Thinking of Yemen

It's amazing how a remarkably short little visit can stick with you.  As I've chronicled earlier I was only in Yemen for a weekend, and even then I didn't really get out of the old part of Sana'a.  Nevertheless, it has stuck with me in a way that few other places have.  I've read several books on Yemen and obsessively follow their unfolding history/tragedy on the news and especially on Twitter.  And through Twitter I've actually been in contact with several folks, both inside and outside of the country, who have kindly answered my questions.  I set up a blog last year where I wanted to post actual Yemeni stories but in the end I was not able to track down any material from inside the country; truthfully, I think Yemen has more problems to deal with that answering requests from anonymous Americans.  That said, I don't normally ever give up on anything so maybe I'll pursue it again.  Lord knows the world needs a different view from the country other than the constant drum beat of war.  In my Ibn Battuta class this semester I'm using three books by Tim Mackintosh-Smith who actually lives in Sana'a.  I'm a big fan of his work and if I had been more familiar with him on my trip there I probably would have tried to track him down.  Oh well, on the next trip . . .

One of the many people who befriended me in the streets of the old city, and who could not have been nicer to me when they didn't really have much reason to be.