Archive for July, 2007
The Yafe’ Chronicles
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007It is much easier to be on the road in Yemen than to stay in one place. Kaare and I got off to a good start Saturday as we got through three check-points between Sana’a and al-Habilayn, the main turning for Yafe’ on the road to Aden, without being noticed by the soldiers. We were […]
Gharib Ajib
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007Yemen is a wonderfully crazy country. Yesterday, while Kåre, my Norwegian friend, and I were standing by the street outside waiting for a bus, a car stopps and the guy on the passanger side leans out and gives us each a piece of fried fish. Initial attempts at saying no thanks is met with a […]
Video: The flooding of Sana’a
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007Yesterday, torrential rains hit Sana’a creating flooding all over the city. My house and my room faces the Sailah, a ‘river’ that is used as a road all year long as it only rains during the summer months, and then usually not enough to create problems for traffic.
Yet, once in a while it floods […]
The Officer’s Club
Sunday, July 8th, 2007The title of this post gives a feel of times long gone when a colonial administrator could lounge under a parasol, a gin tonic in his hand, and know that the Empire was safe and sound, as the sun would never set. Nothing could be further from the truth at Sana’a’s Officers’ Club.
The Club is […]
The politics of foreigners in Yemen
Wednesday, July 4th, 2007For the first time since 1998 foreigners have been killed on purpose in Yemen. Whereas kidnapping of foreigners was everyday business throughout most of the 1990s when more than 100 were kidnapped, this was mostly in order to pressure the government to free jailed tribesmen or implement social projects in peripheral areas. This meant that […]