Sept 15

Sept 15 Let's see, the day after the wedding, Friday, I went around with Matthew for a little bit, he needed to pick up some things because he didn't bring a whole lot. However, this was my first Friday in Yemen and I forgot that a lot of places are closed around noon because of Friday Prayer, but I helped him find what I could. We returned to the house so he could start his placement test for SIAL, while I went up to the mafraj up stairs and watched a couple of English movies on TV while I did some homework. Later in the evening we decided to go walk around and explore the Old City. We walked all around it and actually didn't get too lost. It is just a maze and labyrinth of small streets and lots of shops. Very nice though. I do enjoy the heart of the Old City near Souq al-Milh (The Salt Market, although they have so much more than that) because it is much more quiet and peaceful than near where I live, towards the main square. So after a little bit of exploring around and looking for a place where Matthew could buy a towel (we couldn't find one all day) we kind of worked up an appetite and went to this "nice" open air style restaurant in the heart of the Old City. We ate something called ganem, which was this almost sort of salsa concoction without being very spicy along with bread and kebab, if I remember right. During dinner we sat next to two Yemenis who wanted to talk to us foreigners. They were really suprised that I was American and wanted to talk to me about what Americans thought about the Middle East, and etc, etc. It was really good practice, but really difficult too. We sat down on some steps in the Old City then this guy passing asked if we knew "Tim, he has lived he for 20 years"... Referring to the author Tim Mackintosh Smith whose book I was reading in Seattle. He said he lived right around where we were. And it seems like everyone knows him or know about him. My teacher, Ismail, worked with him a number of years ago. Then we headed back to the house.