I’m down to one more full day here. Tomorrow is my last day to do anything in Yemen, and I think I’ll be busy. I have two people coming over to look at my stuff in the apartment. I will make sure everything is sold, someone is going to get one hell of a deal on a fridge, stovetop, mafraj cushions, and a washing machine. I don’t really care what I get, it was never going to be a large amount of money, but every little bit helps now…
I went with Luchiano and Laurie the other day to a really good restaurant. It’s called Al-Faker and it serves traditional Yemeni food. Yes, I have been constantly bitching about the food here, but that is because I was going to restaurants. If you want good Yemeni food, you have to go to someone’s home, and while the food is good, there are other problems (see here). This restaurant has the good food and a good atmosphere. It’s what dining out should be like. For those of you used to old city prices, the prices at Al-Faker will come as a shock. On the upside, you don’t have to worry about food poisoning, women can go there, and it’s actually a nice place to be. It is, of course, way the hell down Hadda street. Every place that is worth going to is… This place is a little past Pizziola on the left…
We went there for lunch and then Luciano invited me over to one of his co-worker’s houses. I think his name was Alonzo, but whatever his name, he was a very gracious host. He lives in a part of Sana’a that I had never gone to before. The houses were all inside walled compounds. If the house I went into was any indication, the houses are really nice. The neighborhood itself is typical Yemen, rubble and trash everywhere. It’s just one brown, dirty, heap of rubble after another.
In any case, this house had a great big garden lined with pomegranate trees. He has a lawn and numerous flowers. I was shocked to see so much green, it was quite nice. The first thing that the host did was offer coffee, chocolate, and cognac. I’m not a coffee drinker, but what could I say when he brought out a bottle of Remy Martin VSOP and offered it me? It was quite nice, very smooth. I mentioned that I felt a little guilty drinking such expensive liquor belonging to someone I just met. He just waved his arm dismissively and said that it didn’t cost more than 60-80 Euros in the duty free… I’d hate to see what he thought an expensive bottle would cost. This was the first time I had ever drank cognac in the daytime, it felt quite extravagent. I had had chocolate with cognac before, but only with my cheap covousier, the combination was a little harsh. This combo was divine. If I ever have the money, I will buy a bottle of that stuff for myself.
Afterwards, Luchiano and Laurie invited me over to dinner in a couple of nights. I just got back. It was the typical gorging myself on prosciutto and great pasta. Those guys are great, and I demanded that they come over to the US so that I could repay their hospitality. There really aren’t many people here to say goodbye to, but I needed to see them again before I left. Thank you guys, I miss you already!