The Arabist

Pictures of Yemen

2006-08-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

The famous Bridge of Shahara from afar

The beaches of Aden

One of the colored glass windows at Dar al-Hajr

Another of the colored glass windows at Dar al-Hajr

Salt Market in Old Sana'a #1

Salt Market in Old Sana'a #2

The narrow streets of the Salt Market

Lucky Me

2006-07-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

You may be wondering what I did for World Cup action after Italy knocked Germany out of the World Cup. At the time, I was wondering what I was going to do myself.

Fortunately, luck was on my side as France made it into the finals. Why was this lucky? Because my German friends, Uwe and Sabine, are rather well acquainted with Theo, who is an American that until recently was working at the English language newspaper The Yemen Observer.

You see, Theo knows one of the French gendarmes and as it turns out, the French ambassador had set up a pavilion for the French citizens and invited guests to watch the match at his house. Now Uwe, Sabine, Theo, and I are neither French citizens nor were we invited guests but I guess it pays to know people as once we arrived at the ambassador's house, Theo called the gendarme on his cell phone and he came and escorted us inside.

I was especially excited as there was no doubt in my mind that I would finally be able to score some red wine. I mean hey, C'mon, this is the French ambassador's house I'm talking about. But no, either the French ambassador isn't a big wine fan or he just couldn't get any. There was gin and whiskey aplenty, but that was poor consolation as I really had my heart set on some red wine.

Speaking of the France and the World Cup, the Yemeni children seem to think it's extremely amusing to call me Zidane when I walk in the streets now. I concede the fact that he and I share the same haircut, but that's where the resemblance ends as I'm much better looking than him. If you're not familiar with who Zidane is, just type his name into your favorite search engine.

A few days before the World Cup final I attended an exhibit for a Yemeni artist at the German Cultural Center (where Uwe works). I was very impressed and ended up buying one of the paintings. Now I just hope I can get it home in one piece. I thought it would be better than dropping several hundred bucks on a jambiya that I'd never wear once I returned to the states; although, I've bought a jambiya too, just not an expensive one. The nice thing about Yemeni jambiyas is that the untrained eye can't tell the difference between an old, expensive jambiya with a lot of history behind it and a brand new jambiya made to look old.

Beer, Bacon, and the World Cup

2006-07-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

Last night was about as good as it gets here in Yemen I believe. One of the German students, Sabina, suggested that we watch the Germany-Argentina quarter-final match at the German Embassy, so yesterday evening I headed off with Sabina, Uwe, and Jenny to the German Embassy.

It promised to be a night to remember and we weren't disappointed. Not only did Germany defeat Argentina to make it into the semi-finals of the World Cup (I'm a big fan of Juergen Klinsmann and the German national team), the German Embassy was providing free beer/white wine along with pizza and some other snacks! It was like I had died and gone to heaven.

I didn't think life could get any better than that until Uwe asked if I wanted to continue the party at the British Club. Now, English Tom had invited me to the British club several times before he left but I always declined as I felt too busy each time he had asked. If I had only known I would have accepted every time. Although the beer at the British club wasn't as good as the beer at the German Embassy, they did have one thing the German Embassy did not; that thing being a BACON, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich.

Mmmmnnn.... bacon. It was good. No, it was very good. Even after eating the pizza at the German Embassy I ate two BLTs at the British club. Couple this with going to Al-Fanous(sp?) and discovering that they actually served steak capped off a rather pleasant week. Let's face it... Yemen is a dangerous and uncertain place. A few days of beer and pizza are about as good as it gets.

Nose to the Grindstone

2006-05-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 14, 2006

I took Saturday off from class as Saturday is our “conversation” day and since I had talked with Ghaleb for about eight hours the day before, I didn’t feel too bad about skipping class and getting back one of the days from my weekend.

Our Friday together must have left a good (bad?) impression on Ghaleb as he came to class today with a photocopy of Al-Thowra (a Yemeni newspaper) for me to read. The first article was a kick in the noots but the second wasn’t so bad. Long story short, I ended up with about thirty new vocabulary words to memorize tonight.

Previously Ghaleb had only had me translating individual sentences/paragraphs from his Media Arabic book which tends to build upon vocabulary introduced earlier in the book, making it infinitely easier than an article picked at random from the newspaper.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Ghaleb’s Super High Intensity Training continued today as he brought in a video recording from Al-Arabiya for me to watch. We started viewing the video but only after I got him to admit that the Arab newscasters speak faster than normal.

Much like the previous day I had the most difficulty with the first story which dealt with the investigation into Syria’s involvement (or non-involvement) with the death of a prominent Lebanese political figure. I forget his name but he was quite popular in Lebanon and I remember watching riots on the news after his death as the Lebanese were accusing Syria of having a hand in his death.

The second news story was much less difficult, probably due to what I remember from studying Arabic at DLI(?), as it dealt with the shooting down of an American helicopter.

The third and final news story was about the British Minister of Foreign Affairs praising Saudi Arabia for their recent success in the war on terror. This ended up being, to my relief, only slightly more difficult than the second story had been. Still, I once again ended up with about thirty more words to memorize this evening.

Ghaleb has decided that one day out of the week will be devoted to newspaper articles, one day for watching TV news broadcasts, one day for translating from the Media Arabic book, one day for working from the Al-Kitaab series, and one day for free discussion. Giddy-up!

Lunch with Gahleb

2006-05-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 12, 2006

I’ve just returned from my instructor’s house, Ghaleb, about an hour ago and I must say that I had a very enjoyable time with him. You know an instructor must be doing something right when students come here to study and ask for him upon recommendation of friends that have studied with him.

The beauty of being able to spend time outside of class with my instructor is that, as my instructor, he’s familiar with the level of my Arabic and he can adjust his conversation appropriately. If he does use a word that I don’t understand I just ask him the meaning and he will try to use it in a manner in which I will understand through context. Of course, if push comes to shove he can just tell me in English. Initially I thought that he would want to take the opportunity to practice his English (which is good) but no, he only spoke Arabic straight from the get-go.

That being said, we had what I thought to be a great conversation during my time there. I felt like I was really on top of my game. To be honest, I felt more comfortable talking to him in at his place than in class as I didn’t feel as if I were under any pressure.

Lunch was also very tasty! It consisted of a very spicy broth in the beginning and after that there was the ubiquitous chicken and rice but also beef, Yemeni pizza, and some other vegetable dishes that don’t really have comparisons back home. The dessert was Bint as-Sahn, which is a type of pan bread covered with honey. Ironically, he (and most Yemenis) uses honey produced outside of Yemen because Yemeni honey is so expensive.

I would hazard that almost all Yemenis eat on the floor as this is the third Yemeni house at which I’ve eaten (the first time was at the new student luncheon, the second was at Abdul Rahman’s) where I ate on the floor. They put down some type of plastic tarp (it varies slightly) and put the plates of food on the tarp.

From Aden with Love

2006-05-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Please forgive my typos...

Well, I was just about to study, but as the power has gone out I thought it would be a good time to write about my trip to Aden before I forget all the details.

Ahh… Aden. Yes, Aden. After missing out on the trip to Shahara and Ma’rib, nothing was going to make me miss this trip. And that is a shame as this was probably the trip I should have missed.

The foreshadowing of events to come began when we had to wait until about three in the afternoon before heading out to hire a car to take us to Aden. The reason this is an ominous portent is that it is about a seven hour trip.

The five of us (Myself, Evan, Aaron, English Tom II, and Alex) managed to hire a car for about thirty dollars. Normally they cram about nine people into the station wagon but we paid extra so that we could have the taxi to ourselves. The foreshadowing continued as the weather had turned rainy for our darkened descent down to Aden (Sana’a is at an elevation of just over 7,000 feet).

Our driver was not shy about passing slow moving vehicles regardless as to whether he had a decent line of sight and on about three different occasions I had given myself up for dead. During the descent the weather cleared up and the drive became more pleasant. Unfortunately, since we left so late it quickly became too dark to enjoy the scenery of the drive. As we got closer to Aden the road became noticeably worse with the driver having to slow to a crawl in some places.

We arrived in Aden at about 11pm and headed to our hotel. During our drive I had asked my companions for the luxury of staying at a decent hotel. I thought we had an agreement of sorts but no such luck. Although I saw several nice looking hotels as we drove into Aden, Aaron directed our driver to the Gulf of Aden Hotel which is located almost right beside the Al-Wafi Hotel.

I was quickly becoming nervous as the neighborhood through which we were passing wasn’t one in which a decent hotel would be found. If you look in Lonely Planet’s Arabian Peninsula guide (which I don’t usually do) you will see both hotels listed in their budget selection with Al-Wafi (I think that is correct but I’ve loaned my guide out and can’t check at the moment) being described as the best of a sorry lot (I think that’s what it said). Lonely Planet could have saved everybody a lot of time by saying the Gulf of Aden has a ton of cockroaches crawling over everything but that the Al-Wafi Hotel only has 1/3 the number of cockroaches (English Tom II had to knock two of them off his bed).

I was decidedly unhappy at this point and not having a good time. A couple points to mention about Yemeni budget hotels. They may or may not include blankets on the bed. They won’t have any cute soaps and shampoos, towels or washcloths for you to use. So, if you are like me and didn’t remember to bring soap, shampoo, towels or washcloths, you will probably regret it unless you don’t like bathing. I ended up bathing with some wet-wipes that I had in my backpack. If the above doesn’t put you off, you’ll be happy to know that the air-conditioning worked just fine and that the rooms were dirt cheap.

About thirty minutes after we checked into our rooms Aaron had us out the door to The Sailors Club. The Sailors Club was pretty much the same as the Russian Club and the Palestinian Club but actually a little nicer as it was located right on the water and there was a nice breeze to boot, and dare I say, I had the tastiest tuna fish sandwich ever.

For some strange reason, I thought we would be touring through the streets of Aden but Aden is no Old Sana’a. To paraphrase a line from the musical Chess, “You’ve seen one crowded polluting stinking town, you’ve seen them all”. Actually, the cisterns there are supposed to be interesting to view but that didn’t seem to have been on the agenda. No my gentle readers, the following day we were off to the beach!

There are public and private beaches in Aden and I recommend paying the two or three dollars to go to a private beach. We ended up going to the Elephant Bay Beach Resort which was rather pleasant. If you are in Yemen and decide that you absolutely must go to the beach, you could do worse. The Elephant Bay Beach Resort has rooms for rent that are located right on the beach (for a reasonable price) a nice dining facility/gift shop, a small but modern fitness room, and the manager there seemed quite capable.

As our time at the beach neared its end, the discussion of whether to stay a second night came up and much to my delight we decided to head back that night after dinner. Dinner was at the Sheng Sheng Chinese Restaurant. We all opted for the 10 course meal which ended up costing about eight dollars a piece. Such an excellent dinner it was! I can’t recommend it enough.

The ride home was no more enjoyable than the ride down but then, long, crowded car trips usually aren’t enjoyable and since we departed once again in the evening, I missed the scenery once again. We arrived back at the school at about 3:30am at which time I promptly took a shower and then spent the entire next day in bed!

Squatholes of Yemen

2006-04-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

I know that everybody is eagerly awaiting the skinny on my trip to Aden but in the meantime I offer you…

"The Squatholes of Yemen”

Playing Catch-Up

2006-04-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

As always, please forgive my typos...

Thursday, April 23, 2006

My goodness how time flies when you’re in a third world country desperately trying to master a foreign language! Let me see if I can get everybody up-to-date.

The trip to Abdul Rahman’s village never happened. When Evan and I went to our director to get a letter to take to the tourist police, he told us that it wasn’t any problem to get permission to go, but the trip would have to be coordinated through a tourist agency and involve a police escort. We decided this would end up costing too much so we decided not to go. It also turned out that the wedding wasn’t at the village after all but here in Sana’a; although, I swear Abdul Rahman said it would take place at his village.

The wedding itself was big. Really big. It was held in a building across from the Sheraton which is rented out for such occasions. According to Abdul Rahman, the building is owned by the husband of his sister (If I remember correctly) but then, according to Abdul Rahman, he is related to half of the people in Sana’a, so I’m never quite certain if he is telling the truth or just trying to impress me. Regardless, it was definitely a big wedding. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take my camera with me, so you’ll have to settle for a verbal description of the events.

Yemeni weddings, to my untrained eye, appear to consist of a lot of men (the women's party is at a separate location) sitting around drinking cold water and chewing qat – for a long time. There is a lot of singing (this wedding had several musicians that I thought were rather good) and cheek kissing. Then there is some more singing and some more cheek kissing. There are also tons of photos taken and (at least at this wedding) a gentleman with a professional-looking video camera walking around. I think I managed to make it into enough footage to pretty much ruin any wedding memories ;)~

Sheikh Al-Ahmar was not in attendance as he was in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment but one of his sons was there, accompanied by several thuggish looking guards brandishing Kalashnikovs. Fortunately, since I didn’t bring my camera I didn’t tempt fate by asking for a photo. The former Prime Minister, Abdul Aziz Abdul Gani, was also there, in addition to several prominent judges whose names I didn’t bother writing down.

True to the spirit of Yemen, the power went out during part of the wedding for about thirty minutes. In case I didn’t mention it, the power goes off for anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours, several times a week.

Which reminds me, last week, when I was taking my laundry to the cleaners, I heard somebody behind me ask if I spoke English. It was a European family (husband, wife, and two young children) trying to find their way out of Old Sana’a. Since it would have been too hard to explain, I offered to walk them out and on the way the husband was telling me that he was working in Yemen on upgrading the power infrastructure in Yemen. I found that to be amusing as about twenty minutes before I met him the power had gone out and was still out after I got back to my room.

Somebody left the following post, so I’ll try to touch upon that a bit:

“Gary-can you write a little about women in Yemen? Do you have much interaction with the local women? Are they a big presence on the streets, markets, restaurants?”

