Sleep

Yemenis are very good at sleeping if there's nothing else to do. No money for qat? Bored? They can simply sleep. The other day I asked someone how he did it when he told me he was sleeping for about twelve hours a day these days - due to not having anything to do, which is a result from the uncertain situation in the country because it's not the best time to go looking for a job. Anyway, he just laughed as an answer.
Yesterday, I guess the Marib power plant was attacked again because we were without electricity for the whole day. No, I shouldn't exaggerate... it came back for about thirty minutes around midday but then went off again till the night. What to do in the candle light? I decided to test my ability to imitate other Yemenis... and indeed, by the time the electricity came back - around 10 pm I believe - I was already fast asleep!

Early Exams

Because of the uncertain situation in the country, even the school exams have been advanced. They're starting in a few days' time at most schools. In about three weeks, all students will have finished. That's about a month earlier than usually! Of course this means that teachers can't finish all the books. Or they do finish them but in such a hurry that the students won't be able to understand much. Nobody really seems to bother; after the exams they can either go and camp out at one of the sit-ins or have a nice, long summer vacation!

Recycling

Although Yemen doesn't have containers to deposit used paper, glass, or cans, this doesn't mean that recycling is non-existent. On the contrary. Garbage containers are looked through very carefully by the garbage collectors or other passers-by, and anything useful is collected. Plastic bottles are the most profitable. They are sold at certain places and then the plastic is re-used by the mineral water factories. Some people have made the collection of plastic bottles their full-time job, like in the picture.

Daily Life (Greetings)

The Prophet (PBUH) said something that means: "Greet those whom you know and those whom you do not know."

Greetings are indeed an important part of everyday life here. Whenever you speak to someone, and especially if you slightly know the person, you should start with some greetings before announcing the purpose of your visit or phone call.

Also, greetings are often repeated. You may be asked, "How are you?", "How is everything?", "So, are you doing well?", "How are the kids?" (or, if applicable, your father, mother, daughter-in-law, grandson, or whoever else), etc. with or without short intervals during a visit to friends or neighbors, for example. When you walk past someone on a quiet road, you say "Salam 'aleikum", even if you don't know the person. You also inquire about the well-being of the shopkeeper whenever you visit his shop (or he inquires about yours) or the employee at an office you regularly visit. Raising your hand as a greeting to a fellow driver who made you pass is a friendly habit, too.

Here is a short list of some simple ways to greet each other:

A: As-salamu 'aleikum.
B: Wa aleikum as-salam.

A: Sabah/masa al khair (Good morning/afternoon-evening).
B: Sabah/masa an-nur ("Morning/afternoon-evening of light").

A: Kayf al haal? (How are you?)(to a man, woman or group) / Kayf haalak?(to a man) / kayf haalesh? (to a woman)
B: Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah).

A: Ma lakum shay? (Are you (plural) OK?) (very informal)
B: Alhamdulillah / Ma lana shay. (We're OK)

A: Hayakum Allah (Welcome).
B: Allah Yahayik.

On departure, people often ask:

A: Ay khadimat? (Do you need anything?)
B: Shukran ((No,) thank you).

A: Ma'asalama (good bye).
B: Ma'asalama.

The Friday Sermon

Alsheikh Sharaf alQalisi held the Friday sermon today for well over a million people who were assembled at and around Tahrir Square.

Now I'm not exactly a translator, which is why I've published the original Arabic text, too, for whoever understands it, but some things he said were the following (I'll try to reproduce the meaning of what he said):

وأوضح الخطيب القليصي أن كتاب الله يدعوا الى الوحدة والاعتصام بحبله والاصطفاف والمصالحة والاخوة والوفاق وجمع الكلمة ورأب الصدع، وحديث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يُحرم الخلاف والفرقاء التنابز والاختلاف ويحرم سفك الدماء والفوضى والتخريب والتناحر بين أفراد الامة

The Quran summones Muslims to be brothers, to be like one hand. Likewise, the hadiths of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) forbid the destruction and drifting apart of the 'ummah', the Muslim society, and disagreement between its members.

