A Slideshow

Hi everyone! Here is a link that Dan found to a slide show about a part of Yemen: click here!

Middle East News Resources

Following my last post, I thought I would direct those of you interested in Middle East information that was responsible and factual to a few sites you may find useful: The Arab Reform Bulletin - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Council on Foreign Relations - the Middle East Region, The Middle East Institute, and the Center for Strategic & International Studies - Middle East Program. Happy reading!

You say Sana'a, I say Sad'ah

Many people have expressed their concerns about recent events in Yemen, specifically mentioning U.S. news stories that mention unrest in northern Sana'a, Yemen. The problem is that reporters are sometimes confusing names, as well as muddying the differences between cities and governorates (the Yemeni equivalent of "states"). The city of Sana'a is situated in the center of the Sana'a governorate. There has been some problems in the north of the governorate, but there have been no problems in the city. The northern part of the governorate, by the way, is hours away from the city. At the same time, the unrest in Yemen is located in the northern governorate of Sa'dah, which news reports sometimes get wrong as Sana'a. I've thrown a couple maps into this post to better clarify the topography of Yemen.

Best wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Education in Yemen

I thought you all might find this article on education in Yemen interesting.

Happy Islamic New Year!

Today is the Islamic New Year. Stephanie and I decided to take another walk through the old city and try some new streets.

Above this store you can see a picture of Yemen's president, Abdullah Saleh: it's rare to see him in a photo where he's not wearing sunglasses... To get to the old city from our residence, you cross a highway that doubles as a river bed during the rainy season. The highway cuts through the center of the city, running north/south. As you can see, Sana'a is much like NYC. Most of the vehicles are taxis. The yellow and white ones don't have meters in the cab, while the yellow ones (which are pretty rare) do.

Stephanie on the bridge that crosses into Old Sana'a. We enter into the city from "Bab al-Sabah," or the "Morning Gate." The gate no longer exists as it and all other gates (except the Bab al-Yemen) were destroyed during the war against the Imamate in the 1960s as the gates personified Imamic rule.

More shots of the old city and the highway/riverbed.

Entering into the old city from the Bab al-Sabah entrance.

A mosque in the distance. Outside of about 1000 Yemeni Jews, the entire country is Muslim. It is contended that the Yemeni Jews are the oldest communty of Jews in the world.

One of many minarets in the old city.

An alleyway. The old city is full of character wherever you look.

A couple shots of the old city from the balcony of a hotel, the Dawood.

(visit them at http://www.dawoodhotel.com/)

A courtyard in the old city.

A few shots of Stephanie and I taking a break in the heart of the old city.

Classic old Sana'a architecture.

The main market street (the Suq) in old Sana'a.

An alleyway onto another street.

The women were out in numbers today!

Heading back to the house...

Walking past the Dawood....

Another domed mosque.

A neighborhood with hotels that cater to Westerners.

Stephanie caught these children playing soccer in the street.

We came out onto a square. It seems that kids are kicking soccer balls around wherever you look.

A fruit stall in the Bab al-Sabah quarter of the old town.

The convenience store across the street from our house. Children mostly run the shops on our street (the 26th of September Street).

Happy Islamic New Year from Sephanie and me!