As to interaction with the local women in Yemen, well, it just doesn’t happen (at least not to me). The most contact I’ve had has been when I’m going through the checkout stand at the Shumaila Hari Supermarket. From what I can tell, Yemeni women go under the veil around twelve or thirteen years of age. Even when I go to Abdul Rahman’s house or when I went to the new student luncheon at the house of one of the instructors, I never saw their wives. I suppose one could try and talk to a random woman on the street but I don’t really think that would be a very good idea.

You may see a Yemeni woman at a restaurant that has taken her veil off to eat, but most restaurants reserve a section for women to eat separately. There are plenty of Yemeni women out and about in the streets but again, they are all veiled. Your best bet would be to find a blog written by a female student and ask them.

Stay tuned for a regaling tale of my trip to Aden!

Insult to Injury

2006-04-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

Since coming to Yemen to study, I have been focusing more and more news about Yemen (makes sense huh?). A couple weeks ago I ran across an article predicting that Sana'a will have depleted its water resevoirs within a decade.

This was followed up by an article by Sarah Phillips, which also paints a gloomy picture for Yemen. As a note of caution, Sarah was wrong in her comment that Sheikh Al-Ahmar said he was leaving Yemen to President Saleh and his sons per a subsequent statement by Sheik al-Ahmar specifically denying that such a thing was said. So what I am saying is that other parts of her article may be inaccurate also, but I really can't say as I'm not a fact checker.

Having said that I did ask my teacher about the current relations between northern and southern Yemen and he seemed to think they were fine. Not that I would normally expect a to hear bad things from a Yemeni about Yemen, but my teacher does seem willing to voice contrary opinions. For example, when asked about President Saleh's son, my instructor was less than flattering. He also was willing to say that three for Sheikh al-Ahmar's four sons (I think that's what he said) were not so nice. Regardless, in my non-doctoral candidate opinion, I think this article may have been a little spiced up.

So for those of you interested in reading about a possibly bleak future...

(from www.ecoisp.com, by Lester R. Brown - shamelessly excerpted by me)

"We are consuming water that belongs to future generations. In some countries, the fall of water tables is dramatic. In Yemen, a country of 19 million, the water table under most of the country is falling by roughly two meters (6.5 feet) a year as water use far exceeds the sustainable yield of aquifers. World Bank official Christopher Ward observes that "groundwater is being mined at such a rate that parts of the rural economy could disappear within a generation."
In the basin where the capital, Sana'a, is located and where the water table is falling six meters (nearly 20 feet) per year, the aquifer will be depleted by the end of this decade. In the search for water, the Yemeni government has drilled test wells in the basin that are two kilometers (1.2 miles) deep, depths normally associated with the oil industry, but they have failed to find water. Yemen must soon decide whether to bring water to Sana'a, possibly from coastal desalting plants, or to relocate the capital. "

(Please note that this isn't the article I originally read regarding Yemen's water shortage for Yemen but since I can't find that article and there is no shortage of articles on Yemen's water crisis both past and present, it will do.)

And article #2...

http://www.merip.org/mero/mero.html
Foreboding About the Future in Yemen
Sarah Phillips
April 3, 2006

(Sarah Phillips is a doctoral candidate in political science at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies of the Australian National University in Canberra.)

Within days of Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Salih’s departure in January to Germany for medical care, the regime’s next most prominent personality, Sheikh Abdallah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, left for Saudi Arabia. At the Sanaa airport, al-Ahmar, speaker of the Yemeni parliament, head of Islah, the country’s most popular opposition party, and paramount sheikh of Yemen’s most influential tribal confederation, pointedly announced that he was “leaving [Yemen] to Ali Abdallah Salih and his sons,” according to a source close to his family. Al-Ahmar’s words signaled that the alliance between him and the president, the cornerstone of the political status quo for nearly three decades, is close to coming undone. “He is smart,” says one local analyst. “He sees the regime’s problems and knows when to start to move independently.”

Some Yemenis believe that the real reason behind the sheikh’s departure was to seek treatment for a life-threatening illness. Others believe that by so conspicuously detaching himself from the president, he is pursuing his own aspirations to leadership. Whatever the truth of the matter, al-Ahmar’s apparent break with the president has contributed to a palpable sense of foreboding about the future in Yemen.

TWO STEPS FORWARD, HOW MANY BACK?
In the early 1990s, Yemen was buzzing with optimism. The long-desired dream of unification between the former North and South had been achieved, oil revenues were increasing and the dramatic political reforms enacted by the new government had Yemen pegged as a vibrant transitional democracy.

A decade and a half later, living standards have plummeted, oil and water are fast running out and the armed rebellion that Salih had initially expected to put down in under a week has entered its eighteenth month with little sign of fully abating. Corruption has also reached dizzying heights. While it is difficult to quantify, statistics published by the World Bank indicate a dramatic upward trend in the last few years, while Yemen was ranked 112th (with the least corrupt country in first place) in Transparency International’s 2005 Corruption Perception Index. Anecdotal evidence also abounds. For example, the man appointed to head the state’s anti-corruption body, the Central Organization for Control and Auditing (COCA), was given the post while awaiting trial for fraud allegedly committed during his previous tenure in government. After then being fired again for major fraud while running COCA, he was appointed to head the Judicial Inspection Board to ensure the integrity of judges.

Exasperated by such developments, the foreign donors on whom the Yemeni government depends have begun to withdraw their assistance. In 2004, the government was chastised by the World Bank for its rising corruption and warned that they could not rely on the Bank’s continued support if genuine reforms were not implemented. The Bank issued a report stating that “Yemen is clearly slipping into a worst-case scenario” of economic performance. In 2005, the World Bank delivered on its threat and reduced an upcoming loan package by 34 percent (from $420 million over three years to $280 million), citing lack of transparency and good governance. This reduction is combined with a loss of income from the International Monetary Fund, which has been withholding $300 million in concessional finance since 2002, due to the government’s failure to comply with its prescribed structural adjustment package. The Yemeni state is almost completely dependent on sources of income over which it exercises no direct control. Together, oil and donor money constitute at least 85 percent of government revenue. As oil begins to dry up and frustrated donors reduce their aid commitments, the government’s options contract correspondingly.

The Economist Intelligence Unit estimates that Yemen’s gross domestic product growth for 2006 will be around 2.5 percent -- insufficient to keep pace with population growth (around 3.5 percent per year), let alone meet the World Bank target of 8 percent required for sustained development. The fact that this slump is occurring in the middle of a prolonged oil price spike further indicates the level of corruption and mismanagement that is the backdrop to the political challenges facing the Yemeni regime. Oil revenue probably makes up some 75 percent of the country’s budget and, failing the unlikely discovery of substantial new deposits, the World Bank estimates that Yemen’s reserves will be negligible by 2012. This date is ten years earlier than was previously thought and represents the natural limit of the current order. Before total depletion, however, oil exports will drop significantly; they are likely to be halved within just three years. While an appeal for foreign and domestic investment to spur other industries could help reduce Yemen’s dependence on oil money, investors have been scared away by the corruption that, time and time again, has lined the pockets of the military and tribal elite.

DISSENT WIDENS
While democratization remains popular, Yemenis no longer seriously discuss it as a short-term possibility. The prospect of state failure has increasingly taken democracy’s place as the subject of speculation at private gatherings across the country, where Yemenis often speak as if collapse were a foregone conclusion. People attached to the regime no longer necessarily shy away from such topics either, one estimating that “around 90 percent” of his colleagues give voice to grim expectations for the future: “Five years ago, it was probably only 30 percent.” In a country that until recently harbored real expectations of decentralized power, hopes for a reprieve from crisis are now being pinned on the linchpin of any autocratic system: the will of the executive.

It is hard to overstate the urgency of Yemen’s situation. In July 2005, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Failed States Index placed Yemen as the country eighth most at risk of disintegration. By this count, Yemen was deemed less stable than war-torn and impoverished Afghanistan, and only marginally more so than Iraq and Somalia, a judgment that was seized upon with an attitude of “I told you so” in Sanaa’s political circles. Anger on the streets is obvious and has been directed at the president himself (as opposed to the usual faceless “government”). In the July 2005 riots over the reduction of fuel subsidies, tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, some shouting “la Sanhan ba‘d al-yawm” (no Sanhan -- President Salih’s tribe -- after today) and that Salih was the enemy of God. These chants were certainly the most open display of antipathy for the person of the president in Yemen for quite some time. Protesters also burned Salih’s photo on the street and, in an apparent first, many of the demonstrators attempted to reach his heavily guarded residence.

Resentment of unification in the former South has reached levels unseen since the 1994 civil war. Even the victors in that conflict, the northern elite, have been quoted nervously acknowledging the rising southern discontent. Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, a popular and powerful Sunni cleric from the North who railed against the South in the leadup to the civil war, was quoted by the Yemeni weekly al-Wasat newspaper in June 2005 as telling President Salih that “if there were a referendum in the South today on the union, they would all vote against it.” Southerners believe that corruption, biased government hiring policies and unlawful confiscation of land by the northern-led regime are taking what is rightfully theirs. Many are becoming less reserved about stating their desire for separation from the northern-dominated regime, an aspiration encouraged by Saudi Arabia the last time around. “We like to be called Hadramis, not Yemenis. Yemen is shamal (to the north),” commented one businessman in the oil-rich eastern province of Hadramawt. With about 80 percent of Yemen’s remaining oil in the former South (the majority of which is in Hadramawt), secession is a prospect that would all but starve the people of the densely populated northwestern areas. As demonstrated in 1994, the northern-dominated regime would not shrink from a fight to maintain this valuable territory.
Then there is the messy armed uprising centered in and around the northern governorate of Saada. “This is the biggest challenge in North Yemen since [Salih] came to power” in 1978, comments a well-informed official. One of Salih’s clearest talents since taking office has been his ability to stay above the fray in local tribal conflicts, in the time-worn tradition of divide et impera. This time he is caught squarely between two groups that once provided his regime with its greatest support: the northern tribes and northern Zaydi religious leaders. The uprising is led by the al-Huthis, a sayyid family (one claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad) invoking a Zaydi discourse of just rule and supported by armed followers -- many of whom are religious students. The movement is arguably all the more dangerous because of its basis in religious doctrine and the Zaydi political tradition, which considers the overthrow of an unjust ruler to be religiously acceptable. However, also competing in the mix are the tribes of Saada that are fighting the government, the tribes that Salih is paying to fight on the government’s behalf and the (also largely tribal) military. The propensity of tribal fighters to sell their loyalties to the highest bidder, and the readiness of military leaders to facilitate this practice for a cut, are pulling the president deeper into a guerrilla-style conflict than he could have intended.
Accurate figures are still impossible to obtain, but the same well-informed official stated in January 2006 that there were “not less than 20,000” government troops deployed in the vicinity of Saada, and that the army was losing an average of ten to 15 soldiers per day. Fatalities on the other side are even less clear, but are unlikely to be less than those suffered by government forces. If this official’s estimate is correct, then an average of 600-900 people are being killed in the fighting each month. There are also indications that some of the support for the insurgents is coming from outside of Saada, from those who are ideologically opposed to the rebels’ religious motivations but who sympathize with their broader critique of the government. The government has tried to link the movement to support obtained from Iran, but with little success. “The big thing is that the government does not know how they are supported and who is arming [the al-Huthi rebels],” observed the official. “They are totally confused. It is probably coming from both [domestic and foreign sources]. How did they get these arms when they are under siege? There are Yemenis supporting them from within Yemen…. There are supporters throughout the country…[from a] wider opposition: the South, the poor and the enemies of the system.” In late January, two key leaders of the rebellion escaped from one of Yemen’s highest security prisons. “This was no ordinary prison,” he noted. The security of such high-value prisoners would not have been left to underlings, and the escape could not have been carried out in complete secrecy. This incident does not necessarily point to broad support within the system for the insurgents, but it does underline the regime’s uncertainty about the nature of their enemy and the fact that questions about their right to rule are perceived to be coming from many corners.

The regime’s response to the Saada rebellion has demonstrated just how forcefully it is prepared to counter direct threats to its dominance. But, in doing so, the regime is also demonstrating its ultimate weakness, given the enormous toll on the military and the erosion of the regime’s traditional support base of northern tribal and religious leaders. Moreover, the Huthi rebellion has probably revealed to the opposition, and perhaps to those with radical inclinations, that the regime’s coercive power is not as insurmountable as once imagined. If a movement that began as 1,000-3,000 angry citizens can tie down a government that, according to the estimates of officials, spends up to 40 percent of its budget on security, what could a more concerted effort achieve? This prospect has been debated in a number of qat chews (social gatherings where plant leaves are chewed for their mild stimulant effect) attended by Sanaa’s politically active and aware.

AN UNCERTAIN ALLY
While there is no relationship between the Shiite al-Huthi movement and militant Salafi Sunnis in Yemen, the inability of the government to end the conflict in Saada may be emboldening the latter, whose daring moves of late suggest growing confidence. In early February, 23 suspected terrorists broke out of a high-security prison in Sanaa. (Three and possibly more have been recaptured.) The most famous escapee was Jamal al-Badawi, the alleged architect of the USS Cole bombing in 2000, in which 17 US naval personnel were killed. The official story has it that the detainees used broomsticks and sharpened spoons to tunnel a considerable distance to a nearby mosque. It is inconceivable that such an elaborate escape could have been executed without the acquiescence of well-placed members of the Political Security Organization (PSO), the domestic intelligence agency that answers directly to Salih. The United States shares this view. Newsweek quoted a US official who described the content of a classified embassy cable: “One thing is certain: PSO insiders must have been involved.”