وتساءل الخطيب "لماذا الاستكبار وهذا التصلب في المواقف لماذا الاثارة واللغط حول كلمة قالها الاخ رئيس الجمهورية في الجمعة الماضية تدعوا إلى عدم الاختلاط والمضي في المظاهرات وساحات الاعتصام، وقال ممنوع حرام كلمة رددها كما رددها قبله العلماء، فلماذا التحريف والتهويل والتبديل والتأويل والتفسير وتحريف الكلم عن مواضعه، لماذا يحسبون كل صيحة عليهم ، أليست تلك الكلمات من باب النصح والحرص على عدم تعرض الأخوات والأمهات والبنات لمضايقات واذى في تلك الاماكن من أمراض النفوس، ومن باب الامر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر..؟؟".

Why all the turmoil about something the President said last Friday? He reminded the people that mixing is 'haram' (forbidden in Islam). So why all the distortion and taking the words out of their context? Weren't these words spoken as advice so as to protect our sisters, mothers, and daughters from harassment and the harm of those places? Wasn't this simply a matter of advising others to what is good and discouraging them from doing wrong?

وصناديق الاقتراع هي الوسيلة لخروج الوطن من الأزمة الراهنة والوصول الى السلطة والحكم وما دون ذلك مرفوض

And the ballot boxes are the only right tool to get the homeland out of the current crisis and to get access to power, and any other way is unacceptable.

A Discussion with a Lady

I happened to talk to a lady today who owns a private school. Although we agreed on many educational issues, we unavoidably started to discuss the current situation in Yemen. And here, we completely disagreed.

According to her, everything would be solved in about one month's time. I asked her what gave her that idea.
"Well," she said, "the opposition has given the President two weeks to leave."
As if it is this simple. The President would be mad to leave and let happen to him and his family what is happening to Mubarak in Egypt right now. Mubarak stepped down quickly after unrest in his country broke out, but this move was not appreciated by the protesters who now want to take him to court anyway.

"Do you really think that the tribes that support the President will allow the opposition to take his place without elections?" I asked the lady.
"But the President doesn't have any support!" she bluntly exclaimed.
"Ah.....!" Maybe she should visit Tahrir - Saba'een on a Friday morning, I suggested. The fact that most of these supporters don't camp out on Tahrir Square the whole week long doesn't mean that they aren't supporters of the President! They simply have other work to do and aren't free to spend 24/7 away from their homes. She didn't want to hear it, though.

And al-Qaeda... "There is no al-Qaeda in Yemen - it's a lie," she said. "All the tribes are brothers now; there are no problems at all."
I wonder! Simply look at the facts, starting with the separation of Sanhan tribe...

"Change, we need change," she continued. "Look at Germany, where I have many relatives, including my son. Everything is structured there. There's good medical help. There's law and order. And no qat."
May Allah prevent Yemen from becoming a copy of Germany!

OK, the medical help in Germany is without doubt better than here. But it's not that we don't have modern devices - the problem is just that the doctors don't know how to use them. Improving medical education, therefore, is a very good idea, but this doesn't mean that the whole government needs to be replaced.

The best thing here in Yemen is its freedom for the Yemeni people. Life here is not ruled by the clock and a job from 9 to 5. Yemenis take their time to relax and to live their lives the way they want. They're not after accumulating money. Social interaction is important here. You know your neighbors and help them. Qat is a helpful tool in this because it brings people together and lets them relax. Stress and stress-related diseases are much less common here than in the west. And if you don't want to chew, well, that's fine. It's your own choice, after all.

"No, no, no," she answered. "Qat must be prohibited. We can open sports centers instead."
It's always the same idea that comes up from anti-qat people. Maybe some youths would be happy with that, but certainly not the older generations. And this only applies to cities, anyway, and not the countryside, where people work the whole day in the fields and really aren't in need of more exercise after that! Let people free to choose!

