Oct 2

Oct 2. Monday. Got up at about 12:30... Debated about whether to wear the thobe, the ma'waaz, or my normal clothes. Messed around with them for awhile, trying to tie the shawl, and the ma'waaz (which is just a large piece of clothe that you wrap on, without a belt or anything, but you wrap it almost at your chest then roll it down to your waist so it stays on), but felt weird and just elected to wear my normal jeans and button up shirt. Class with Faris, same thing as usual. Not really sure that I want to stick with him or not... Maybe I'll give it a little bit longer. Ran into Ismail and his son at the Institute and they were disappointed that I didn't have the thobe on, asking me where the tribesman went, and saying its necessary to wear it Thursday/Friday at least (which is what a lot of them do, just wear normal jeans/tshirts from the west throughout the week, and then traditional clothes on the weekend). After that used the internet at the school and returned to the mafraj to do homework and talk with Markus. I guess it will be about $220 total or so for our trip to Shihara (one of the somewhat famous sights of Yemen, with the small arched bridge between two cliffs). This includes all our transportation to Shihara and around it. Apparently it is about 4 hours away, and requires 4 wheel drive vehicle around Shihara itself, along with a night in a local hotel. I guess the price is really good, although it seems expensive to me for just one night. But it will be nice to see more of Yemen than just Sana'a. Hopefully we can get a fourth person besides me, Matt, and Markus, so it will be cheaper for each of us. Hung around in the mafraj doing some work although I broke the fast early today for the first time when Markus offered me one of his samboosa's (a little fried triangular food with stuff filled inside). Markus decided not to get any food right at 6, and so Matt and I went to the cheap falafel restaurant again from a few days ago, grabbed 2 falafals and 3 little samboosa's for 80 riyals, 40 cents. And a small Pepsi for 45 riyals. A 60 cent meal, which we ate out on the steps outside the restaurant since they gave us to go bags. Came back and messed with my shawl and ma'waaz a little more, but still deciding to wear my normal clothes to Ismail's today. At Ismail's it was strange, we were sitting around like normal, and the all the sudden this blonde white girl comes into the mafraj from inside his house. Really caught me off-guard. I think her name is Sofia, from the UK, she studied at SIAL with Ismail for a year and half a while ago, and just returned yesterday without telling anyone in Yemen for a surprise visit. I guess she was having dinner with Ismail and his family tonight, although he didn't mention anything beforehand, so it was strange. As a foreign woman in Yemen, you do get more freedom, and more hospitality though, because you can freely interact with both men and women, so you can go where you will in the house, you could stay over with the family, etc, whereas male guests are basically just allowed in the mafraj or sitting room, and never allowed to interact or even see the women of the house (except little girls). Yeah, so I guess she is returning for maybe another 6 to 9 months, she just converted to Islam I guess about 4 months ago (after leaving Yemen) and has returned to study the religion more, along with the language. She was pretty interesting, lots of stories, but she stuck around until almost 10pm, when she left to pick up a guy friend of hers from the airport. So we got a pretty late start for the lesson, later than usual. Again the power cut off for an hour or so, earlier than usual. So now I deal with two power outages per day, one in Al-Ga'a (the former Jewish quarter where Ismail lives) at around 9 or 10 pm and then another one back at my house at around 1 or 2 am. Each time for around an hour or a little less. Well, we had our lesson until about 1am today, before I walked back to the house. And sure enough right after I got back at about 1:30 and was in the bathroom the lights cut out, and again that pocket flashlight came in handy. So I sat around typing using the battery on my laptop what I've been up to for the past couple days. Finally ate (nearly all) of my Dorito's chips from the supermarket awhile ago... Very good. Tasted like home. And now a few hours later the city is booming with the noise of "allahu akbar" (God is Great) coming from every mosque in the city to call the faithful to prayer, and to (soon) begin their fast for the coming day... The call to prayer, which happens five times a day, is obviously almost always present in the city. Although luckily for me it isn't too loud near my room. I've never actually been awoken by it, but when I stay up late like this, it does keep me from sleeping as the Mu'ezzin tends to carry on for quite awhile some times over the loud speaker. I'll just keep thinking of more things to talk about... Usually when I buy water here (I never drink from the tap, although you probably can't prevent contact with tap water from vegetables, and other foods) I get the single plastic bottles, a little larger than typical in the US... They have Hadda water, Shamlan water, or Aden water, most commonly. I don't notice any different except that Hadda water is 35 riyals instead of 30 (15 cents). This was what I did for the first 3 weeks now, so literally my desk is nearly full, and completely covered in empty plastic bottles. I don't really use my desk for homework anyways, and we have a cleaning lady (yes, fully veiled) who comes through maybe a few times a week and takes out your garbage if you leave the little basket outside the door, so I'm beginning to gradually throw them away, 2 at time or so, hah. Anyways, I recently bought the large re fillable jugs for the first time, they cost the same price, but you just have to return the plastic jug to them when you are finished with it, or they will fine you, I guess. I apparently got a smaller one, maybe just 2.5 liters, but they also have 5 liters for maybe 50 or 60 riyals I think, however not all the shops have them. So now I just keep the giant jug on my desk and refill one of the smaller bottles when I need to. Well the Mu'ezzin is still carrying on with his call to prayer, but I think I will brush my teeth and try to get some sleep, got to go to class afterall, even if I have yet to finish my homework for it... tomorrow, insha allah (God willing).