Blog to remain dormant

I am back in the States now, so for the forseeable future, this blog will not be updated. I may bring it back in the future for other trips. Blog updates relative to everyday life are available on my facebook page, and you're free to friend me. I will accept you if I know you. :)

Pictures of Dar Al-Hajar

Quite possibly the most photographed location in Yemen, here are pictures of Dar Al-Hajar: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99640&id=509602661&l=452bfbb775‏.

I'm a big picture person. I'm not all about details, not all about how the little pieces fit together, even though I'm fully aware that it's the small pieces that allow the full picture to be beautiful or scarred. I think that perhaps this is both a great strength and my greatest weakness. At any rate, while I ponder philosophical truths and the projected outcomes of mass actions, behaviors and attitudes, I often find myself coming back to a few select authors and musical artists who have a knack for expressing the dychotomies and paradoxes of life in succinct and/or heavily insightful strings of vocabulary. From the side of the written word, apart from the words of the Bible that anchor everything, I'm often drawn to C.S. Lewis, St. Augustine and a few others. From the musical side, Derek Webb has a knack for catching you unprepared with his lyrics composed of riddles and tongue-in-cheek but authentic struggles. At any rate, if you want to be challenged a bit (and be prepared for the fact that you will find plenty to make you angry), I would suggest checking out what's available from one or more of these names. And to give you a taste, here are some lyrics that have been running through my head the last couple of days.

This Too Shall Be Made Right
People love you the most for the things you hate
And hate you for loving the things you can't keep straight
People judge you on a curve
And tell you you're getting what you deserve
And this too shall be made right

Children cannot learn when children cannot eat
Stack them like lumber and children cannot sleep
Children dream of wishing wells
Whose waters quench all the fires of hell
And this too shall be made right

The earth and the sky and the sea are all holding their breath
Wars and abuses have nature groaning with death
We say we're just trying to stay alive
But it looks so much more like a way to die
And this too shall be made right

Yes there's a time for peace and there is a time for war
There's a time to forgive and a time to settle the score
A time for babies to lose their lives
A time for hunger and genocide
And this too shall be made right

Oh I don't know the suffering of people outside my front door
And I join the oppressors of those I choose to ignore
I'm trading comfort for human life
And that's not just murder, it's suicide
And this too shall be made right

(Lyrics by Derek Webb; available on the album "The Ringing Bell" by Derek Webb)

Learn a little Arabic today

By means of providing you with a bit of Yemeni cultural immersion in whatever country you currently find yourself in, here are a few words or phrases that you hear all the time, every day fii al-Yemen. Feel free to incorporate these into your everyday language if you feel like having a little fun.

"Ma-Sha-Allah" (pronounced "mashallah) - most typically used as an exclamation over something beautiful or impressive. Also the closest thing to a "pick up line" used by men on the street, lol.

"Ham-Dil-Allah" (pronounced all together - hamdilallah) - literal meaning, Praise God. Used in greetings, passing by someone, when someone asks how you are doing, and then wherever else appropriate. "How is the food?" "Edible." "Hamdilallah!"

"In-Sha-Allah" (pronounced inshallah) - literal meaning, "If God Wills." Used as both a way of acknowledging that things will only happen in accordance to God's will and as a perfectly acceptable excuse to everything. "You said my clothes would be done today." "They shall be done tomorrow inshallah." Tomorrow, nafs-a-shay

"Nafs-a-shay" - the same thing.

"Mumtez!" - excellent/good.

"Laissa Jay-id" - not good.

"Yalla!" - let's go

"Al-An" - now

And perhaps the most overused word ever in human history:

"Mumkin" - literal translation, "It is possible." Used more in the American way of using the word "maybe," you hear this word multiple times in every conversation. It can also be used as a question, "Mumkin...?" = "Is it possible...?" Or as a filler when you are searching for the right word: "I want, mumkin, this, and mumkin that, and mumkin..." you get the idea. Very useful and totally overused. We wholeheartedly embrace all possible meanings.

So you want to buy aflam...

The plural version of the word "film" or "movie" is pronounced "aflam" in Arabic. And while Yemen is considered more of a closed country, don't be fooled. You can buy movies here no problem - Indian movies, Saudi movies, American movies, etc. We saw a poster a few days ago for what I think was an Arabic version of James Bond. The title was "Rashad 007." Classy. Of course, you're buying films the only way they're available in much of the world - high-quality bootleg copies (and yes, "high-quality" is a relative term). No copyright laws here, my friend. No quality control either.

BUT you get movies with Arabic subtitles, which can be a nice way to learn new Arabic words. So a friend and I decided we wanted to pick up a movie on our "friday night" (which is really on Wednesday). We stopped at a store in the old city and flipped through some books of film covers. The selection of American movies at this particular store wasn't extensive, but it was ecclectic. We settled on "I Am Legend" (ahh, Will Smith, I have missed your pretty face), Madagascar (it would be some fun vocabulary!), and another title that we still can't remember. (And maybe you can guess which direction this story is now headed...)

We pointed out our selections to the nice store owner who was so excited to have Americans in his store that he started showing off all the pictures on his computer from all over Yemen, apparently not believing our story that we already loved Yemen and didn't need to be convinced that it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. After about 5 or 7 minutes, he had finished burning our movies on a few DVDs and we paid the tab of four dollars. Off we went to enjoy our evening!