As a key partner in US anti-terrorism efforts, the Yemeni government has been treading very carefully since the USS Cole attack, seeking to appease both the US and the network of militants and their sympathizers, who include members of the military and security apparatus. Since 2003, there has been a fragile truce between the government and members of the umbrella group Qa‘idat al-Jihad fi al-Yemen (Base of Jihad in Yemen), which includes the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army and the al-Qaeda Sympathizers. Under this agreement, a number of militants were released from jail and, according to the September 25, 2003 Yemen Times, assurances were made that the government would “terminate its military cooperation with the US.” US pressure has also been intense and, accordingly, the government has swung between promises and counter-promises. The prison break is a symptom of this delicate and awkward balance. Anything that escalates the standoff with the Salafis is potentially very dangerous. The February “escape” points to three possibilities: the breakout was staged to prevent the detainees from implicating others; it is to pave the way for further militant operations; or it is simply a show of strength by the radicals. None of these possibilities bodes well for Yemen’s already diminished stability -- and the US has taken notice.

In January 2005, the House of Representatives passed a resolution including Yemen on a list of Arab countries whose “political and economic liberalization efforts” could “serve as a model” for the region. In November, however, Salih was told in Washington that his promises of reform were no longer sufficient. In a rather uncharacteristic message to a partner in the “war on terror,” top US officials criticized the regime’s failure to deliver on promised reforms and recommended the president quickly do more, lest he lose Washington’s support in Yemen’s 2006 presidential election. One US diplomat says privately: “Our policy in Yemen has really shifted in the last six months.” Another was reported in US News & World Report to have said: “We’re not going to give [the Yemeni government] a pass anymore.”
Two well-placed Yemeni observers report that Salih was shocked by the directness of the message he received in Washington, though his closest advisers counsel him that he need not be alarmed, since the US does not understand the dynamics of Yemeni politics. In the event, there have been no reform initiatives from the president since November other than a reshuffling of the cabinet and a promise to release 627 al-Huthi supporters from prison.
Stepped-up US pressure on Yemen to turn over al-Zindani for allegedly supplying arms and funds to al-Qaeda is another indicator of waning patience. Al-Zindani has been on the Treasury Department list as a “specially designated global terrorist” since February 2004, and his location in Yemen is well-known. The drive to have him extradited began in earnest following the February prison break, however, and was coupled with a letter to Salih from President George W. Bush, who used the missive to air his doubts about Yemen’s “commitment to the war on terrorism.”

ABSENCE OF LAW, ABSENCE OF WILL
Challenges to the economy, to national unity and to the legitimacy of the regime are linked to the toleration (some say the encouragement) of corruption by Yemen’s leadership and the absence of the rule of law. Both problems could be reduced in scale -- and quite quickly -- if the political will to do so existed. Corruption is not as entrenched as one might think, and Yemenis often recall the sense of shame that was attached to petty corruption until fairly recently. It gathered pace in the oil era that began in the mid-1980s, as the state gained the upper hand over the informal economy.

So, too, has the ineffectual legal system been a serious obstacle to development only since state power has become relatively centralized. Despite constitutional requirements to the contrary, the executive controls the state’s legal institutions. President Salih holds the chairmanship of the Supreme Judicial Council, seat of sole authority to appoint judges and prosecutors and to adjudicate challenges to election results. The centralization of government has created significant ambiguity over who -- the state or the local tribe -- exercises rightful control over territory and natural resources, as well as over who has the “right” to use violence. In the gaps grow patron-client relationships between the regime and military and tribal leaders, allowing the regime to preside over a divided society while also widening the divisions. The presence of traditional norms need not inhibit political development, but when they are manipulated as a means of distributing favors to a select few, they pose a major obstacle. In Yemen, that manipulation is simultaneously undermining both the traditional system and the state system that might replace it.

In such an unstable environment, local predictions are that the presidential and local elections scheduled for September 2006 will be a flashpoint, as frustrations at the country’s diminishing options boil over. Two opposition programs for reform reflect the deepening sense of crisis.
The Joint Meeting Party (JMP), a six-party coalition including Islah, the largest and best-organized opposition party, has yet to announce a candidate for president or to state unequivocally that they will do so. In an act that continues to taint their credibility, Islah nominated Salih as its own candidate in the 1999 presidential race. Nevertheless, the JMP’s “Document on National and Political Reform” lays bare many of the problems confronting the Yemeni state: “There are no more fantasies in the minds of Yemenis about the catastrophe that is waiting for them…. Total reform is the only choice.” Among other things, the document calls for the peaceful rotation of power, respect for the law and the constitution, the prevention of corruption, greater limitations on the role of the military and security apparatus, civil service reforms, greater popular empowerment and a functioning parliamentary system.
Leaving aside the question of whether the JMP knows how to achieve these reforms, the document’s power, and probably the reason behind the regime’s accusations of treason and conspiracy, lies in its articulation of a split between the opposition, particularly Islah, and the ruling party. This is a significant step, considering Islah’s historical place within the regime’s patronage network, and one that could mark the willingness of the popular Islamist party to oppose the government more coherently. This potential can only be enhanced by al-Ahmar’s recent departure to Saudi Arabia. Al-Ahmar has long functioned as Islah’s protective umbrella, shielding them from the regime, in part, by preventing them from pushing too far with political demands. His airport announcement that he was leaving Yemen to Salih and his sons had an air of strategic abdication to it, giving Islah the green light to play a more daring political game.
The other, still to be announced program is that of Sumayya Ali Raja. Raja was the first person to declare presidential candidacy from within Yemen and also the first female to enter the contest. Her platform, according to her political adviser Abd al-Ghani al-Iryani, focuses on those reforms that could conceivably be enacted quickly. Moving democratic ideals to the back burner, the program calls for immediate presidential intervention to reverse the rapidly deteriorating conditions that Yemen faces. For instance, the program suggests that the greatest drain on Yemen’s resources is the misuse of heavily subsidized diesel, mainly through smuggling but also through power generation. The program states that only one third of the 2.9 billion liters of diesel imported annually (costing around 25 percent of the national budget) are used for their intended purpose. Removing the subsidy, Raja’s platform suggests, would redistribute a vast amount of the national budget away from Yemen’s well-connected smugglers. Some of the savings could then be used to compensate smaller farmers who use subsidized diesel to power water pumps, and some to grant small salary increases to cover the difference in consumer costs for others. The program also calls for greater presidential involvement in preventing the theft of land, judicial independence along the lines of the Egyptian system and “equal opportunity and sufficient pay” within the civil service, a measure that would require only implementation of current laws but which, if achieved, would effectively fight the endemic corruption of civil servants forced to accept unacceptably low wages.

The JMP’s program hinges on a shift first in Yemen’s political institutions, while Raja’s program hinges on a shift first in political will. If observers are right that Salih has the election sewn up, the real question is whether the regime will listen to outside suggestions or whether they are so content in their historical dominance that they are blind to what has become plain to so many Yemeni citizens.

Pictures of Wadi Dahir

2006-04-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 07, 2006

Gah! The rain is really pouring down at the mo, accompanied by an orchestra of thunder and lighting – a Yemeni version of Fantasia without Mickey Mouse. I know the sa’ilah will have to be flooded even higher than in the last photo I posted but I’m afraid it will be too dark to take a decent photo before the rain has stopped and I can get out there.

The rains have also caused severe flooding in areas south of Sana’a causing 25 deaths as of last time I checked.

I’ve posted some pictures of my trip to the Imam’s Palace in Wadi Dahir. Most of the trees you will see in the photos should be a combination of fruit and qat trees.

I’ll touch on this weekend’s wedding/village trip soon (BTW, the weekend here is Thursday and Friday).

This is the Imam's palace

A view from the top of the Imam's palace

Yet another picture from atop of the Imam's palace

View #3 from atop the Imam's palace

This is a picture of a mafraj (Please note that this is a rather nice mafraj)

Stranger Than Fiction

2006-04-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

Friday, March 31, 2006

So, last weekend’s trip to Abdul Rahman’s village never actually happened. Sure, we started off on our journey, but since we didn’t have, no kidding, permission from the tourist police we were turned around at the first checkpoint. We instead decided to head off to see the Imam’s palace, Dar al-Hajir, in Wadi Dhahir (I think).

The “palace” is deceptively big inside and it made for an enjoyable, if tiring, diversion from our original goal. On the way back it was decided that we would have dinner at his uncle’s house.

This was my first dinner at a Yemeni’s house and man oh man it didn’t disappoint. I’m pretty easy going and I can double-dip a chip with the best of them, but it is difficult to show a lot of enthusiasm when you are sitting on the floor with four other people who think nothing of using their hands to tear off a piece of shared chicken, grabbing some shared rice and mashing it all together before putting it in their mouth.

The house of Abdul Rahman is located in Old Sana’a, very close to the school. The building itself is about 150 years old and looked it too. Even worse than the dinner was my trip to the bathroom; let’s say it’s a shoes required sort of trip. I experienced a moment of sheer terror as I slipped and almost fell.

Surprising, it was a western toilet but it would take an obscene amount of money for me to have actually sat on it. The two rather vicious spiders I saw didn’t help either. And for a frame of reference, I consider all spiders I see to be vicious. Just in case you were wondering, there was no toilet tissue but there was a bucket of water/cup next to the toilet. And that, my friends, is why it is considered impolite to pass food with your left hand…

Abdul Rahman assured us it was no problem if Evan and I wanted to stay the night, but I tactfully explained to him that I just didn’t feel comfortable unless I was sleeping in my own bed. Although that is pretty much a true statement, I would have told any lie I could have thought up in order to keep from sleeping in the same house as that toilet.

Today, Evan and I headed off for the Shumaila Hari super market to stock up on essentials. I am no longer eating Fruit Loops for breakfast and have instead switched to Trix. Before we went to Shumaila Hari, we decided to lunch at… drum roll please… Kentucky Fried Chicken. That’s right my friends. I ordered up three pieces of the Colonel’s finest and chowed down. Thank you Colonel, thank you.

Update

2006-04-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Please excuse my ramblings...

By my calculations, took me approximately three weeks to fall into a rut. It goes something like this… Wake, Eat, Study, Eat, Class, Internet Café, Eat, Study, Sleep. It is my own personal opinion that forty-nine weeks of that isn’t going to cut the mustard, so I’ve made it a priority to try and shake up the routine every so often. I manage do this with varying degrees of success.

About this time last week, when my stomach was feeling rather “delicate”, Evan suggested a break from traditional Yemeni food so we planned on going to the Syrian restaurant. After agreeing to meet him at the internet café later that night, I headed out from the school happy in the knowledge that I was going to eat that night’s dinner with utensils instead of my hands.

But of course, that isn’t what happened, is it? By mutual agreement, Evan went to the mafraj (the common room for social gatherings, etc) to see if any of the other students wanted to go. He was able to recruit Aaron and Aussie Girl, but Aaron wanted to go to the fish souq (market) for dinner that night.

To be honest, dinner at the fish souq was tasty and enjoyable, even if I did have to eat with my hands. How it works is rather bizarre. First we stopped at a fish souq and bought our fish. Then we took the fish next door to a restaurant where they cooked it up in sort of a stew. The stew comes with a huge slab of flatbread. You tear off pieces of the flatbread and use it to scoop up the stew right out of the pot.

If you have problems with the concept of “shared” food, then this probably isn’t the dinner for you. Still, it’s was yummy and ended up only costing each of us about $2.50. I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear that I made it to the Syrian restaurant the next day :)~

I had heard from one of the other students that is here with the American Institute for Yemeni Studies that there was, no kidding, a bowling alley here in Sana’a.

“It” Ladies and Gentlemen, is FUN CITY, a cultural Chernobyl on the outskirts of Sana’a. It’s not quite Neverland Ranch and there is no Jesus Juice but they do have quite a few amusement park rides, a “southern” fried chicken restaurant, and… a bowling alley with pool tables!

It was Aussie Girl’s last night in Sana’a last Monday so six of us students got together and headed out there. It costs about $2.50 to get an entrance ticket to the bowling alley (which comes with a free game of bowling) and each game thereafter is about $0.50.

The day before we went bowling, I ran into a Yemeni gentleman that I had met at a wedding party my second day here. I had totally forgotten his face and his name, but he hadn’t forgotten mine. I incorrectly guessed his name to be Mohammed (which, by the way, is usually a safe bet) but he didn’t seem to mind.

Long story short, I spent the next three hours exhausting my Arabic vocabulary trying to be witty and interesting, which is hard for me to do in English, much less Arabic.

His name is Abdul Rahman. By the end of our talk I was invited to his village for the weekend (which is about 150 miles north of Sana’a). I managed to convince Evan (which wasn’t very hard) to join me.

While at Abdul Rahman's house, we were invited to wedding of one of Abdul Rahman’s cousins, so the following weekend, Evan and I are heading back to the village.

Evan is rather excited about going to the wedding. This is because Sheikh al-Ahmar is supposed to be there. If Evan is correct, Sheikh al-Ahmar is the leader of the Islah political party here in Yemen. He also has the dubious distinction of being a man the USA has asked be arrested by the Yemeni government and not allowed to leave Yemen. Of course it is our goal to try and get a photo-op with him.

In honor of being invited to such an auspicious event, Evan and I have decided to bedeck ourselves in full Yemeni garb, to include the jambiya (a decorative knife that all the men wear). There may be photos…

Generic Dictator Chant

2006-03-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

I originally posted this on my Word of the Day blog (which I've been studiously neglecting) but I don't think many peeps hit that site and I wanted to share this with everybody back home.

It's a generic dictator chant!

!(Insert random dictator's name) بالروح بالدم نفديك يا
{biruuh bidim nafdiik Ya (random dictator's name)}

This loosely translates to "With soul, with blood, we sacrifice - Oh (random dictator's name)!

Don't be shy, I know you want put Bush's name in that chant ;)~

And I wonder, still I wonder - who'll stop the rain?

2006-03-14T07:03:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to get the photos I mentioned in my last post and to get to the internet cafe at a time when the connection was working well enough to get them all uploaded to my blog.

