Last Day in Yemen

Really sad to be leaving tomorrow morning. Though of course excited about Cairo, seeing Uncle Bob and Aunt Myriam, and desert camping, it feels like I am ripping out a relationship I had started to form with the country. Or at least with Sana'a, with people at the organizations with whom I spoke, and the wonderful people at the YCMES (Yemen College of Middle Eastern Studies, where I have been staying).
And it seems that I just had to say goodbye to so many wonderful people in Oman. Am not ready to do it again, especially when I have only just met them.
Today...
like yesterday I began my day at HOOD in order to meet Samira, a volunteer there. She took me to the offices of The Yemen Times, the first English language newspaper in Yemen. Samira is wonderful; she had taken off time from work to be able to take me to Women Without Chains yesterday and Yemen Times today--she had even gone to the Yemen Times office yesterday to set up an appointment, (email contact had not been working). The Yemen Times is the organization listed as the official partner in my research, at least on the Fulbright application. Samira and I met with the Editor in Chief, Nadia Saqqaf. Nadia suggested we got to the organization "Meda" (in Arabic) or CDF (Civic Democratic Initiatives Support Foundation). They seem to be quite effective, with 17,000 volunteers. They manage to work with the government rather than against them, or at least the government is more open to cooperation with them.
Afterwards Samira took me to the home of her friend Ehad, whom I had met at HOOD the first day. Samira had asked if I would have henna done for Eid al-Adha (which starts on Wednesday, and is the reason why my trip to Yemen had to be so quick--I have to get to Cairo tomorrow, because traveling during Eid would be nuts). I had told her that I might try to have it done, either in Sana'a or Cairo, she told me that she had a friend who knew how to do henna. It turned out to be Ehad's older sister, Abeer. Her name means "perfume"...Samira means midnight...Ehad means brook or stream. I am always asked what Annelle means, and sometimes I try to tell the story of where it came from. But the punchline of that story is that as doctors my parents couldn't manage to use effective birth control. Although unlike the Bible the Quran says nothing against birth control, it is still not really material for a story. Oh well. Sometimes they call me "Amal" or hope.
Before henna they insisted on feeding me. It was so wonderful to get to see the inside of a Sanani home. Of course we sat in the majlis, sitting room, and ate from shared dishes of rice, potatoes and vegetables, soup with meat, and bread. Then Abeer did gorgeous henna for me. She refused to let me pay her, saying that when I come back, if she does it again, then I can pay her. But that this first time is establishing our relationship.
So many times I have said "Insha'allah, fi al mstakbal, ana s'aud ile Yemen. Ithe s'andi al minha." (Hopefully, in the future, I will return to Yemen. If I will have the scholarship.) If I don't get it, I'll find another way to come back.
The photos: I wanted to walk around old Sana'a at sunset to get the shots I missed yesterday, but unfortunately was too busy trying to get in touch with the director of the American Institute of Yemeni Studies, who would need to authorize my research. So went after sunset. The first shows the typical dress of women here, with the lady in full naqab (face cover). Of course everyone wears clothes, often wonderful clothes, underneath the baltu (abaya), as are visible behind here. The street was crazy, shoppers everywhere, hawkers crouched on the sidewalk with alarm clocks, clothing, shoes, sometimes more touristy things, but even scarves and such are worn by Yemenis as well as purchased by the foreigners.
In the next picture, I was trying to show the little boy selling peanuts and nuts, but the men holding hands passed at the same moment; a good thing, as it shows another big part of the culture. Far more than Oman, Yemeni men interact very closely, touch, hold hands, kiss. And women, when greeting a friend, rather than giving the kiss on each cheek as in Oman, kiss one cheek, press cheeks together, and kiss the cheek again. I really like that I was able to find this out; it feels more genuine than the air kiss on each.
The final photo is from the courtyard at the Merkez (YCMES); the man on the right with the jambia guards my building at night, and kindly lets me in when I get home late. The man next to him later shared qat with me, I don't know the man in front. Bradley sits to his right, an American student, and Philip, a new intern from Germany completes the tea-drinking ensemble.
Don't want to leave. Yemen is really the coolest place I think i've ever been.
Insha'allah, fi al mustakbal, ana s'aud hena.