05 August 2009

Taiz and Aden Trip: Part 2


We finally made it to Aden, and man was it worth it. We immediately dropped our belongings at the hotel, changed into our "swimming clothes" and left for the ocean. By swimming clothes, I literally mean clothes. Bathing suits are pretty much prohibited and I swam in pants and a long shirt--honestly, it makes it kind of difficult to enjoy the ocean when in so many clothes because the tide would catch your clothes and drag you or you would catch a small jellyfish in your pocket (yes, that happened to me). But, we took a little speedboat over to a small island right off the coast where we waded into the ocean with the rocky bottom and small, kind of cute, jellyfish. I really just enjoyed laying in the sand where the tide would come up just every now and again to wash over you and cover you with a new layer of sand and at the same time push you deeper into the coast until you couldn't see your body anymore-- and then climbing out! As you can see in the picture taken by someone on the boat, I really enjoyed the ride, as did Maxim! It was also nice to feel that hijab was not necessary when at the beach!

Then we went back to the hotel, washed up, grabbed some lunch and headed back out to see the city. We stopped at the cisterns, described in the picture below. They were awesomely large, but depressingly empty. It was also a bit touristy, but even lots of families from Aden were there walking around. A couple of women told me that came very often because, "why not?"
After this we commuted to the coast, near the fish market where half of us sat on this wall near the ocean and the other half walked to the top to see the view. Very unlike myself, I decided to stay at the bottom to watch the sunset. I was honestly just too exhausted to convince myself the view from above would be any better than the one sitting on the wall being sprayed by the ocean.


If I would not have stayed I would not have had the pleasure of meeting Rahmeh Abdul-Saleh, the adorably frail man pictured below who kindly answered some of my questions about the city and told me a very exciting story about once almost being washed into the ocean sitting on that very wall.


That evening we had dinner at a restaurant by the ocean and Asil and I had tea on the wall overlooking the sea with our feet dangling. I though, "what an absolutely perfect moment," but little did I know it would only get better. That evening we went down to the beach to have sheesha by the ocean. The tide was out and the beach was so wide and dark and we all sat crowded around a table and I dug my feet into the sand as I tried to teach myself to blow smoke-rings (failed). BUT, then we payed these Yemeni boys to let us ride their four-wheelers up and down the beach for a while; I felt fifteen again and it was fantastic! The wether was perfectly mild with a salty ocean wind and even though I was tired and ready to sleep, I really did not want to leave the beach, or Aden. But, alas, we left the next morning and spent ten hours in the "bus" getting back to Sana'a. Can you say stir-crazy?

02 August 2009

Taiz and Aden Trip: Part 1

This past Wednesday I finished class and had delicious Indian food with JB,N,I, and M ...Oh, delicious (because unfortunately the traditional food here isn't all that great), and bough a very nice waist coat for 300 riyal, about $1.50USD, for the Western theme murder mystery dinner we are having in a few days. We left very early the next morning a group of about 11 of us for Aden, or so we though. Well, we eventually made it to Aden, but a couple of hours into our drive in the "bus" (i.e. a 15 passenger van) we stopped at probably the 3rd checkpoint in 2 hours and our driver and Abdul Kafi handed the solider our permission to pass, but something was wrong. Usually, we hand them our permission and they chat for a second, peer into the vehicle, and we pass-- but I always get just a little nervous driving up to the smaller check points in the middle of nowhere to be greeted by a bunch of (usually very kind) soldiers who have machine guns carelessly hanging over their shoulders. So we had to wait, and after waiting for some time we got out of the van and had tea at a nearby restaurant and a little bit of breakfast. We thought things were nearly resolved so we returned to the van after buying some water and other necessities. Unfortunately, we ended up getting back out of the van for more tea as Sabri Saleem, the President of our college, arrived to speak with the guards. We were soon told that it was fine for us to drive south to Taiz, but from Taiz to Aden on the south coast would not be safe to drive because of the recent clashes in the South (although, Aden itself was safe). We were all very disappointed, but we continued on to Taiz and stayed at a hotel there.
The city had a very different feel, the streets and pedestrian spaces were not at all similar to those in Sana'a. The streets were not full of cars, but instead full of people. Once we were there and settled in our rooms, we walked through the old Suq, which was simply incredible. The shops all overflowed into the streets and pails and burlap sacks of vibrant spices crowded the footpath. We even witnessed men making the beautiful scarves we've seen being sold all over Yemen, and I have a fantastic video of it to be posted at some point.


After walking throughout the market we visited Al-Ashrafiah Madrasa and Mosque that was under construction, but absolutely amazing.

The cisterns, used for washing before prayer were sadly dry because of construction.
The ceiling inside, being repainted and tiled, by hand. I wish this picture did it justice.

A wonderfully kind Yemeni man who greeted me on our way through the streets. I could not help myself, I just wanted to remember that smile!

Afterward, we made our way to the Kahira Fortress on a mountain overlooking the town, what a view.






The group (minus me, because of course I was taking the picture), which is seriously from all over the place. C (US), M (US), A (UK), Abdul Kafi (Yemen), S (Belgium), C (Mexico), C (Italy), M (Spain), M (France)

That evening while we were up late playing cards in the Mafraj of the hotel, we found out that we would be able to continue on to Aden after all. Alhumdulilah!! We left at 6 or so the next morning.
Unfortunately, because I am insanely exhausted and have homework to finish and class early tomorrow morning. I will continue on about Aden tomorrow, but it was fantastic!