I remember reading a post where it was asked if a person should bring rain gear with them. During the current rainy season you could definitely get away with wearing a poncho (they even sell them at the Shumaila Hari Supermarket) and with using an umbrella, but truth be told, you really don't wantt to be outside in that stuff when it's coming down. Just wait a couple of hours and it'll be over.

Before...

During...

After...

Yusef Islam

2006-03-11T02:49:00.000-08:00

Friday, March 10, 2006

Yesterday I accompanied English Tom to the Shumaila Hari Supermarket as I had to score some more Fruit Loops. Technically, English Tom accompanied me to the supermarket and I accompanied him to the Chinese restaurant around the corner from the supermarket as he was on a beer run. In case you’re curious, they are charging 700 riyals per can at the moment.

On the way back, English Tom suggested we get some food to go from the Jordanian restaurant. Part of his boycott of Yemeni food pending his imminent departure. After loading up on shwarma, we headed off in a taxi to Bab al-Yemen. After a few minutes, I mentioned to English Tom that I must have been zoning out because it sounded like part of the music that was playing in the taxi was in English. We both had a good laugh but it turns out I wasn’t zoning at all. Our taxi driver was playing none other than Cat Stevens who I believe is known in the Middle East as Yusef Islam, and in the U.S. as persona non grata.

As he was sitting in the front seat, English Tom commented on the cassette, to the driver, who was more than happy to talk to him about the music, probably because every other word on the cassette was Allah. Long story short, English Tom got out of the taxi the proud owner of a Cat Stevens aka Yusef Islam tape.

Today I managed to sleep most of the afternoon, which is always nice. After finally waking up and getting ready for the day, I headed out to the Internet café. The first thing I noticed was the angry, black clouds glowering ominously at me as I made my way to Tahrir Square. It was shortly after I arrived at the Internet café that the rains came – big, fat drops that held the promise of renewal. Yemen was referred to as Arabia Felix (Fortunate Arabia?) by the Romans (I think that’s right).

I managed to ride out the cloudburst inside the confines of the Internet café. On my way home I discovered that the rains weren’t so lucky for some intrepid taxi drivers. The main street that runs through Old Sana’a (the Wadi?) was a raging torrent of dirty, debris-filled water that reached the bumpers of the three taxis that I saw stalled in its waters. According to Aaron, I can expect to see some of those taxis floating down the Wadi when more severe rains come.

I apologize for not having my camera with me to get a picture of it, but I’ll have plenty of opportunity according to a conversation I had with a Yemeni man on my way home. The “rainy” season that will occur in the Fall will be worse and that the water level will get much higher. The Wadi is at a lower level than the part of Old Sana’a that it runs through. It is bricked on both sides to a rather high level. I promise to post a picture of it soon.

An Englishman in Sana'a

2006-03-07T05:53:00.000-08:00

Please forgive my typos...

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Yesterday was English Tom’s 24th birthday and his third in the Middle East. He leaves for England in about seven days now and as part of his final testing, his instructor went with him to the souq and had English Tom barter for a jambiya (which is a decorative knife worn by Yemenis).

Somehow his instructor had cajoled him to bedeck himself in full Yemeni regalia on his birthday and to wear it for the entire day. English Tom asked me to lunch that afternoon and I’m assuming that wanted me as his security blanket as he felt a little conspicuous. He complained often on how everybody thought it was funny to take the piss out of him, but I think he privately enjoyed the attention.

Of course, like any Englishman worth his salt, he had prepared for a big booze-up in the mafraj. I donated 3,000 riyals to the cause and he even managed to convince the female students to cook for the party. After securing a couple bottles of gin and vodka, English Tom was set.

Now, alcohol in the mafraj isn’t technically permitted at CALES but we weren’t worried that staff would come up to see what was happening due to the fact that the staff assiduously avoids the mafraj. I think it has something to do with the male and female students utilizing the mafraj at the same time. I’m pretty certain that the mundane conversations that take place between the male and female students is viewed with the same disapproval as if orgies were going on (they aren’t, btw).

Andrea managed to procure some birthday balloons and a string of flashing lights and the food was surprisingly good. Aussie Girl somehow got a head start on the drinking and seemed pretty well lit by the time everybody else got their drinks. Around 9:00pm, English Tom poured Aussie Girl into bed as she had begun flopping around like a fish even though we stopped serving her at 8:15 or so.

Three students have come down with an illness of some sorts. My friend Evan got sick almost a week ago, then about three days ago Aaron became sick. This morning Andrea was complaining of chills. I think Evan’s illness may be unrelated as his symptoms appear to differ from Aaron’s and Andrea’s.

Today Evan had finally had enough and went to the Yemeni-German Hospital to try and find out what was wrong. About four hours after he left, Evan came back to describe his experience. The appointment consisted of some blood drawing and a, ahem, stool sample.

So, they hand Evan a cup and told him to go into the bathroom and get busy. The first thing that Evan noticed was that there was no soap in the bathroom. The second thing he noticed was that there was no light in the bathroom. Now, one of the symptoms of Evan’s sickness is uh… loose stool. So here is a guy with loose bowels, in a bathroom with no light, trying to crap in a cup. Oh yeah! The kicker, according to Evan, was when the guy escorting him around the hospital shook his hand right after he came out of the bathroom.

Evan has started taking some antibiotics that they gave him before he left the States and thinks it is helping. Personally, I plan on not getting sick.

Earlier in the week when I went with Evan to look for Pizza Hut, we stopped by the Shumaila Hari Supermarket on the way back. For the past few days I’ve been eating Fruit Loops and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – Yeah baby!

It’s not that I have a problem eating Yemeni dishes; it’s just that it is a pain to go out every time I want something to eat. I still average about a meal a day at a restaurant. Eating out is cheap depending on what you order and where you eat. I usually get a half order of chicken with rice or hummus, some bread and a Fanta Orange to wash it down. The cost averages about 360-400 riyals (or about $1.90-$2.10).

If you order meat, you have to be careful to specify that you want beef and not goat or you’ll end up paying more for that little privilege. If you order chicken, you have to specify how much of the chicken you want. I find that a half order of chicken and some rice is more than I can finish.

Since most eating is done without utensils, I lick my fingers every so often to get the majority of the grease/juices off and then tear off and eat a piece of flatbread, which has the effect of cleaning off most of the remaining junk from your fingers.

Monday, March 06, 2006

This morning Evan and I woke bright and early so that we could head down to the local clinic and have our blood drawn for the monthly AIDS test. They let me give them about $30.00 for the peace of mind of knowing that I don’t have AIDS.

The clinic was beside the Kuwaiti Hospital and although it seemed rather basic, I didn’t get the impression it was dirty. The nurses spoke to me in English and they did a better job of drawing blood than the nurse at my doctor’s office did right before I left for Yemen. Evan, unfortunately, was unable to have his blood drawn as he did not have the two passport photos that were required.

Evan and I walked back from the clinic and stopped in at an internet café. I tried to Skype Traci but the connectivity was so bad that we couldn’t get through. This was enough for me to get irritated to the point that I told Evan I was going to go buy a cell phone.

Now, I had wanted to make friends with a Yemeni before I bought a cell phone here so that he could help me with the purchase as I didn’t want to pay the “foreigner” price but I couldn’t be bothered to wait any longer. After walking around and asking in my best Arabic “Do you sell mobile phones? I don’t need a new one, just a cheap one.” in about 7 or 8 likely looking shops (of which only 2 actually sold cell phones), I finally found a place that would had one for about $57.00, and new to boot. I even got a one-year warrantee with it! Woot!

Earlier, Evan had told me that one of his Yemeni friends had gotten him a cell phone for $40, and that a female friend of his bought her phone on her own for $120, so I figured my price was in the right ballpark. The other place I found that sold cell phones quoted me a price of $140, so I decided to go ahead and buy the one for $57. Of course, I can’t actually use my cell phone today as my passport is at the hospital where I had my blood test done and they can’t sell me a simcard for the cell phone without my passport.

On my way back from purchasing my new cell phone, I stopped to take a photo of a doorway to one of the Yemeni houses.

Right after I had taken my photo, out popped a cute little Yemeni girl who asked me to take her photo.

That was the calm before the picture storm. I suddenly became besieged with requests to take pictures by every kid in the vicinity. I finally managed to beat a hasty retreat and returned to my room.

One of the additional photos I took of the children was actually worth keeping so that was a nice surprise.

Fear and Loathing in Sana'a

2006-03-05T03:38:00.000-08:00

Please forgive my typos...

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Wednesday night here is the beginning of the weekend. It seemed like all the other nights before it but it was different in many ways…

If a person wishes to study Arabic abroad, I think they should clarify what they are looking to get out the experience. This was a topic brought up earlier by Evan. I think many people are attracted to Yemen for several reasons – It’s inexpensive, you receive one on one instruction, and you have to communicate almost solely in Arabic which helps reinforce your learning.

Just thinking of Yemen evokes images of the exotic. Yemen has many things to offer the aspiring student of Arabic, but excitement isn’t it. To be honest, Sana’a is rather boring and has absolutely no nightlife – or so I thought…

It’s called Tourist City. I believe it’s mainly a place disaffected Saudis and bored expatriates frequent. Wednesday night I finished my class around 8:30pm and was unlocking the door to my room when English Tom popped into the common area for my floor to announce that it was time to leave for the Palestinian club.

I was actually quite hungry at the time and had intended to find some chicken and then hit the internet café to make my chess plays but an evening with English Tom is better than food so I put my things away and joined the other students on their pilgrimage for booze and dance music.

There were eight of us in two taxis. The first sight that greeted me was a guard with a suspiciously Russian looking automatic weapon. It is his job to keep out the local populace. After checking to make sure we all looked foreign (I guess that’s what he was doing) he waved us on in.

Tourist City is a gated community that houses at least two dive bars, the Russian club and the Palestinian Club. It turns out that the Palestinian club didn’t open until 11pm but the Russian club was open so off we headed to the Russian club. Along the way, English Tom pointed out that the American Embassy was right across the street from Tourist City – coincidence?

Shortly after our arrival English Tom went to the gate to try and help get Hadda(sp?) into the club. I don’t quite have the full story on her. From what I gathered, she is the daughter of an Arab diplomat. I don’t believe she is very popular in Sana’a as she has lived in many places and isn’t particularly fond of behaving in the manner Yemeni society expects.

After a couple of beers (about $5 for a small and $7.50 for a large), everybody was ready to head off to the Palestinian club where we were allowed the privilege of paying 1,000 Riyals to get in. It was as we were waiting to get inside that I noticed that one of our students, Laura, was having problems walking. I don’t know what she drank at the Russian club, but Hadda was practically holding her up. Unfortunately for her, she made it into the Palestinian club but the effort must have taken her remaining energy because within about five minutes English Tom was taking up a collection so that Hadda could take Laura back to the school.

The Palestinian club was actually nicer than the Russian club. It’s roomier with more tables at which to sit, fog machine, lighting effects and a bar staff that actually moves like they get paid.

I don’t dance (neither did the other guys by the looks of things but that didn’t stop them) so I stayed at the bar while everybody else hit the floor. While everybody else was dancing, I noticed an older gentleman at the bar that looked more Indonesian than Arabic but who appeared to speak Arabic well. I remember thinking that he was acting the ass towards the barmaid but then went back to watching my fellow students boogie on the dance floor.

Somehow, the ass at the bar had managed to insist on buying one of our female students (whom I’ll call Aussie Girl) a drink and wanted to take over to one of the tables to talk. Shortly after, Aussie Girl, deciding she’d had enough, began heading back to the bar followed by ass-man. English Tom showed up right at that moment and began arguing, in Arabic, with ass-man about leaving Aussie Girl alone. I pulled Aussie Girl behind me and English Tom, and waited to see what would happen next.

Circumstances definitely didn’t disappoint when one of our newly made, drunken Saudi friends wrapped his arms around ass-man, picks him up, and carries him off! Now that’s entertainment!
Shortly thereafter, ass-man made his way back to the bar and proceeds to harass the barmaid but pointedly ignored us. Alas, the damage was done and soon English Tom and I left with Aussie Girl and American Tom for home.

So, if you are dying to have an overpriced drink and the chance for a little excitement, Tourist City is the place for you!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

With the memory of last night firmly in the back of my head, I woke up bright and early (well, for me anyway) and headed off for the internet café to call my wife.

I installed Skype on her PC before I left and most the PCs at the internet café have Skype so we can talk for free. The only problem is that due to the time zone difference, I have to make it to the internet café no later than 10am to make the call at a reasonable time in Seattle.

Evan showed up around 11am and soon we were off on another lovely adventure! There are two (that I’ve found thus far) rather modern supermarkets in Sana’a. Evan, who has become desperately tired of eating out, wanted to visit one of them to buy things he could prepare in the kitchen at the school so off we went.

Along the way, Evan decided that he could not end the day without eating at Pizza Hut (which later English Tom declared to be crap). Understanding Evan's situation, I agreed to accompany him and we began looking for Huda Street. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds because for some reason, the Yemenis decided not to put any signs up identifying it as Huda Street. Man oh man we walked a long way on Al-Zubari Street before finding out that we had gone way too far and had to double back.

Huda Street is a very long street. I suggested jumping in a taxi van but Evan wasn’t jiggy with that idea so we walked. And we walked. And we walked. We finally passed the Shumaila Hari Supermarket when Evan decided to give up on Pizza Hut and eat at a place that seemed suitably western for his tastes. As it turns out, we never would have found Pizza Hut as it’s not actually on Huda Street but on a street branching off of it.

Later that evening Evan and I were hanging out in the mafraj with Aussie Girl when English Tom invited us to the British club - yet another place where one can have a drink in Yemen but as a non-Brit I couldn't actually get in without English Tom. I begged off but Evan, with our failure to find Pizza Hut weighing heavy on his heart, was tempted into accompanying English Tom but the promise of a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich and relatively cheap beer. Although it was hard to resist English Tom (and the BLT) I bowed out due to the need for some quiet time.

