Aaron and Anne-Sophie

I got some results from the schools I applied to: I’m in at George Washington University and Tufts, but without scholarship, out at Johns Hopkins. Mixed results as I’m very happy to be accepted to very good schools, but I have still to make a decision since money is going to be a factor. We’ll see, and I’ll keep you posted.

Last week-end we went on a trip organized by New Horizons, with our fellow teachers and some of the managers. We saw Ibb, Jibla and Taiz. (see pics.) As usual the Yemeni definition of tourism is to get in a city, go to the most elevated point (on the mountains surrounding the city, or in the city itself when it’s built on the mountain), and find a good spot to chew qat. Somehow qat chewing is supposed to be enhanced by a panoramic view from a high point, and on the week-end all the men migrate to the hill tops to enjoy the vista. even in one’s house you usually chew upstairs. talk about “getting high”… for us westerners we chose to kill the time by playing cards. We managed to throw in a little culture by insisting to visit the museum of Queen Arwa in Jibla, and hike up to the Cairo Castle in Taiz. Overall it was pleasant since we haven’t visited that part of yemen so far, but we felt very rushed as the whole thing lasted only two days. And we had a military escort for most of the time there, pretty unnecessary but difficult to avoid.

Shihara is one of the most famous sites in Yemen. The dramatic view of its old bridge is featured everywhere from travel brochures to the 10 ryal coins. (see pictures in the more yemen section.) However it’s surprising to realize that very few Yemeni have actually been there. That is because, while it’s only 150 km away from Sanaa, the mountain top village is nearly impossible to reach, which is exactly why we were so determined to make it there last week. (more…)

I just found out today that one of the four Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT)members who were held hostage in Iraq was killed. Tom Fox, an American Quaker was recently found shot in Iraq. The others were shown recently in a video, so hopefully they’re still alive. Three years ago Rachel Corrie was killed also in a mission of non-violence and justice by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza. Now sadly, a play telling her life story has been postponed indefinitely in NY; censored because it might be too politically edgy at this current time (though there are going to be some special performances of it in Portland, and hopefully elsewhere). It disturbs me greatly mainly because these people were completely innocent. (more…)

First, chose promise, chose due, a special thanks to Helene for being the first one to send back the questionnaire previously posted.
On to the odd facts:

People from Hadramawt have a special way to sit on the ground when attending a public event (more…)