Aaron and Anne-Sophie

We added some photos recently of weddings (see them in the around Sanaa album)

I forgot to ask some of you, but I was an extra in the movie “Bee Season,” with Richard Gere and Juliet Binoche. I don’t think it has had very good reviews, but if anyone has seen it or is going to see it, tell me if you can see me in the audience at the Spelling Bee. I’m probably not in it or just a blur in the background.

My turn to fill out this e-mail questionaire we received. Feel free to do it too in the comments or and send it to us via e-mail.

I hope all these aren’t the same answers as Anne-Sophie. (more…)

This is a cute and enlightening way to get to know people a little better/differently than you know them now.

1. What time did you get up this morning? And what did you do first?

9:00 - shower
(more…)

Yesterday we were invited to a dinner at our Danish friend’s house in the Old City. So after class we asked our friend and student Dr. Musleh for a ride there. Dr. Musleh is the head pharmacist for all of Yemen, so with him we’ll never be lacking for drugs if we are ever sick. He is also one you can describe as too generous. Wherever you go with him he must pay for everything. He’ll ask you while walking by a shop which you prefer and he’ll buy it for you. He’s very insistent that you accept his hospitality. So on the way to the Old City he stops near his pharmacy and leaves us there insisting that we take the car for the night to go wherever we want. Despite our many refusals to take his car, he just walks away with the key in the ignition. (more…)

(To read the previous blog about Religious Conservatism from October)

In the beginning of our journey I wrote essentially that one thing we would not miss about America was the religious and political conservatism and all the nonsense of extreme consumerism and “reality” TV that is far from reality. We do miss the Daily Show, a fake news show that reveals more truth than real news shows, American sports (at least one of us), and the occasional pleasure of eating sushi, drinking wine with your meal, French cheese, and a myriad of other cuisines we don’t have the opportunity to eat here. Apart from finding a Chinese restaurant the other day (there’s always a Chinese restaurant in every country I’ve visited), most of those pleasures we were prepared to miss for the next year. However conservatism, consumerism, and reality shows we still can’t escape. (more…)

(there are a few new photos in the Around Sanaa folder from a day trip)

Recently a few people I know have set dates to get married this summer/fall. So congratulations to all of them, though unfortunately we may not be able to attend some of their weddings. Speaking of weddings, I thought it would be a good opportunity to speak about marriage in this area of the world. (more…)