BTW, if you come to Yemen and bring a surge protector to use with your laptop, be sure the surge protector is for use with 220 voltage and not 110. Um, er, uh… just trust me on this one.

A Little Taste of Syriana

2006-03-01T03:14:00.000-08:00

Please excuse my typos...

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Today is my first day of class. Jameel told me that he really wants me to study with a specific instructor, but because of his other student obligations, the time slot is from 6-8pm. Supposedly this will only be for a couple more weeks as some of Mr. Ghaleb’s students will be leaving then.

I was lucky enough to get a room in the CALES proper. At least I feel it to be lucky, even with having to use the squatter. Evan explained to me that there is another residence building that actually has Western toilets, but I’ve personally grown quite fond of the squatter. I also won’t have to worry about getting to class once the rainy season starts (it rained yesterday, btw)

I have decided to answer the question of where I am from with:

“ أنا من أمريكا ولكن في قلبي أنا يمني ”
(I’m from America but in my heart I’m a Yemeni)

Why you ask? Just in case. Just in case…

Sleepy Gary – 2, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 2

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Today I set off on my own to find a place to get a haircut and promptly got myself lost. I wasn’t worried as I was sure that I’d find a familiar landmark eventually.

As I walked along I noticed quite a strong police presence which made me wonder if I should have stayed at home that day. Soon thereafter I stumbled upon to gentlemen that I believe said that they were part of some sort of civil defense (don’t quote me on that). What I did understand was that the reason for all the police on the street was that the “president of Palestine” was arriving in Sana’a today. They also shared some of their watermelon with me. After thanking them for their generosity I continued on my way, more relaxed for having found out that the police presence wasn’t a concern of mine.

As luck would have it, I found a barber shop and got myself a spiffy haircut and about ten minutes of conversation practice. After my barber had finished I asked him how much I owed him. Although, I didn’t understand him at first, I realized he was playing the how much do you think you should pay game. I asked him how much the price was normally. He said 500 riyals which I knew was too high so I offered 300, and what do you know, he said okay! To be honest, 300 riyals was still a bit too much, but I did get some conversation practice thrown in there so I figured it was a wash.

The internet café that Sophia took me to the other day is pretty good so I’ve decided to continue using it (plus it’s smoke free). I’ve yet to pay more than a dollar for any of my visits there. I think I’ve been averaging around $0.75 per visit or so. Aaron mentioned that there are some cheaper places around so I may look around for them later.

Speaking of Aaron, he’s found several places that sell DVDs. Of course, they’re illegally copied, but it’s okay because when I was in Korea a gentleman explained to me that it’s not wrong to buy illegal DVDs because the average person couldn’t afford to buy the legal DVDs. I’ve often wondered how much weight that defense would carry in a court of law. Last night Aaron showed those of us in the mafraj the latest t-shirt he bought in Tahrir Square. It had a logo in the upper right corner that stated (in English) the wearer of the shirt was a counter-terrorism instructor. I’m not sure if he plans to wear it, but my money says he will.

Sleepy Gary – 2, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 3

Monday, February 27, 2006

Today was laundry day. Please don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t actually DO the laundry myself – I took it to a laundry that is very close to the school. Six days worth of clothes ended up being 830 riyals, or about $4.50.

I haven’t been very hungry since arriving in Yemen. English Tom says he heard it was because of the altitude but who knows. I’m gonna have to find some food tonight after my class as I met Evan at the internet café and ended up skipping lunch and just getting some juice at a fruit stand instead. It seems that Evan had been violently ill the night before and had no desire to try his luck with food right then.

Sleepy Gary – 3, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 3

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Just down from the internet café I frequent there is a nice gentleman selling sweets; baklava mostly with some other variations – a street vendor. When Evan and I first happened upon him he asked us where we were from and I could visibly see his expression change as we told him we were from America. When he muttered in a somewhat dejected manner that he was from Iraq I understood his reaction.

The irony of the situation was palpable. Here is a man that probably left his country due to the conditions resulting from America’s invasion and he was serving sweets to people from the nation that invaded his country. I’ve decided to make a point of stopping by his stand after every visit to the internet café to buy baklava… an apology of sorts.

Tonight was dinner at the Syrian restaurant (Al Sham I think). Unless you have been to Yemen, you probably don’t realize the significance of this.

Yemen is like no other country in the Middle East. This difference extends to their food. Traditional dishes from the Levantine that normally pop into a person’s head just don’t exist here. Yemenis also tend to eat with their hands and use flatbread to scoop up anything they don’t eat with their hands. Perhaps the sole exception is rice, which they use a spoon to eat. Eating at Al Sharm was a more enjoyable experience inasmuch as we had a full set of flatware and a much larger selection of food (Yemeni meals don’t tend to have much variety).

Towards the end of our meal the owner (who is Syrian) came over to our table to ask us how our meal was and then brought us some dessert and tea on the house. After the more basic experience of Yemeni restaurants, it seemed a luxury.

Speaking of traditional Yemeni food, Evan has been rather ill the past couple of days. We think it’s food poisoning as it began a few hours after we left a restaurant. Luckily I wasn’t hungry and only had a coke. And speaking of coke, I’ve pretty much decided to switch to Fanta soda whenever I decide to drink something other than water. The carbonation from Fanta as compared to Coke or Pepsi is much smoother, in my opinion, when consumed at this altitude.

I think that the food poisoning episode (if it was food poisoning) kind of got to Evan as he was a little down on the Yemeni restaurant scene and was declaring his intent to find the Pizza Hut before the week was out. Not having gotten sick, and having an ungodly ability to eat the same thing day in and day out, I haven’t reached Evan’s level of desire for Pizza Hut but then, I’m not one for turning down pizza if the opportunity arises :)

If you are planning to come to Yemen to study, please don’t bother with an AIDS test as you will just have to get one here (if you are going to study longer than your tourist visa is good for). As a matter of fact, you’ll have to keep getting one for each month that you stay past the time for which your tourist visa is good.

I also have to get a letter from the embassy (due to my need for a residency visa) stating that they have no objections to my being/studying here. Evan has already made that trip and it seems that not only does the U.S. Embassy here in Yemen not care if I live/study in Yemen; they have no clue why the Yemenis want it.

I think that there are currently about 30 or so students studying at CALES. There seems to be a good mix of nationalities. So far I’ve encountered students from England, America, Spain, France, Germany, Australia and Finland. Supposedly enrollment picks up towards the summer months.

Sleepy Gary – 4, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 3

The Adventure Continues...

2006-02-25T05:10:00.000-08:00

Please forgive any typos :)

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Day two has seen quite a bit of progress so far. Not in learning Arabic but in other equally rewarding ways.

I’ve used the squatter twice now and I’m happy to say that I’ve not had any problems yet. I attribute this to Pepto Bismal (of which I brought tons) but it could just be dumb luck. I also got to experience my first random power outage.

I’m on my way to getting my residency visa. Mohammed took me to a local bank to open up an account. It really made me appreciate banks in America. Now, I’m not quite certain how to go about getting my money back out, but Mohammed has assured me that he will show me how in a few days.

God IS great or so I am told five times each day over a loudspeaker. A loudspeaker that seems to be very close to my window. Fortunately I managed to sleep through this morning’s reminder of his greatness. I’m not sure I will be so lucky in the future, but I was pretty exhausted last night. I don't mind hearing the call to prayer first thing in the morning, but the guy doing it in my location sounds like he's dying.

You might think this is a bit crazy, but I brought 180, Omega 3 Fish Oil capsules with me. After a few hours on the streets of Sana’a, I quickly decided that this was one of my finer decisions. Wait – is fish oil an antioxidant?

I was quickly disabused of any notions I had of properly maintaining my blog while in Yemen. Perhaps I will find a better Internet café, but it took me a good 16 minutes to send off one email. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were sharing a 56k line among all the computers in the room. I had thought that CALES had a computer room available for use, but I must have been mistaken or just haven’t come across it yet.

Mohammed introduced me to his son, Ali, this morning. Ali is a nice guy who speaks English a bit better than I speak Arabic, so between the two of us we manage to understand each other. Ali is only in Sana’a for a couple of weeks while he waits for University to begin again. He has only just begun studying but it is his intention to become a doctor, which he knows will take a long time.

I met the director of CALES, Jameel, this morning. I paid for my tuition, room, and materials for one year which came to a grand total of $4,235. Through in my airfare ($1,750 or so) and assume costs of $200 monthly for food and it comes to a grand total of $8,385. Jameel also assured me that if I need to leave early for some reason, I can be reimbursed for the unused portion of my tuition/room. Of course, there are other expenses like for extending my visa, passport photos, blood tests, overweight baggage, etc. (The cost to study per hour decreases the long your stay).

Speaking of overweight baggage, if you think you might need it, bring it. I may seem a pain to hassle with all that junk, but it has certainly made my transition to being here in Yemen much easier, although, I'm certain you will find everything you need eventually.

This evening I had a most excellent adventure with another student here – English Tom. English Tom is a character inasmuch as he decided one day that he was going to go to Damascus to study Arabic. He stayed there for nine months before coming to study in Yemen at CALES. I asked him his opinion and he felt that he has been able to learn much more here. I think that is due more to the one on one instruction students receive here at CALES.

Anyway, back to my adventure. It seems that another student here, Aaron, was supposed to go into “New Sana’a” with English Tom but decided not to go and instead offered me up as his proxy. Of course, not knowing up from down at the moment, I was more than happy to tag along.

It turns out that English Tom was on a mission to secure some beer from a Chinese restaurant near one of the modern supermarkets here. Tom believes the restaurant is owned by an Ethiopian gentleman and has never eaten there, but suspected that the food was bad.

It is my understanding that alcohol isn’t forbidden here, at least not to foreigners, but that the government hasn’t set in place a system by which a foreigner can buy alcohol – Thus the need to hit the black market. Tom handled himself with the assuredness of an Englishman that was in desperate need of a drink but conducted the business entirely in English even though his Arabic is quite good. Tom said that even though it wasn’t illegal for foreigners to buy alcohol, he just didn’t feel right using Arabic while making his purchase.

A very bright young man, he is leaving for England soon to continue interviewing for a position with the office of Foreign Affairs. My favorite moment of the night was when Tom decided he needed some bread for the night and stopped at a small bread shop. For some reason, after Tom bought the bread one of the Yemenis there asked him, in Arabic, if he were Christian. To which Tom replied back in Arabic, “Yes, but in the future I will convert to Islam, if God wills it.” I thought that to be a very diplomatic response from somebody wishing to work for their government.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

I don’t know exactly what it is, but I always seem thirsty here. It’s not overwhelmingly hot, so maybe it is the dry air due to the elevation. My lips also seem constantly dry. Speaking of which, I think the elevation in Sana’a gives carbonated drinks an extra kick.

I almost didn’t have an entry for tonight, not that I need to have an entry every night, because tonight was interesting for only being my second full day here.

I spent a lot of time yesterday walking around with Mohammed and forgot to put sunscreen on the back of my neck. I didn’t actually get sunburned but very close to it. So today I thought it best if I didn’t go out during the day. Unfortunately, that meant that by that evening I was stark-raving hungry. One of the other newer students, Sofia, said that Aaron was taking here to the silver souq and afterwards they were going to eat if I wanted to come along. Not knowing Sana’a yet and irrationally fearful of getting lost while trying to find a restaurant on my own, I was only happy to agree, and thus my lovely adventure began…

Aaron took Sofia to see Ahmed. If I understood this situation correctly, Ahmed takes old jewelry that was originally fashioned by Jewish silversmiths, and makes new pieces with it. Evidently, the old pieces are quite large and he basically breaks them down, cleans them and creates smaller pieces that are more palatable to Western tastes. His work is good and his prices are fair. This has led to more senior students taking the newer students to him and so on. Ahmed seems to understand well that if he does good work and doesn't try to cheat people, he will keep getting business.

Although, I didn’t buy anything myself (I’m here for a year so I’ve plenty of time), I will no doubt be buying things there in the future. To be honest, I’d be stupid not to. The pieces that they are using to make the smaller pieces are anywhere from 80 to 120 years old.

While downing a nice tasty cup of tea that Ahmed offered, Sofia bought a couple of necklaces and then wanted to go to the “expensive” shop were she saw a pricey bracelet that she also wanted. The shop (World Market) is good, but I think they charge a premium for their work.

Now, I’m not sure what Sophia was doing at the second shop, but she was taking forever to do it. I didn’t mind too much as I was the one tagging along and the pace of life doesn’t move fast here anyway. Aaron makes for good conversation even if he seems full of angst at times. Finally Sophia finished her business and apologized. I really didn’t care as that meant it was dinner time! But alas, no – now it was time to try and find the women’s section of a wedding party that was underway, which also somehow turned into a search for her missing camera bag. Somehow I ended up in the wedding tent with Aaron and Sophia (she never did find the women’s section – it was rather far away I think).

Now, I think you can see where this is going… after a while Sophia left to turn in for the night and I stayed with Aaron, with no dinner, mostly out of fear of getting lost on the way home. Finally, I took matters into my own hands and got directions from Aaron to a bread shop and got four small loaves (hotdog bun size?) of bread for 20 Riyals, which is about 10 cents.

Yes, after waiting a good four and a half hours to eat dinner, I ended up supping on my bread at about 11:00pm. I actually consider myself lucky as the bread was quite tasty and even leaving the wedding party that late, I was being asked to stay even later by some of the guests. Today and tomorrow is the weekend here, and although I really didn’t have anything better to do I begged off their invitation claiming a great need for sleep. I’m also going to need to work something out regarding my desire not to chew qat as it gets tiresome having people constantly offering me their qat and not understanding why I keep saying no. Qat is Yemen and Yemen is qat.