So, funny thing. Okay, back up. Sometimes, in Yemen, you just have to shake your head and mutter "la af-ham" - "I don't understand." That will be another blog for another time. We get back and start reading the titles on the DVDs. One says, in English, "I Am Legend." Actually, two DVDs say that. Okay. The other two have titles in Arabic. After staring at the one for a few minutes, we finally decided that it said "Disney." For some reason I didn't think Madagascar was Disney but I could be wrong. The other title no one could figure out. And since we ironically could not remember what other movie we purchased, we figured we would be pleasantly surprised. So that's the DVD we popped in first.

After watching about five minutes of an action scene that I quickly attributed to the latest "Fast and the Furious," an action scene that clearly was not at the beginning of the movie and which we initially mistook for an ad of some sort, we realized that we had nearly the whole film of the Fast and the Furious...with Arabic subtitles and I *think* maybe not the final cut of the movie? A little confused because we knew that wasn't what we asked for, we began to fast forward...and realized that this DVD was six and a half hours long. Then we realized that it didn't just contain the Fast and the Furious - it included four movies, none of which we ordered. But we now have the Fast and Furious (or most of it), Dragon Hunter, some strange Spanish film, and another movie that I don't remember, all with Arabic subtitles. Huh.

We tried Madagascar - aka "Disney." Laissa Madagascar. Instead, we got Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Aladdin and the Return of Jaffar, Looney Toones Strikes Back, and two other animated features - these, with no subtitles. We watched Alladin.

And then we checked out I Am Legand. Wouldn't you know, it was exactly what we ordered. With Arabic subtitles, so that was great. But the film is what, an hour and a half? And they split it between two DVDs.

So yeah, I don't really have a whole lot else to say on the matter. But if you're interested in a film with Arabic subtitles, let me know and I'll pick one up for you. Of course, who knows what you'll get - but it might be a fun chance to take.

This may not work and I don't guarantee that it will, but...

It's the desire of my heart
It's the anthem of my birth
I'll love you til you cross the line
Then watch my faith turn into works

So here's to hoping we evolve
And here's believing that we will
Blessed are those who seek for peace
But in control are those who kill

An eye for an eye will never satisfy
til there's nothing left to see
An I for an I will never satisfy
til there's nothing left to see

I was born to go to war
It comes so natural to me
Sure as a hammer finds a nail
Death is the only way to peace

An eye for an eye will never satisfy
til there's nothing left to see
An I for an I will never satisfy
til there's nothing left to see

I've got a killer instinct bringing out all of my best
I've got a poisoned conscience telling me to go with that
And this may not work and I don't guarantee that it will
But I've got no choice unless you tell me who Jesus would kill

An eye for an eye will never satisfy
til there's nothing left to see
An I for an I will never satisfy
til there's nothing left to see

(Derek Webb - Album: The Ringing Bell; Song: "I for an I")

State of the Art medical practices

For those of us accustomed to state-of-the-art medical practices and procedures (however frustrated we may get with the system), medical conditions in developing countries (from educational content to ministries of health and hospital facilities) can make us seriously stop and pause. I remember hearing stories several years ago from a doctor from Bosnia and Herzegovina. She talked about the deplorable state of Bosnia's medical facilities. Surgical instruments were 40 years old; some of the surgical tables had to be held up by people during surgery because otherwise they would collapse during the procedure. The war, as always happens, sent far more civilians to the grave than military personnel. Many died because they could not get proper medical treatment in time, either because they were hurt directly from the fighting or because the war prohibited medical supplies from reaching the hospital. Some people underwent surgery with no anesthetics because none was available.

A few weeks ago, on a trip to Hodeidah, several of us got to witness the practice of an ancient medical tradition here in Yemen (and perhaps outside the country too, not sure; it's a practice that is somewhat religious in nature as it was apparently put forth by the Prophet Mohammad as one of his approved medical treatments). The "procedure" took place at a small enclave in a very busy marketplace, so anyone could observe, but pictures were strictly prohibited. The person who is experiencing pain (a toothache to a ruptured spleen, it's all the same treatment) has these glass "bubbles" or containers filled with hot, boiling water suctioned to their back. The lack of oxygen causes blood to come out directly through the skin without breaking the skin. After several of these "bubbles" are filled with blood, they are removed and the treatment is done. Essentially the same as "bleeding" someone, but excessively more painful. The pain is absolutely excruciating. Perhaps this "works" in that you totally forget the pain of your health problem. Not really sure what the rationale is behind this practice, though I think it also includes some sort of supposed "cleansing" of evil toxins within the body. At any rate, it's not practiced in too many places in Yemen as I understand, but it was a common practice in this particular place and it made me so thankful for modern medicine.

I heard another amusing medical solution yesterday. A young medical student told me, "You know, some people in Yemen say that Qat will cure diabetes." When my response was an instantaneous and fully unveiled laugh, he threw up his hands and exclaimed, "Thank you! That is the response I've been looking for my whole life! Crazy, right? But the rationale is if people just chew qat for five or six hours straight, they won't eat, so that will help." Somehow.

Lest you worry too much about medical safety here, Sanaa does host a great German-Saudi hospital within its jurisdiction. :)