When I came to Yemen, I finally felt I could breathe. Start your own business. Build your own house. Be inventive. Know your neighbors, your society. Help each other. Great!
Is this what the opposition wants to change?
This lady had a strange explanation: "The sun and the planets run their own course - it's law and order. Likewise, human beings are inclined to law and order."
But she forgot that people, unlike planets, have a free will. And this is something that we should cherish and should never be taken away.

Gas Cylinders (3) and Other Shortages

The shortage of gas cylinders is so bad that many households are totally out of gas right now. A little while ago, they might still have had one cylinder to move between the stove and bread-oven, but now they have no choice but to eat bread and yogurt or salad only. Bread from the bakery, of course.
Or from a wood-oven. In neighborhoods where not everybody lives in apartments, some women have wood-ovens in their yard. They either look for wood themselves or buy it. It's a good solution these days. A woman told me that she had an old cupboard at home that she had wanted to throw away a long time ago. Luckily, she didn't, because now she uses the wood to bake bread in her neighbor's wood-oven. Every day a she cuts off a little.
Today I heard that now petrol is also becoming scarcer. This would be a big problem as well because no petrol means no cars, which in turn means no transportation of food stuffs. And then Sana'a would become a difficult place to live.
Add to all this the very long power cuts these days. Every time the power goes off for hours in a row, we fear it won't come back at all. No electricity means no petrol, no water, and, less importantly, no lights.

The opposition is blocking the roads leading to Sana'a and so prevents the city from its necessary supply of gas and petrol. They say that this is to put pressure on the President to step down. If you ask me, it has only an opposite effect: people are getting more and more fed up of the situation and the stubbornness of the opposition, which is to be blamed for all the unrest.
Because who is the one that suffers? Not the protesters of the sit-in, who get their food and qat every day. No, it's always the simple, hard-working man who suffers most. The one who doesn't care about politics and simply wants to feed his family. This is getting more and more difficult these days.

Doctors

When I visit a doctor, I expect to learn about the cause of the health complaint. However, what you usually get is simply a prescription. But what exactly is wrong? And how could we prevent it from happening again? These are questions you have to explicitly ask, and not all doctors appreciate such an inquisitive customer. Because a customer is what you actually are. You pay money to see the doctor, and more money if any tests are required. And well, for that money I'd like to understand something. If anything is wrong with anyone of us, I prefer to look into some medical books I own. Only when I can't find a satisfiable answer there, I resort to visiting a doctor.
The other day, my daughter suddenly got a bad stomachache to such an extent that her belly felt hard like a stone. Although it was already dark, I decided to take her to the hospital because I had once read this may be a danger-sign. We found a friendly doctor, who examined her belly quickly and gave me a paper to have two tests done, after which he directed me to the secretary.
"Sorry, but what did you find so far?"
"Excuse me asking, but what tests?"
Upon noticing that I expected an explanation, he told me that it was probably severe constipation - nothing serious because if it had been serious, he wouldn't have been able to touch her stomach without her crying out of pain. See, that was useful information. After a little friendly discussion, we agreed that one test was probably enough, which saved me a considerable amount of money, and later on, we even discussed which of the several possible medications would be best to use. Fantastic! It is possible!

Gas Cylinders (2)

Today, the gas truck finally came. And when that happened, the kids and the few women who had been waiting in line for so many hours or days disappeared, after which their fathers, older brothers, or husbands took their places. Well, their places... when will Yemenis learn how to make a line? They never do it; they always rush in crowds to wherever they need to be, whether that's a desk in an office, a bus, or a gas cylinder shop.
All the gas cylinders were taken from the truck (it wasn't a big one) and put inside the shop. Because of the crowd in front of the shop, the owner decided to close the door until they'd disperse a little. But as soon as he opened it again, they were back.
Women have no chance whatsoever in such a situation. After all, we can not push our way forward between the men. And the shopkeeper next door who'd promised to try to fill my gas cylinder was still asleep. His assistant, a friendly teenager, couldn't leave the shop because he was the only one there.
But Yemenis are often nice to females; they consider them weak in certain situations, and like to show off their strength. So I happily accepted a man's offer to go and get me a gas cylinder. He managed to get one pretty quickly. The shop assistant was impressed and gave him the shop owner's one, too. The man went again, and again came back with a full cylinder.
But the people were getting a little angry because nobody is supposed to come with more than one cylinder at a time so that as many households as possible can benefit from the truck load.
While the crowd of men was still shouting and pushing, I thanked the man and left. This should do for a month or so, inshallah.