And if anybody is interested, the count is currently:
Sleepy Gary – 1, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 1

Friday, February 24, 2006

Today as I was heading out from CALES in an attempt to find a good internet café, I met Sophia on her way in. After explaining to her what I was up to she offered to show me a place in Tahrir Square. I’m sure that she had good intentions but you know what they say about those. And so begins my story…

Sophia wanted to drop her bag off in her room as the strap was coming undone. And that was when the warp began. Now, I only just suspected her ability to warp time the other night when I followed her and Aaron to the silver souq. But today I was able to confirm her mutant ability of time warp.

While dropping off her bag, I ran into Evan who asked to come along for some Internet action followed up with some lunch. For some reason, Sophia pulled out an Egyptian cookbook and declared her desire to shop for ingredients for and Egyptian dinner (warp #1). Now, normally this would seem like a good idea, but firstly, she’s a vegetarian and secondly, she warps time.

So, about an hour later, we head out to find Sophia’s internet café. True to her word, she found it easily enough, and it is a nice place. Evan and I quickly got our business done which for me was quite a bit as I had to email my wife, check my blog and wade through about three hundred emails. We both began surfing while waiting for Sophia to finish, that’s when we noticed she was searching the internet for information about Jewish silversmiths and printing out pictures from various web sites (warp #2). Please folks, remember this bit as it is tied to a future warp.

Finally, she finished up and we headed out to find a restaurant. That’s when the third warp began. Being a vegetarian, Sophia didn’t want to go to any of the nearby restaurants but was intent on going to a place she found in a Lonely Planet guidebook. Yes, you guessed it; said vegetarian restaurant was far, far away. Now, we never actually got her restaurant and randomly settled for a place that we were passing at the moment we finally gave up. This was a couple hours after we started walking. Evan was in near rebellion.

Along the way, we did stop in a honey shop. I had previously read that Yemen has the world’s most expensive honey and due to a slight mathematical error on my part, I ended up paying $8 for a very small container of it. Exactly how small I’m afraid I don’t know but it’s barely half the size of my fist. But, my oh my, it’s some mighty fine tasting honey! I had some of it with bread this morning. Yum!

As we walked back to the school, Evan got sucked into a conversation with a local but to his credit, managed to keep walking towards the school at the same time. Sophia however, stopped to talk to another Yemeni that she says has been trying to be her tour guide. I didn’t realize that Evan had gotten that far ahead of us but by the time I got Sophia moving again, I had lost site of Evan. It was at this point that warp #4 begins. Sophia asked if we could go pick up her bracelet at on of the shops in the silver souk. I remember it being kind of close from the night I followed her and Aaron so I said okay.

Now, I’m not a demanding person, but I do appreciate it if a person asks me to go with them to a place where they actually KNOW how to find and preferable, find their way back. Not everybody seems to think this is important I found out. Somehow, we stumbled on the shop in question after wandering aimlessly.

It was at this point we smoothly transitioned into warp #5. It seems that Sophia didn’t just want to pick up her bracelet and go. She proceeded to bring out the pictures she had printed at the internet café and discuss, what seemed to be, the history of the smithing of silver in Yemen. I stood there in shock disbelief for about forty minutes before deciding to take matters into my own hand by reminding Sophia about her needing to study for her classes.

Reality is the only word in the English language that should always be used in quotes…

Sleepy Gary – 1, Annoying Call to Prayer Guy – 2

My Big Fat Yemeni Adventure

2006-02-24T04:02:00.000-08:00

Yay I made it! And without further ado...

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Finally, safe and somewhat sound, I’ve arrived in Sana’a and settled into CALES. The past several days as I traveled from Seattle, Washington to Yemen have helped prepare me for the beginning of my stay. No matter how bad things become, I can always remind myself that at least I’m not in transit.

My flights here were mostly uneventful and more than tolerable. That was until I made it to Dubai where I had a 12 hour layover. My plan was to get my luggage and then check into the Dubai International Hotel (located in the airport). What I didn’t realize is that once I went through customs to get to my baggage, I couldn’t get back into the airport as Yemenia Airlines’ desk didn’t open until three hours before the flight was to take place. I didn’t want to hassle with trying to find a hotel offsite so I decided to wait it out in the check-in area. My ass still isn’t speaking to me.

I was met Sana’a International Airport by Mohammed who took me to CALES and my room before taking me off to get exchange some money and grab a bite to eat. I was so worried about getting through customs that I literally walked out of the airport without my luggage. Mohammed and I were on our way to the car before I figured out what was going on. Nothing like making a good first impression I always say. I really appreciated being met by Mohammed and him taking the time to show me around. Granted, one of his functions is to help facilitate the arrivals of new students, but I think he could have done much less if he had wanted, but he was very thorough and patient.

Let me do a quick critique of the airports I went through on my way here:

Dubai – although I was unable to enjoy its splendor properly due to my getting stuck waiting for the Yemenia Airlines desk to open, it was by far the nicest airport. No smoking too! Boo-yah!

Seattle – Second best of the group. It doesn’t have the glitz of Dubai or the style of Frankfort, but the things it does have put it into a strong second.

Frankfurt – Stylish in a European way, it ranks behind Seattle due to the entire place smelling of smoke (I’m okay with others smoking, I just don’t like the smell). The bathrooms seemed kind of cramped too. The airport employees here get around the airport by bike which I though was a neat idea until I saw them riding while looking every which way but where they were going. The kicker was when I saw one riding his bike while talking on his cell-phone.

Washington DC (Dulles) – on the plus side, they had a Starbucks on the negative side, they forgot about my drink. Small bathrooms and a lack of panache made this second from last.

Sana’a – If you’ve ever been here you’ll know why this is the last of the airports on my list but hey, they did have a duty free shop!

Sana’a reminds me a lot of southern Spain in some ways, possibly the Moorish influence. CALES is smack dab in the middle of Old Sana’a. The common areas were pretty clean which I much appreciated (but I’ve not been to the kitchen yet). My room is adequately furnished (nothing special) and the foam mattress on my bed really brings back my memories of Rota, Spain. I met Evan today as I was coming back from dinner with Mohammed (which I got to eat with my hands!) I quickly quizzed Evan about the toilet situation. Yes folks, we’ve got the Turkish Special!

Evan explained that the students are responsible for providing their own TP and offered to take me to one of the larger grocers in the area later on after I’ve settled in. Luckily I brought a lot of tissues with me from home as a stop-gap measure for just such an event. I’ve been putting off using the squatter (as I will call it from now on) but I know it’s only a matter of time.

Tomorrow I get to meet the school’s director, Jameel, and do a few other things that Mohammed mentioned but I’ve since forgot.

Sana'a Calling

2006-02-18T23:25:00.000-08:00

I'm off to Yemen (in about seven hours). I'll post again soon (I hope). I'm bringing my digital camera so hopefully I can get some photos posted too.

Cheers

Arab Academy

2006-02-13T23:15:00.000-08:00

I think it’s time for another Arabic Study Materials post. I’ll probably try and do a few more after this as I don’t think I’ll be doing any while in Yemen.

I hadn’t studied Arabic since I left the Defense Language Institute in December 1989. Last spring my wife suggested I take an Arabic class at the Washington Academy of Language.

Their Arabic I class was based on the Alif Baa book, which I think is a good book for somebody that has no knowledge of Arabic but that wasn’t my case. Even worse, I was told by the instructor that the Arabic II class was also supposed to use the Alif Baa book. Doing some fuzzy math, the cost for taking both classes would have been almost $800 for learning the Arabic alphabet and a few words. That’s 10 weeks: two classes a week, five class hours per week – and that’s sad.

At least that’s an option available to somebody in Seattle wanting to study Arabic but in other cities, people don’t even have that option. And those are the people for whom this post pertains; although, I think that anybody interested in learning Arabic will find this an interesting post.

This post is about the Arab Academy. Arab Academy is probably the best way to study Arabic short of studying at a university or going to the Middle East. I’ve had this site listed in my links section since I started posting but never commented on it. I’m not sure why as I use it myself and I wholly recommend it.

The Arab Academy is actually that, an academy. It has a physical presence in Cairo and it is designed to take you from having no knowledge of Arabic to advanced levels of Arabic. It does have some drawbacks but its benefits far outweigh any negatives. Speaking classes are also offered as well as Quranic Arabic and Stories of the Prophet for those that are interested in Arabic from an Islamic perspective.

The Arab Academy begins with Arabic 100 continues with Arabic 101-103, 201-203, 301-303, 401-403 and ends with Arabic 501. Arab Academy has also recently added speaking courses. It is a self-study course that is well structured and easy to follow. Although it lacks the benefit of face to face contact with an instructor, you can easily post questions via a message board system and have your questions quickly answered.

There have been some recent changes to the class structure, but each class is broken up into four units with seven lessons in each unit. Each unit revolves around a theme and there are literally hundreds of online exercises designed to reinforce what you are learning in each unit. Even if complete all the exercises you can just do them again. It is so much better than anything I’ve encountered.

I’m not the only one banging the Arab Academy drum. Their online program is being utilized by both high schools and universities in the U.S. It provides a level of interaction that takes it beyond learning from a book or even a place like the Washington Academy of Languages. This is something that even students studying Arabic at the college level can use to provide a more complete learning experience.

Honestly the only problem I have with Arab Academy is that there is no emphasis on writing Arabic. This is because being a computer based program; its input is all done via keyboard. You learn how to spell the words but typing the word isn’t the same as writing. I don’t feel that this is too big of a problem but enough of one to warrant mention.

The prices charged for their courses are very reasonable. Although after your period of study is complete (it’s a very generous amount of time), you lose access to that particular class, Arab Academy allows you to download each unit’s material in PDF format for future study.

As sycophantic as this post may sound, it really doesn’t do Arab Academy justice.Whether you’re a beginner looking to get started learning Arabic, or somebody looking to improve on what you’ve are learning/learned, or to supplement a college based course, or an advanced student of the language looking for speaking practice, you’ll find what you’re looking for at Arabic Academy.

Here is a link to a review of the Arab Academy, provided by the National Foreign Language Center which does a more professional evaluation.

Yay For Me!

2006-02-08T22:03:00.000-08:00

Last night I was checking my email and what did I see? Yep, CALES came through for me with a visa! They sent a copy for me via email and I’m assuming that the gentleman that is meeting me at the airport will have the original.

Sure, sure, my last name is spelled يولن on the visa instead of بولن but I’m just going to pretend that it won’t matter. My middle name is also misspelled come to think of it...

So now I’ve ten days and a wakeup until I leave for Yemen. My wife bought me a most excellent espresso maker for Christmas and wants me to take it with me to Yemen. You probably think that sounds silly, but being from Seattle, coffee is pretty important to me. I probably average four, double espressos a day. That’s $7.20 at Starbucks.

Actually, I don’t really want to take the espresso maker with me, even though it comes with its own carrying case and is only six pounds, mostly because I’m not sure if I can find a transformer for it. That and the fact that it uses a pod system (don’t ask), and I don’t want to have to keep track of it as carry-on luggage for the 2+ days I’ll be in transit to Sana’a. But then I imagine myself hanging out late in the evening with a doppio espresso and well, six pounds doesn’t seem that bad. Sometimes I even imagine US Embassy employees or high ranking Yemeni officials visiting me just for the chance of being offered an espresso. And make no mistake, it is good espresso and hey, twelve months is twelve months :)

No News is Good News

2006-02-06T01:48:00.000-08:00

Like the title says, no news is good news but unfortunately, I’ve got news.

Now, I’m less than two weeks from leaving for Yemen and I learn from the news that at least 13 al Qaeda militants tunneled their way out of jail in Sana’a and are on the loose. Come on Yemen, you’re killing me. I mean serioulsy, who digs a tunnel out of prison nowadays?!?

How am I supposed to spin this to my wife when I’m supposed to be in Yemen very soon for an entire year? Luckily, she doesn’t watch much news, but I’m sure one of her coworkers will let this bomb drop.

In an unrelated story but still depressing, STA Travel called to let me know that one of my previously scheduled flights was cancelled. They sent me a new itinerary that now includes four segments to my trip instead of the original three. It’s not al Qaeda, but technically it does increase my chances of dying in a fiery crash by 25%! Even if I arrive safe and sound, the change in my itinerary increases my travel time by a good 8-10 hours :(

Some Syrian Linkage

2006-02-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

Great news for all you Syria fans out there (and you know who you are)! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you – SyriaLive.net!

SyriaLive is the best Syrian navigational guide/portal I’ve come across (not that I’ve come across many). Simply put, it’s pretty neat and deserves a look.

We are here as liberators not as occupiers...

2006-01-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

Jeremy Palmer over at his blog, Learning and Teaching Arabic, posted a rather neat link to Defense Language Institute's free online Basics of Iraqi Arabic course.

The course is set up in a phrase book style, complete with the Arabic writing, the audio, and the transliteration of the word/phrase in question (in Iraqi dialect where applicable).

When you view this please keep in mind that it was written for use by the US Military; although, there is plenty that can be used in a non-military sense. However, being designed for use by the US Military gives it a slightly Orwellian overtone sometimes.

The most hilarious phrase I found was: “We are here as liberators not as occupiers. And we must cooperate with each other.” The most hilarious section on the site is the Conciliatory Sentences section which provides handy gems such as:

“We are American.”
“We are your friends.
“We are not your enemies.”

Also of interest on the site is a free The Online Learning Sustainment and Enhancement Language Course for Arabic. It’s a bit confusing and is geared towards slightly more advanced students but still well worth a look for those who have had about a year of Arabic study.

The site also contains a Countries in Perspective series that is “under development” and currently has modules for both Syria and Iraq (Iran too). These are very well done for those people interested in learning more about a specific country. These are very detailed profiles that can also be downloaded in PDF format. I personally feel that the country profiles are the jewel of the site and highly recommend them for those curious about the countries behind the Arabic language. I like it so much that I’ve added the specific link for Syria, Iraq and Iran to my Miscellaneous links section.

