Excursion north of Sana'a

Just a few photos form my first day in Yemen:
The first is an example of the gorgeous ancient buildings typical of Old Sana'a: this is the main building for the Yemen College of Middle Eastern Studies, where I am staying and would probably study Arabic if I get the Fulbright, insha'allah.
One shows me at the edge of a cliff with a falcon. Was standing admiring the view, and one of many guys with falcons for tourist photo opportunities came up to me. I explained that I didn't have any money and so did not want to hold the falcon for a picture, (I had not yet changed from Omani to Yemeni Rials...there are around 600 Yemeni Rials to one Omani, (1 Omani rial being around $2.70ish)) but he insisted. Another photo shows a woman getting water from a cistern in the unconquerable cliff city of Thula. Then a boy selling tourist baubles; when I took this picture, was standing a few feet away from the edge of a cliff...many Yemeni cities were built on cliffs, both for protection, and to not waste arable land. The last shows this same cliff, topped with the outline of buildings in the cliff city of Kawkaban, (it means "of the stars" in some Yemeni dialect, because people below would see the city and think its lighted windows were stars).
Yemen, to say the least, is amazing.