Gas Cylinders

Here in Yemen, we use gas cylinders in the kitchen for the stove and the bread-oven. When one is empty, you go to the nearest gas cylinder seller to change it for a full one.
Now that roads are being blocked, the supply of gas has dwindled to next-to-nothing.
Today I saw about sixty gas cylinders lined up outside one of the gas sellers. Empty ones, of course, and in a neat row. The rumor was that a supply of gas would arrive somewhere today.
This was the third time this week that this rumor was going around. The first time, tens of people (mainly young boys, but also some girls and women) waited patiently for several hours and were then sent home without any gas arriving. The second time was yesterday afternoon. Again, they waited and waited, it started raining but they still waited, and then they were sent home with their empty cylinders again.
In this regard, I'm afraid I'm a bit of a foreigner. I mean, I wouldn't really mind lining up just like all of the people, but I know that they would look at me strangely, especially if I'd be sitting there with my kids. Thank God that the shopkeeper is a very understanding person, and so he placed my empty gas cylinder among his own, and I think there were a few other ones that belonged to neighbors. If a gas truck arrives, he may be able to fill them. And if not.... well, then we'll wait for the next one - whenever that may be.

Update: I just heard that a group of angry citizens blocked a big street this afternoon with hundreds of empty gas cylinders to protest against the lack of supply. Apparently, they only left after a few hours - still with their empty cylinders, of course...

Picture (Bab al Yemen)

Photo by Eveline Kuhlman

Bab al Yemen is the main gate to the Old City, and the only one still standing today. If it is open, you can enter a small door and climb some stairs all the way to the top, where you have a great view of the market below.

De Gewone Man (in het NLs)

Tot voor kort merkte je in het dagelijks leven in Sana'a nauwelijks of niks van de onrust, maar dit is aan het veranderen. Het leven is een beetje lam komen te liggen. Steeds meer scholen geven, om wat voor reden ook, minder lessen, gasflessen zijn ontzettend schaars geworden, allerlei dingen worden uitgesteld 'tot de situatie weer normaal is', onroerend goed wordt practisch niet meer verhandelt, bouwwerkzaamheden, vooral kleinschalige, liggen grotendeels stil.
En van die bouwwerkzaamheden is mijn buurman, werkman zijnde, juist afhankelijk. Hij heeft helemaal geen werk meer de laatste tijd. En de achterstallige betalingen worden niet gedaan omdat iedereen een beetje krap is komen te zitten.
"Het is altijd de gewone man die het meest lijdt" zegt hij dan ook. "Nu kost een gasfles, als je er al een kunt krijgen, tenminste 3000 rial (was 1100 rial voor de problemen). Wie zegt dat dat niet nog veel hoger wordt? De hoge officieren die nu een revolutie zeggen na te streven, hebben thuis vast en zeker genoeg gas om het maandenlang mee uit te houden. En ze hebben ook genoeg geld om meel en rijst in te slaan. Maar wij?"
Een makelaar zegt dat niemand dezer dagen meer de moed heeft een stuk grond te kopen, maar eerst de situatie afwacht. "Er is helemaal geen omzet meer in deze branche." Zelf bezit hij onroerend goed in de buurt van de universiteit - nu dus middenin de sit-in. "Ik was bezig de verkoop rond te krijgen toen de onrust uitbrak. Nu kan ik het wel vergeten."
"Vandaag zijn we naar huis gestuurd door de school" zegt een buurjongen. Hij weet niet of dit voor slechts een dag geldt of dat de lessen nu ook op zijn school zijn opgeschort.
En op het persoonlijke vlak lijkt ieder initiatief het verkeerde moment. Vrienden bezoeken die ver weg wonen? Hmmm... niet te veel benzine verspillen. Je weet maar nooit.
Een Jemeniet verwacht dat zijn Nederlandse vrouw in de zomer overkomt om zich bij hem te voegen "mits er geen oorlog is uitgebroken intussen".
Telkens als de electriciteit uitvalt - en dat is weer zeer regelmatig de afgelopen dagen - vreest mijn buurvrouw dat het niet meer terugkomt. Dan zouden we tegelijkertijd ook zonder benzine en water komen te zitten.
Kortom: iedereen begint zich nu toch zo langzamerhand wel zorgen te maken. Begonnen de partijen nou maar eens echt te overleggen over hoe ze een einde kunnen maken aan deze situatie...
Er zijn een paar handreikingen gedaan op dit gebied door verschillende Golf-staten, maar zal de oppositie die ook aannemen? Of wachten ze liever tot de NAVO zich ermee gaat bemoeien hier?