We don't need no stinking badges!

2006-01-28T01:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I’m feeling much better tonight as I finally decided to call CALES about my visa problem and spoke with the school’s Director, Jameel Al-Bazeli. Jameel said that it was not a problem that the Yemeni consulate in Washington DC won’t issue me a student visa or tourist visa.

So now the plan is to fly on out to Yemen and get a one-month tourist visa issued at the airport, after which CALES can get my visa extended for a year. Again, according to Jameel, this is not a problem.

I did consider contacting one of the other schools to possibly get an actual student visa before I got to Yemen, but I've sort of had my mind set on CALES for a while now and I'm willing to believe that Jameel knows what he's talking about.

And that reminds me of an interesting quote from the movie Surviving Desire, by Robert Altman. It goes something like this:

"That's the problem with us Americans, is that we always want a tragedy with a happy ending." :)~

Radio Tunis

2006-01-26T01:20:00.000-08:00

I've added a link to the Tunis National Radio to my news link section.

Frankly Mr. Shankly

2006-01-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

Right then, about all I have left for my trip to Yemen is to get my visa.

I figured I would be getting it soon as the paperwork I sent had been signed for by the Consulate of the Republic of Yemen on January 9th. Then, bright and early this morning the telephone rang and from that point on I felt a little like Arthur Dent when he discovered his house was to be bull-dozed.

I’ve nobody to blame but myself. I made the rookie mistake of being honest. When asked on the application, I told them that I was going to be in Yemen for 12 months and that I was going there to study Arabic. And there begins the bull-dozing of my house.

A consulate employee called at about 6:35am (Pacific) and left a message informing me that there was a problem with my visa and that I should contact them after 10am (Eastern). I checked the answering machine right after he called and returned his call immediately. Of course, immediately happened to be 15 minute to 10am (Eastern) and I was promptly asked to call back in about 30 minutes.

Fair enough, he did say after 10am. When I called back the employee in question explains to me that since I am going to be a student, my school in Yemen would need to make my visa application. Not wanting to delay issuance of my visa, I told him not to worry about a 12 month student visa and asked him to just issue me a 3 month tourist visa.

Unfortunately, Mr. Consulate Employee informs me that he knows that I will be a student and that he can’t just ignore the application and issue me a tourist visa. I was trapped by his unflappable logic and my own willing suspension of disbelief. It was at this moment I expected a pitch for a bribe, but no such luck.

So now I’ve emailed CALES and told them of my situation and asked that they do whatever it is that they have to do to get me a visa. At this point I’m not holding my breath as I came across a recent blog (recent as in this month) where the writer says she had to switch from CALES to the Yemen Language Center because CALES couldn’t get her a visa.

What then, are my choices? Firstly, I suppose I must wait for a reply from CALES. If I get a positive reply, all my worries are over. If I get a negative reply, I will contact either SIAL or YLC and see if they can get the necessary paperwork to the Yemeni consulate in Washington DC. Worst case scenario, I will just get my passport back from the consulate and take my flight to Sana’a and hope to be issued a visa at the airport.

If anybody has bothered to read this far and you are planning on studying in Yemen, just apply for a tourist visa through your embassy and let your school change your residency AFTER you’re in Yemen! I beg of you – don’t end up like me – a statistical reminder of a bureaucracy that doesn't care.

International Digital Children’s Library

2006-01-22T21:39:00.000-08:00

Perhaps one of the more frustrating things about studying Arabic is that there isn’t much access, if any, to Arabic language materials. I don’t mean Arabic study materials; although, it’s hard enough to find good Arabic study materials too. There are few Arabic Readers available to the student of Arabic.

That is why I was excited to find the link to the International Digital Children’s Library (ICDL). Don’t laugh, even if you are okay at reading a newspaper in Arabic, reading a novel, even a children’s novel, can be a challenge. ICDL has 26 books that have been translated to Arabic, for ages 3-13, which are free to view online.

Aswaat Arabiyya

2006-01-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

Aswaat Arabiyya is back up and running.

Links Verified

2006-01-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

Because of the problem with Aswaat Arabiyya, I verified that all the links in my link section are working properly.

The link to Aswaat Arabiyya still works but you cannot currently access the parts of the site mentioned in my previous post.

Aswaat Arabiyya Update

2006-01-15T14:44:00.000-08:00

Just an update on Aswaat Arabiyya – It doesn’t seem to be working at the moment.

The website works fine but the program won’t load (says the xml data is not available). There is also a movie index but I could not get any of them to work nor did the link to download the program work.

I sent an email to the webmaster, so hopefully they can get it fixed soon.

A Yemen Pictorial

2006-01-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

I just stumbled upon an excellent collection of photographs for the country of Yemen and its people. The photographs in question were taken by Brian McMorrow and well worth your time.

Each thumbnail photo on the main page leads to additional thumbnail photos on the subsequent page, which in turn leads to a photo set, so although it doesn't initially look like it, there are literally hundreds of photographs!

http://www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/yemen

Enjoy!

A Review of Arabic Study Materials, Part 4

2006-01-09T22:45:00.000-08:00

I’ve spent untold hours looking umpteen pages deep in Google searches for things related to Arabic study. One of my most unusual of my finds turned out to be the Interactive Drama’s, Virtual Conversations Language Programs – The Arabic Series.

The Arabic Series appears to have been adapted to assist military linguists with maintaining their language skills, supported by funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the Department of Defense.

Here is Interactive Drama’s (http://www.idrama.com/ArabicSeries.htm) description of the program:

“This is a role-playing, educational experience designed to help you speak and understand the Arabic language. Four Virtual Conversations® programs allow you to gather information through direct dialogues with native Arabic speakers. Assume the role of "Interrogator" and you can engage in hours of face-to-face dialogue with these charismatic native Arabs as they reveal their intriguing stories. An intelligent prompting system will guide you through a perfect interview. Also, each simulation includes a video Instructor who will help you pronounce the Arabic”

It looked very intriguing so, a couple months ago I bought it. Interactive Drama lists the complete four volume set at $229.00; although, you may get a better price elsewhere as I know other sites sell it. You can also buy each module individually. I’ve honestly forgotten how much I paid for it.

So, each CD contains a different scenario. The four different scenarios consist of:

1. A pilot in the Iraqi air force who has decided to defect. (Keep in mind that these courses were designed after the first Gulf War but before the second Gulf war)

2. A civilian student at Baghdad University, who was arrested for political reasons by Saddam’s regime and has fled Iraq and is now seeking to emigrate to the United States.

3. A Kurdish refugee who, along with is family, are in a camp being organized by U.S. Special Operations Forces. The refugee “appears to be an educated man with the potential to help manage the camp.”

4. The final scenario involves an enemy prisoner of war captured near the Kuwait border.

Each module allows you to review and practice the questions that are to be asked, which and what surprised me the most is that the majority of the questions (maybe 90%) are directly usable in a non-“Interrogator” sense.

Of the four different CDs, I felt that the POW module would be of the least benefit as a large majority of the questions involve asking about what he knows about Saddam’s military machine. At first I thought the POW module would be mostly useless for non-military linguists, but then I decided that if a person really wanted to be fluent in Arabic, they should know military terminology also (eventually anyway).

The program monitors your pronunciation of the question and if you pronounce it well enough, the person you are interviewing responds and allows you to ask further questions. The questions you are allowed to, ask at any given time, scroll across the bottom of the screen. You don’t have to enter the interrogation mode and could just practice your pronunciation by repeating after the instructor and having the program tell you how well you are pronouncing each sentence.

You do have to download an Iraqi Font update from iDrama’s website in order for the questions to appear in something other than gibberish and you have to have the specific scenario CD in your CD drive in order for the program to run. If you load the font update, you’ll probably have to reboot your PC in order for the gibberish to go away when you run the program. Because of the requirement to have the CD loaded to run a module, I strongly recommend making copies of this software.

What I like about this series is that you really get the impression you are in a dialogue with a native speaker of Arabic and it allows for the questions to be asked in Iraqi dialect, in addition to Modern Standard Arabic (in three of the four modules I think). In order to switch back from MSA to Iraqi dialect, all you have to do is click on a tab.

What I don’t like is that being a circa 1994 program, it isn’t as polished as what we’ve come to expect. It isn’t entirely clear that you need to download the font update until you do some searching on iDrama’s website, which is pretty damn frustrating. And finally, the software as it is very sensitive to ambient sound and you may have problems using it in a noisy place like a café.

Ultimately, this program series targets linguists that have at least a limited working proficiency and isn’t really appropriate for somebody just beginning to learn Arabic. This isn’t a “must have” item; although, I think many linguists may find it useful at keeping in practice speaking. It does expose a person to the Iraqi dialect too.

Mosaic: World News From The Middle East

2006-01-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

So the other day I was surfing (No, not at the beach, on my TV) and I decided to check channel 375, on DirecTV, which is LinkTV here in Seattle. It was at that exact time that divine providence (or maybe dumb luck) allowed me to stumble upon Mosaic: World News from the Middle East.

As luck would have it, that show had a segment on about the recent kidnapping of some Italian tourists. The segment showed a rally in Sana’a against the kidnappings and interviewed several demonstrators who denounced the actions of the kidnappers.

A government spokesperson also denounced the kidnappings and reaffirmed Yemen’s desire to grow its tourism industry. Just the sort of encouragement I need before trudging off to Sana’a.

What I thought was interesting is that I didn’t see any women at the demonstration and then – BOOM! All of a sudden a woman appears, out of the blue, to give a statement to the camera. Covered head to foot, to be sure, but hey, you can’t have everything.

One thing I found interesting is that the broadcasters from the different countries never referred to an Arab as being killed, but as being martyred.

It was rather interesting to see news events as an Arab would see them. Here is the program’s description per LinkTV:

“Mosaic features selections from daily TV news programs produced by national broadcasters throughout the Middle East. The news reports are presented unedited and translated, when necessary, into English.Mosaic includes television news broadcasts from selected national and regional entities. Some of the broadcasters are state controlled and others are private networks, often affiliated with political factions. These news reports are regularly watched by 300 million people in 22 countries all over the Middle East.”

LinkTV also allows a person to view streaming video from past episodes online, just in case you don’t get LinkTV through your local cable provider. The show is on at 10:30pm Eastern time and 7:30 Pacific.

http://www.worldlinktv.org/programming/programDescription.php4?code=mosaic

Alif Baa and Al-Kitaab

2006-01-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

The Arabist (That’s me!) has uncovered a handy little gem for all you aspiring Arabic linguists out there.

In a word – PowerPoint. Andrew Freeman, an instructor at the University of Washington posted these presentations online for his Arabic 401 – Summer Intensive Beginner Program, 2003. All the presentations work when viewed online. You can download all but one (I think that’s right) of the Al-Kitaab presentations (if you have PowerPoint). The Alif Baa series can only be viewed online (I could only download one of them) but most people should breeze right past Alif Baa.

Most of Mr. Freeman’s links don’t work, so I would recommend downloading the Al-Kitaab presentations if you are currently using or plan to use Al-Kitaab; just in case the site goes completely away one day. I’ve saved the downloadable presentations for Al-Kitaab, so please feel free to email me for them if you experience problems downloading them.

The links are as follows:

Alif Baa:
http://home.myuw.net/andyf/arabic_401/powerpoints/alif_baa/

Al-Kitaab:
http://home.myuw.net/andyf/arabic_401/powerpoints/al_kitaab/

Enjoy!

Please Note: To download and save the Al-Kitaab PowerPoint presentations, I opened them for editing with PowerPoint and then saved them to my computer.

Almost Ready

2006-01-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

I wasn’t quite able to complete everything by week’s end, but two out of three isn’t bad I suppose. My tickets to Sana’a were purchased through a local STA Travel office (www.statravel.com) for $1,739 (round trip). This is the student price. I had to have CALES to send me an acknowledgement of my enrollment to give to them; although, they let me submit this afterwards so it was no big deal. I leave Seattle on the morning of the 19th of February and arrive in Sana’a on the morning of the 21st of February.

STA could only make the reservation through the middle of November, so I will have to pay another $50 dollars to extend my departure date once I get close to November. It will probably cost another $50 or so for them to mail it to me. Unfortunately, I have to keep track of a paper ticket as Yemenia Air does not allow for electronic ticketing.

I wired my deposit to CALES via Western Union and it was received by the institute without a hitch. It cost $22 for the wire but the cost depends on the amount of the wire transfer and from where the wire transfer is being sent.

There was a delay in applying for my visa. I didn’t realize that I needed a letter from my doctor as to my good health and lack of contagious diseases. Anyway, since CALES sent me a letter verifying that I was to be a student at their institute for a period of 12 months, I’m going to ask for a 12 month student visa from the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen which, per their website, costs $150. I’m going to include another $30 to have it expedited.

Note: It is my understanding that if you have an entry/exit stamp from either Israel or Pakistan, you won’t be allowed a visa for Yemen. So, if this applies to you, please contact the embassy for verification.

Hopefully I can get the letter from my doctor tomorrow, get a couple more passport photos taken to include with the application (you can do this a Kinkos), and get everything in the mail.

Speaking of doctors, I forgot to mention that I received the first of my vaccinations a couple of weeks ago and I go back this Thursday for the second part. If I was going for just a few weeks I don’t know if my doctor would want me to take all the vaccinations that I’m taking for being in Yemen for 12 months. Regardless, before you go, you should speak with your doctor about whether you should receive any vaccinations before your departure. I recommend you schedule an appointment at least four to six weeks before you plan to depart for Yemen.

Crossing the Rubicon

2005-12-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

It looks as if everything has pretty much fallen into place for my February departure to study in Yemen for what I am expecting to be about twelve months in length.

This week I begin the process of getting from Seattle, Washington to Sana’a, Yemen. I decided to attend the Center for Arabic and Eastern Studies (CALES - http://www.y.net.ye/cales/).

