It’s an adventure! Ah, the old Navy recruiting slogan – still my fave after all of the years. The latest is something like ‘ a global force for good’ or something silly like that – does not motivate me. Sounds like a weak ass Madison Avenue campaign – Don Draper would have gagged on it.
After experiencing rain TWICE in Bahrain in the space of a week, I came back to Sana’a in early December and landed at the end of a pouring rainstorm. Alas, has not rained since, but it was a nice change of pace. Have been out and about a lot since getting back, so will share a few adventures.
The Old City, Sana’a
Have been keeping busy since getting back from Bahrain. A couple of groups of visitors –between picking up, dropping off, and my own flights, I have been at Sana’a international airport 7 times in the last ten days. Besides hosting the guests here, I took them down to Aden to spend some time with the Yemen Coast Guard (YCG). The YCG treated us to a very nice traditional Yemeni dinner – at a nice outdoor restaurant right on the water. It was fire-baked fish plus a lot of breads and dips – all eaten with hands – and some delicious local honey. It was messy, but delicious.
Also took guests down to the Old City in Sana’a. There is a big market there (the souk), and can buy a lot of interesting stuff there. I bought some scarves for the wife, as well as a Jambiya (curved dagger) plus belt for myself.
At the Jambiya shop – putting the finishing touches on the belt. The man is wearing the traditional ‘thobe’ and sandals as well as his own belt and Jambiya. If you look closely, you can see a big bulge in his cheek – that is ‘qat’ – the local narcotic plant
Usually I take a local along, but today went down with my bud from Bahrain alone – he speaks Arabic so I felt fine. We did some shopping, and also we toured this old hotel – was built in a really old building and renovated to be a hotel. There was a rooftop coffee shop so we had some coffee while sitting outdoors overlooking the old city. Very nice. It was a bit spooky, as our guide led us through some narrow back alleys to get there, but all turned out fine. We also walked through a ‘qat’ market – qat is a narcotic plant that the locals chew. It is grown here and has to be chewn while fresh – the chemical in the plant decays quickly. So, it is bought fresh every day by the vast majority of the people in Yemen. The early pm is focused on chewing the qat – less work gets done then.
I had sort of thought I was anonymous in the big city, but am mistaken. I went to the Old City in late Oct with some guests, and we used a local guy to be our guide. They take you to shops after you tell them what you want to buy and they supposedly get you ‘good prices’. I tipped the guy nicely. I just went back in early December and I was not in the souk for more than a minute when the same guy found me and acted as my guide. (I had tried calling him to have him meet us, but he did not answer). The souk is a BIG place – though you do have to enter through one gate. Still, I thought it was freaky that he found me so fast. Then today, I had tried calling him for my visit but he did not answer. Again, not one minute in to the souk, a young boy came up, called our names (my friend from Bahrain used the same guide as I before), remembered an eerie amount of detail from the Oct visit, then proceeded to guide us. (he was a friend of our normal guide, who was home sleeping at the time apparently). The kid even waited for an hour while we toured the hotel and had coffee. Again, sort of spooky…
A few more days in the Yem, then home for R&R leave! The only downside is that I have to use the Army R&R program, so instead of flying directly home, I take a flight to Kuwait, and there go to an army base, get my uniform on, and hurry up and wait for a day or so until my military charter carries me home. Upsides are 1) it is free and 2) travel days do not count as leave – so I get 15 full days of leave at home. So, for a few extra days of leave (in effect) and saving $2200 on a ticket, I have to deal with Army BS a bit – including sleeping in a tent in Kuwait. Well worth it. Besides, will be able to razz the Army weenies about their recent loss to Navy in football…
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