I’m putting up some more pictures from my Mahweet trip but God, is it going slowly. My “recent pictures” tab is working again. You can get to it under the “My Pictures” tab or go to it directly.
Categories
Month: March 2008
Categories
Globalization and Yemen
One of the subjects we talked about in my conversation class was the concept of globalization. Since this is a controversial topic in the US for some reason, I was curious what Yemenis thought about it. As it turned out, it was a pretty dull class because they had a uniformly positive view of the process. In the US, the opponents of globalization tend to the processes of globalization as exploitative. Here, they see it as an opportunity to get a job, and a good one at that. My students saw nothing exploitative in working for a multinational company (of which they all thought was a good thing) even if the salary was a 6th or even a 10th of what it might be in the US. A couple of them said that they would not work in the factory or business if it paid them too little but they all saw potential advantages for many people here in Yemen.
In addition, they all saw the influx of products from China and India as a positive thing. All of them remembered what it was like not being able to buy those things and so they approved of the added choices they have available today. The things they liked about globalization were trade (and the resulting product choices from it), employment, knowledge transfer, and the cultural exchange that come from it. The only potential qualm they had about globalization was the potential of watering down the Islam they practice although several saw the potential to spread it as well.
When I asked about a country that has benefitted the most from globalization, the students picked one that I had never thought of, The UAE. I was thinking of Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and the US, but the UAE? Yes, they have a lot of oil and LNG, but the main reason they are so fabulously wealthy is that they have almost completely opened up to the rest of the world. It is very easy to start a business and there is a vanishingly small amount of taxes to worry about. Compare the UAE to Nigeria, Russia, KSA, and Venezuela, and you can see why they see trade in a good light. I wish that the people that campaign so relentlessly in order to “save” people from evil, greedy multinational corporations would actually go to places like Yemen and see all of the positive things that that “exploitation” can accomplish.
Categories
Phones here
I really don’t know much of anything about cell phones. i got my first one when I got here. It’s a cheapie, it lets me stay in touch with people here and not much else. Tami went out and got herself a cell phone last night. It’s a nice one from Motorola with all sorts of fancy features. The most important thing for her was that it was “quad band” so that she could use it wherever she goes. The other nice thing about buying a phone here is that there are no contracts with them. You buy the phone, and then you go buy a sim card and away you go. She got the phone for $140, but there is no contract and it is hers. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but after seeing hers, it makes me want to get a new one, especially if it’ll work in the states with no problem. If anyone wants an unlocked phone, just let me know and I’ll pick one up for you when I come back in June.
Categories
Bought my ticket!
I just bought my ticket so I can go home for my cousin’s wedding in July. I’m flying Qatar airways again, I couldn’t really complain about anything from last time, so they’re getting my business again. I’ll leave june the 17th and get leave the 29th of july. I had to fiddle around with the dates a little so that I could actually afford the ticket. Thank God for credit cards! Anyway, now I just have to keep working in order to pay this thing off, it’ll be worth it. By that time, I’ll need a break from here and besides, I wouldn’t miss her wedding for the world!
Categories
A request…
I could really use two things that I can’t get here. First, I would really like some more vitamins. I’ve been using some from a company called Source Naturals and they are called “Life Force Multiples” and then below that it reads “Energy Activator.” I really like them and they were picked out by someone I really trust when it comes to things like these. The other thing I really need are some of those ant killers. You know, the ones where the ants come and get the poison and then bring it back to the nest, killing them all. I have a bit of an ant problem and all I can find is the spray poison, and I don’t really want to use it. I don’t really think it’s all that effective anyway…
I would really appreciate it if someone could send this stuff to me, I can pay for it and everything!
Categories
A picture of me…
Here I am somewhere on the road to Mahweet. It was a good trip…
Categories
Trip to Mahweet
Last weekend, Tami, Ryan, and I went on a little trip. Neither Tami nor myself had been outside of Sana’a for quite a while. Ryan had never been anywhere… We started early, the driver was told to meet us at 7:00. This being Yemen, he didn’t actually show up until 8:00. We then hit the road and didn’t really have any trouble after that.
Mahweet was our first stop. I had seen some pictures of the place and it looked quite nice. Mahweet is no little village, it is quite large, in Yemen you might even call it a small city. It took about three hours to get there. Ryan and I were beat, getting up that early is not part of our usual schedule. Tami exercised her remarkable ability to sleep in just about any situation. She’s small enough that she was able to curl up in the back seat and use me as a pillow. I was more than a little jealous…
Anyway, we got there and the driver took us to the best scenic area in the town. It was pretty impressive, we could see several small villages up on outcrops of rock overlooking an impressive vista. Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of dust in the air so the far views were obscured. The guide motioned us to come along with him along the side of a cliff. We started to walk along it and quickly realized that we probably shouldn’t do that. He wanted us to keep going, but what little footpath there was disappeared after 10 feet or so. It was a long ways down, so we decided to be smart and got down. Ryan scrambled up a little higher and snapped the picture I posted earlier.
We then went to the old part of the town and took a look at the architecture. There were a bunch of kids and some old buildings. I snapped some pictures and then we left. Shibam was our next stop. I had been there before and found it to be particularly dreary. We went to a restaurant/ hotel for lunch. Apparently there is a woman that owns it and runs it. She is quite the business woman, she owns several buildings and businesses. The food was really good, the star had to be the salta. We managed to request it without the fenugreek, and that made all the difference. Man, was it good. This was real salta with lots of lamb and veggies. Usually, whenever I get it in Sana’a, it’s just lamb in some sauce with a huge dollop of fenugreek on it.
We then drove up to Kawkabahn. I had been there before on a much clearer day, so I didn’t take many pictures of the impressive view. I tried to take more pictures of the town itself. It’s an old place and looks quite run down. Still, it has a lot of character, and there are some nice, if pushy, souvenir sellers there. It was fun to talk to some of them even though they were lying through their teeth. They claimed to have all sorts of really old “artifacts” for sale, most of which I had seen in Sana’a as well.
Anyway, we climbed back into the car, Tami fell asleep again, and we went back home. I was totally wiped out, not only that day, but the next as well. None of us made it to class the next day. It was nice to get out of town for a little while, and the lunch was great. I hope to have some pictures up soon.
Categories
Teaching wrap up
I learned some interesting things teaching both the English class and the conversation class. I especially enjoyed some of the responses I got from people when they did their homework or answered questions in class. Once, I brought up the phrase, “money talks,” in the conversation class. Neena than said, “And something walks, right?” Ummm, yeah, let’s just stick to the first part for now…:-)
In the other class, one of the ladies wrote that if she could chance something, she would change her fiance! Ouch! The women were, for the most part, very impressive. The two in the conversation class were definately the most advanced, and the three in the other were the best students I had. The women in the English class were all professionals, there were two dentists, a store manager, and a teacher. The two in the conversation class were housewives taking the class in order to have something to do. Neena has been all over the Europe.
These are the people I had hoped to meet in Yemen, intelligent and curious. I hope I’m able to get a similar group next term.
Categories
Sorry about that…
I haven’t been blogging quite as much as I had been, but I’ve been really busy at work. That, combined with some really frustrating computer problems have prevented me from adding much to my blog. I’m hoping that I can be more active this week, my week off from work. I’m still going to my Arabic lessons, but now I have my evenings back. Tami will be leaving soon, that will free up some time, but I doubt that I’ll find that an advantage in her absence. Anyway, I’ll post things as I think of them…
Categories
Don’t try this at home kids!
It wasn’t quite as bad as it looks, but it wasn’t all that safe either. I’m taking a picture, not blowing my nose. This picture was taken by Ryan in Mahweet.