To be honest, my first choice was the Yemen Language Center (YLC - http://www.ylcint.com/) but since I couldn’t get any email response from YLC, I decided to attend CALES, which responded to every email I sent.

My immediate preparations for departure are as follows:

Wire a $200 deposit to CALES (To “arrange for your accommodations, for the first month”)

Meet with a travel agent regarding a flight itinerary

Send my visa paperwork off to the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in Washington, D.C. (http://www.yemenembassy.org/)

Hopefully I’ll get this portion done by the end of the week.

Note: Although on their website CALES indicates that they can assist in obtaining a visa, I was told that it was faster and cheaper to do this on my own (shrug). CALES recommended I apply for a tourist visa and after I arrive in Yemen they will assist me in getting a student visa. You can obtain the visa application form along with all the information you need on the embassy’s website that I’ve linked above.

Now, I don’t know about anybody else, but I have found the lack of authoritative information on studying in the ME to be very frustrating. So, if anybody is interested, I shall be blogging my progress from start to finish. Of course, this will be for study in Yemen, particularly at CALES (although I’ll try and find out information on other academies in Sana’a). For information on studying abroad in Syria, I recommend you go to Jeremy Palmer’s blog at: http://arabicacquisition.blogspot.com/

The Arabic Alphabet Song

2005-12-20T00:20:00.000-08:00

I realize that many if not all of you that come to this site may be well into your study of Arabic, but this is so cute I couldn't help myself, so here it is - the link to the Arabic alphabet song:

http://www.funwitharabic.com/song.htm

Online Arabic Listening Materials

2005-12-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

I’ve posted a new website on my link section - Aswaat Arabiyya (http://langqtss.library.emory.edu/arabic_listening/index.html).

I was quite happy to happen upon this site and I think you’ll find it of use too. Here’s a quick blurb about the site taken from their homepage:

“Aswaat Arabiyya provides listening materials and accompanying activities that are intended for the various levels of proficiency from Novice to Superior. These listening materials have been selected from television stations throughout the Arab world and they treat a wide variety of topics and listening genres.”

It appears to be sponsored/created by the Emory College Language Center and is free of charge. It works pretty much as advertised although not everything works perfectly. I don’t know how often or even if the content updates, but perhaps we would stand a better chance of it updating if we emailed them our appreciation for the effort that was put into creating the site.

Typing in Arabic Script Using MS Office and Windows XP

2005-12-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

For anybody that ever thought it would be neat/fun/useful to be able to type in Arabic script - the following link will explain how to do so:

http://www.geocities.com/frrrrrankie/loadingarabic.htm

I was able to follow the directions without any problems and it works very well. I also saved a copy of the instructions in MS Word format in case the link ever goes away. Please feel free to email me if you would like me to send you a copy.

A Review of Arabic Study Materials, Part 3

2005-12-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the third installment of my review of Arabic study materials. Today’s review is another language vocabulary program – Vocab Clinic’s - Modern Standard Arabic (www.vocabclinic.com), $59.00, available by download or CD-Rom.

Although this is not a flashcard based program like Transparent Language’s - Before You Know It Deluxe, it is a vocabulary program. Vocab Clinic has helpfully grouped the words according to category. The categories differ enough from BYKI to enough of a degree that one will find it useful to purchase both programs. Like BYKI, Vocab Clinic allows you to download a demo version of its program. It’s a very limited version of it, but sufficient for ascertaining whether you feel it is a program for you.

Vocab Clinic’s - Modern Standard Arabic includes the spelling in Arabic and transliteration. They also give the past/present form and the singular/plural form. The feminine spelling is included where applicable. All given spellings include the pronunciation by a native speaker of Arabic.

The program also comes with the ability to print select words from within a category or the entire list of words in a category in English to Arabic script or English to Transliterated Arabic. At first glance I thought it was kind of pointless, but after exploring that function I warmed up to it.

I actually like to utilize this program in a very low-tech way – I review the words in the program to hear them spoken and then I copy the words over to blank flashcards. I do this because I can review the flashcards practically anywhere I happen to be when I find myself with a little free time. The words are spelled in the program with the necessary short vowels and I can copy of any notes I feel necessary from the language use section.

What I like about Vocab Clinic’s - Modern Standard Arabic is that it includes language notes on the use of the words and it has an extensive selection of words in each category.

What I don’t like about Vocab Clinic’s - Modern Standard Arabic is that there seems to be a two-installation limit on the software. I haven’t actually tested this yet as I am going to be purchasing a new laptop shortly and want to use the second installation on it, but it did seem to be rather clear that there was a limit in place.

Some may find it of interest that Vocab Clinic also offers what appears to be the same program but for Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, and supposedly, a Modern Standard Arabic Verb Clinic is in the works.

Although I am concerned about the possible (probable?) installation limit, I would have to say that Vocab Clinic’s - Modern Standard Arabic is definitely worth the money. Enjoy!

A Review of Arabic Study Materials, Part 2

2005-12-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

It was with much excitement that I made my (online) purchase of Vis-Ed’s Arabic Vocabulary Cards ($13.95).

I'm a big fan of using flashcards to build one’s vocabulary. With a strong vocabulary and the ability to conjugate the verbs of your target language, one is well on the path to fluency. Flashcards give one the chance to do both at the same time, while being portable enough to take with you anywhere. They give one a visual component of seeing the word and the aural component of hearing the word (if you say it to yourself and you should if you’re trying to learn it). It is this type of active learning that makes flashcards so effective. But there are flashcards and then there are flashcards…

Unfortunately per Vis-Ed, “It should be noted that as in most printed Arabic materials, the short vowels are omitted.” What in the world was Vis-Ed thinking when they made the decision not to include the small vowels? With that single decision, Vis-Ed ruined what should have been a very important weapon in a student's study arsenal.

Without the short vowels, pronunciation of the words is, for all intents and purposes, impossible. There is nothing on the outside of the box or on the online description that warns the potential buyer of this oversight. I suppose that one could always look the words up in an English – Arabic dictionary and write in the short vowels but that is rather pathetic. One would be better served to buy blank flashcards from the local bookstore and create their own flashcards (which is also a good idea).

In summation, flashcards = good. Vis’Ed’s flashcard implementation = bad.

A Review of Arabic Study Materials, Part 1

2005-12-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Anybody that has decided to study Arabic might well wonder why finding good Arabic study materials takes an almost Herculean effort nearly four years after the language was thrust into the forefront of the American consciousness.

When I first decided to study Arabic after a 12 year hiatus, I assumed that finding good study materials would be as easy as walking into the nearest Barnes & Noble and heading for the foreign language section - but no. I was still upbeat as I knew that my city library would be bursting with Arabic learning materials. Nothing could be further from the truth here in Seattle, Washington and I imagine it must be even more difficult in a small city.

Online retailers provide a number of choices but there really is no way to tell what you’re getting until the purchase has been made. I wanted to begin posting reviews of different resources I’ve come across to help potential learners of the Arabic language begin their journey as smoothly as possible!

Because I have a strong foundation from my study of Arabic at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, my reviews won’t focus on the absolute beginner. I do, however, recommend the Alif Baa with DVDs primer. This is one book written specifically for those beginning to learn Arabic and will give you a firm grasp of the basics that are needed to begin your study of the language.

First up for review is Transparent Language’s, Before You Know It Deluxe (BYKI), $59.95, available by download or CD-Rom. This is one of my favorite programs for building vocabulary. The program comes with 75 word lists that are organized by theme (office, body parts, adjectives, verbs, etc.). The words on the list are presented, in Arabic, on virtual flashcards that you flip to reveal the translation. This can be done in the following different learning modes:

Review It – Review your cards without being scored.
Recognize It – See the information from one side of your card (Arabic) and think or say the information from side two (English).
Know It – See the information from one side of your card (Arabic) and then type the information from side two (English).
Produce It – See the information from side two of your cards (English) and think or say the information from side one (Arabic)
Own It – See the information from side two of your card (English) and type the information from side one (Arabic)

Each word is spoken, in Arabic, as it is presented and can be made to replay the pronunciation by clicking on the appropriate button. The program keeps track of your successes and failures during each learning mode and when you have successfully completed the list you are given the option to continue practicing or to review a new list. If you need to stop in the middle of studying the list in question, BYKI will remember your responses for that list and you can pick up where you left off at a later time.

In addition to the above mentioned “Flashcard” mode, BYKI comes with an “Activities” tab that offers Multiple Choice in either of the above mentioned Recognize it and Know It modes. The Activities tab also offers a Pronunciation mode to let you compare your pronunciation to a native speaker’s and a Dictation selection to spell the Arabic word that you hear (Done by use of a virtual Arabic keyboard).

BYKI also has an “Alphabet Exploder” tab that will let you choose an individual Arabic letter and pronounce it for you and also show you how it is written in the Isolated, Initial, Medial, and Final position.

Perhaps one of the more interesting features is the ability to create your own lists or add words to the existing lists (utilizing the virtual Arabic keyboard or in transliterated form) and associating that word with a sound recording of the pronunciation and/or image. You can also share the lists you create with your friends.

There is no limit that I’ve found to the number of times the program can be installed. BYKI also allows multiple user profiles. Transparent Language will let you download, for free, a “lite” version of the program that contains only about seven of the lists, but otherwise offers full functionality, giving you a chance to decide if this is the program for you before you actually buy it.

I personally cannot fault BYKI Deluxe on any level. I would have preferred if some of the words came with some context as to their use but to be fair, this is more nitpicking on my part and not really criticism of the product.

Arabic Word of the Day

2005-11-29T03:43:00.000-08:00

I've moved my Arabic Word of the Day section over to a new blog (http://awotd.blogspot.com/).

Within a week or so I hope to begin posting reviews of Arabic learning materials!

Arabic Word of the Day

2005-11-28T00:13:00.000-08:00

Lazy - كَسول

Arabic Word of the Day

2005-11-26T20:16:00.000-08:00

Understood (m/f/pl) مَفْهُومُون / مَفْهُومَة / مَفْهُوم

I’ve heard this word used by itself with a questioning tone as in: Understood? (مَفْهوم؟ )

Arabic Word of the Day

2005-11-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

رَجَا / يَرْجُو to hope/wish

يَرْجُو ان يَذْهَب He wishes to go.

What's the Best Place to Study Arabic?

2005-11-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

I previously studied at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California. Although I felt that the program was solid and probably better than most college based programs, it was my belief then, as it is now, that foreign language study in the United States, however intense or realistic, is ultimately flawed.

Foreign language study in the United States is both slow and insufficient to meet the needs of an aspiring Arabic linguist. When a student of the Arabic language leaves class in the United States, they are immediately bombarded by English, not Arabic. Their primary source of information, entertainment, and expression takes place not in their target language but in English. There is no program of study in the United States that can prepare a foreign language student the way studying abroad does. A graduate of a stateside program will not have the ability to understand the nuances of the Arabic language or have a proper understanding of the Arabic culture/mindset.

For the past several months, I researched Arabic language programs abroad and have narrowed my search to two places for differing reasons. The first of the two (in no specific order) is in Egypt (basically Cairo). Egypt is the Hollywood of the Middle East and the Egyptian dialect is most likely to be understood by the widest majority of Arabs one might encounter, and just as our speech is peppered with colloquialisms from movies and television, one would expect that any Arabic they might hear, in the course of their job as a linguist, would contain such references.

My second choice is in Sana’a, Yemen. Sana’a is an interesting choice. There has been little Western influence in Yemen and the people speak Arabic almost exclusively. This should provide one with the rare opportunity to be immersed in the Arabic language completely and provide an effective and stimulating setting. There are three language academies recommended by the American Institute for Yemeni Studies (http://www.aiys.org/index.html), in Sana’a: The Center for Arabic Studies and Eastern Languages (CALES - http://www.y.net.ye/cales/welcome.htm), The Yemen Language Center (YLC - http://www.ylcint.com/), and Sana’a Institute for the Arabic Language (SIAL - http://www.sialyemen.com/english/index.htm).

I like Egypt as it is more modern that Yemen, but the language schools there require you to find your own lodging, which may end up being a good walk from the school. The cost of studying in Egypt seems to be one-third to one-half more expense than in Yemen. All three schools that I mentioned in Yemen provide housing within a five minute walk from school and the Yemen Language Center offers a meal plan. The Yemen school’s costs seem to be all inclusive, including books and even airport pickup. So, if money is no object, I’d probably go to Egypt, but Yemen definitely has the advantage for the budget minded.

This is not to say that one cannot locate a good school in another Arab country; however, I believe that one would have to have an unyielding desire to ignore the facts to come to the conclusion that another country provides a better learning environment.

What Arabic Linguist Shortage?

2005-10-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

Everywhere one looks, the consensus is that the United States (and I suppose every other non-Arabic speaking country) has a shortage of Arabic linguists to meet the new threat that the "war on global extremism" or whatever the Bush administration is calling it now.

So why is it that I cannot beg my way into government service as an Arabic linguist? I previously attended and completed 47 weeks of Arabic language training at the Army's Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Montery, CA but I haven't used the language since I left the military in 1993. I contacted the army reserves and volunteered to join provided that they send me back to DLI for Arabic, but the recruiter says that there is nothing available. Of course, if I want to go to DLI for Chinese or Korean, I'm good to go, but evidently there are no slots for Arabic Linguists in the state of Washinton.

Not a problem, the National Security Agency (NSA) has a language enhancement program to take those that already have a familiarity with the language and put them through the training necessary to meet their proficiency standards. I uploaded my resume to them on August 3, 2005 but after over two months I've not heard anything from them yet. I think that they are still considering my application but no word after nearly three months? I realize that there must be some background checking going on but I've previously had a top secret security clearance so I would think that would help expedite the process but evidently not. With no word from NSA I must assume that I will need to take a different route to realize my goal of once again working as an Arabic linguist, but that is a topic for another post.