the men spend 60% of the income on qat. hmmm. Where does that leave their children who should grow up with proper healthcare and education? And the women? They are also extremely skinny. But even with this problem, I wouldn't consider Yemen to be uncivilized. It is true that the only regular toilet I found was in my friend's apartment, and most of the buildings we stayed in (in the old city at least) were built shortly before the 12th century!! Also, everyone wears the traditional clothing (the men wear thobes (the white man dress) with a decorative dagger on their belts and the women are covered from head to toe in black). But there was running water, electricity, cars in the streets (I only saw donkeys on farms) and transportation systems. The transportation was my favorite. You could get on random buses that would drive you around town...hahah we even got into and accident!! I feel so stupid because I watched the car hit the bus under my window, and I could have been hurt. oops! oh well!! It wasn't a bad accident and both the bus and car were previously banged up, making it hard to notice the impact of the crash:) We also rode random trucks up the mountain to visit an old Imam's palace (dated around the 1950's, so fairly modern:)). But I don't think the lack of modern dress wear and transportation laws/systems is a reason for Yemen to be uncivilized. They are just living very differently:) I'm just amazed that tradition is still a main value of life, and that the ancient infrastructures are still beautifully decorated, not to mention standing! The government is also working a little harder. It recently created a firearm ban for non-military and non-governmental people in hopes to make the country safer (although I never felt in danger) and to encourage tourism....which would in turn improve the economy in hopes to reduce the percentage of malnourished people. Yemen would never be as strong in tourism as Egypt because it doesn't have as a remarkable history, but its never ending mountains and breathtaking views have a potential for catching a lot of attention.
While I was in Yemen I also visited the Shahara mountains. There is an ancient bridge built about a large ravine that connects two villages. Lets just say getting to that bridge was an adventure!! My friends and I shared a Land Rover and a driver to take us to the mountains. There were several military checkpoints along the way, where we were required to give them copies of our travel permits. But our driver didn't make enough copies. So once we ran out...the driver started telling the guards that we were Syrian, which was definitely convincing with Jessica's red hair. haha oh well, it worked! We also stopped at a village called Amran. The people there were really kind and I've never seen so many children in my life!! And they all wanted their pictures taken!! haha this was the vacation I really wanted...to witness people living totally different than me, and to have kids be really excited to see us and follow us everywhere we went. I just wish I had school supplies to give them:( Anyways, back to the mountains. We drover for what seemed several hours and then reached the base of the mountains. The Land Rovers couldn't drive anymore so we transferred to 4x4's and stood in the bed of the pick ups for 2 hours!! What an experience!! haha there were a few times we swore that our truck wouldn't make it up the mountain because the roads were so steep and weren't always in the best condition. But we made it, and the view was even more breathtaking than the bridge! I was in awe:) Then a bunch of kids showed us around their village ( ) (Out of this rises the Shahara, a huge mountain massif, the highest point being nearly 3,000m (9,840ft) above sea level. This can be climbed by foot or by 4-wheel drive car. Shahara Bridge, built in the 17th century, connects two mountains and can still be crossed by foot.)
( http://www.viewzone.com/y-page31.html )

The village even had schools, a prison, and a court system. I was quite impressed:) The next day we walked down the mountains. I have so much respect for the villagers because walking down the mountain was sooo difficult!! It was really steep and there wasn't always a real path. And of course I had to show off my graceful side by falling and twisting my ankle! Oh well, I made it the rest of the way and the guys who traveled with us helped me walk slowly:) Then after another long car ride, we returned to Sana'a and passed out in my friend's apartment. The next day we explored the city, visited the Imam's palace (which was located on top of a rock, built a little over 50 years ago) and of course we bought souvenirs at the ancient souq (market):)

Yemen was definitely worth visiting and I recommend it to everyone...unless you only travel to go shopping and be pampered in spas...

Here are some random facts about Yemen:
oh I forgot to mention....the traditional food (salta) was really good. It was this spicy, bubbly goo with meat and you dip bread into it. Looks weird, but I would eat it again:)




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen



Next trip...Spring Break!!

I'm going to Syria, Jordan, and Palestine-Israel

Yemen