Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated...
I am back. For now.
For the past two years, I have been living in Yemen (Yes, it is a real country.) If you cannot locate it on a map, the Republic of Yemen is south of Saudi Arabia and east of Somalia. That is also indicative of what life is like there. Drug addicts and al-Qaeda operatives hang out with each other. Women shroud themselves in layers of black while proclaiming (quietly!) that they possess freedom. The principle form of entertainment is chewing narcotic shrubbery for hours on end. I have received lunch invitations from perfect strangers and been treated like a rock star (including the drive-by paparazi photos) simply for being a visitor to their country.
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, in spite of her oil reserves. Things are only going to get worse when the oil runs out, which will probably happen in the next ten years. The birth rate is astoundingly high at 6.5 children per woman. The sky-rocketing population and pathetic economy keep this country in very sad shape. The widespread corruption and lack of vision keep this country poor and dependent on foreign aid.
Possibly the funniest part of my time there was their attempts to guess my nationality. I kept a list (which is in no particular order): Iraqi, Russian, Palestinian, German, Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, Ukrainian, Saudi Arabian, Lybian, Jordanian, and (my personal favorite) CHINESE. Did I mention that I have golden brown hair and green eyes? As my Arabic improved, their guesses seemed to settle on Egyptian, probably Coptic. Incidentally, American was never their first guess, for which I am grateful. Like in most Arab countries, Americans are not popular or even all that welcome. (They will happily take your money though.)
In the course of my life in Yemen, I had to learn the Arabic language if I wanted to survive. Very few people speak English there, and those who study it mostly learn to read and write. In short, only a handful of people can actually carry on a conversation past the pleasantries in English. Therefore, knowledge of Arabic was essential to just about everything from buying vegetables to paying my phone bill to treating patients at clinic. I know that Arabic is probably not as difficult to learn as Mandarin, but it is certainly harder than any of the European languages. The vocabulary of the Arabic language is monstously large resulting from 1400 years of evolution, hundreds of dialects and sub-dialects varying by geography, and the level of formality.
I left a piece of my heart in Yemen that will never grow back. I will never be the same again.
For the past two years, I have been living in Yemen (Yes, it is a real country.) If you cannot locate it on a map, the Republic of Yemen is south of Saudi Arabia and east of Somalia. That is also indicative of what life is like there. Drug addicts and al-Qaeda operatives hang out with each other. Women shroud themselves in layers of black while proclaiming (quietly!) that they possess freedom. The principle form of entertainment is chewing narcotic shrubbery for hours on end. I have received lunch invitations from perfect strangers and been treated like a rock star (including the drive-by paparazi photos) simply for being a visitor to their country.
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, in spite of her oil reserves. Things are only going to get worse when the oil runs out, which will probably happen in the next ten years. The birth rate is astoundingly high at 6.5 children per woman. The sky-rocketing population and pathetic economy keep this country in very sad shape. The widespread corruption and lack of vision keep this country poor and dependent on foreign aid.
Possibly the funniest part of my time there was their attempts to guess my nationality. I kept a list (which is in no particular order): Iraqi, Russian, Palestinian, German, Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, Ukrainian, Saudi Arabian, Lybian, Jordanian, and (my personal favorite) CHINESE. Did I mention that I have golden brown hair and green eyes? As my Arabic improved, their guesses seemed to settle on Egyptian, probably Coptic. Incidentally, American was never their first guess, for which I am grateful. Like in most Arab countries, Americans are not popular or even all that welcome. (They will happily take your money though.)
In the course of my life in Yemen, I had to learn the Arabic language if I wanted to survive. Very few people speak English there, and those who study it mostly learn to read and write. In short, only a handful of people can actually carry on a conversation past the pleasantries in English. Therefore, knowledge of Arabic was essential to just about everything from buying vegetables to paying my phone bill to treating patients at clinic. I know that Arabic is probably not as difficult to learn as Mandarin, but it is certainly harder than any of the European languages. The vocabulary of the Arabic language is monstously large resulting from 1400 years of evolution, hundreds of dialects and sub-dialects varying by geography, and the level of formality.
I left a piece of my heart in Yemen that will never grow back. I will never be the same again.