Onderbroken Studies (in het NLs)

De protesten in Sana'a die al bijna twee maanden aan de gang zijn hebben ook gevolgen voor de studie van universiteitsstudenten en sommige schoolkinderen. De Universiteit van Sana'a, de grootste van het land met zo'n 80000 studenten, en de nabijgelegen Science and Technology prive-universiteit zijn tot nader order dicht, evenals verschillende scholen in de omgeving van de sit-in en zelfs in buurten daar ver vandaan.

De Universiteit van Sana'a had het tweede semester op 5 maart j.l. moeten beginnen maar kon dat vanwege de sit-in niet waarmaken. De campus staat immers vol met tentjes en een groot deel van de mannelijke en een klein deel van de vrouwelijke studenten nemen deel aan de protesten. Colleges werden uitgesteld tot 19 maart, waarna men besloot geen data meer te noemen. Volgens een professor aan de universiteit die niet met naam genoemd wil worden zal de zomervakantie komen te vervallen om de gemiste weken in te halen. Tenzij het allemaal langer gaat duren. In dat geval zal het academische jaar tot volgend jaar worden uitgesteld. Hij zegt dat sommige professors ook deelnemen aan de sit-in en dat anderen hun onvrijwillige vakantie besteden aan bijvoorbeeld schrijf- of vertaalwerk, zoals hijzelf. Persoonlijk ziet hij het allemaal met lede ogen aan. "Ik heb het idee dat de studenten gebruikt worden door de oppositie partijen. Maar ik denk niet dat de meeste studenten erg inzitten over het uitvallen van de colleges, behalve misschien aanstaande afstudeerders. Over het algemeen genomen zijn ze niet al te gemotiveerd."

Dat verschilt. Diegenen die meedoen aan de protesten hebben nu wel wat anders aan hun hoofd, maar zij die zich afzijdig houden denken daar veelal anders over. "Heel vervelend" reageert studente Engelse literatuur Mona. Ze wil verder met haar studie, zo snel mogelijk afstuderen. En ze verwoordt de gedachte van vele studenten als ze zegt: "Dit is zo zonde van mijn tijd."

Dat onderwijsinstellingen in de buurt van de universiteits sit-in dicht zijn is begrijpelijk daar ze nu moeilijk bereikbaar zijn en in een riskante zone zitten—de meeste schermutselingen in Sana'a vinden hier plaats. Ali Mohammed, een jonge leraar Engels op het nu tijdelijk gesloten taleninstituut Oxford zit er niet mee. Hij bezoekt zelf dagelijks de sit-in. Dat zijn salaris niet doorbetaald wordt omdat hij per uur wordt betaald vind hij ook geen ramp: "Mijn salaris is nu ondergeschikt aan onze strijd" zegt hij.

Dat ook scholen ver van de actie getroffen worden, is opmerkelijker. AlMahsadi, een kleine overheidsschool in Nuqum, zo'n tien kilometer van de sit-in vandaan, heeft de lessen opgeschort omdat een groot deel van de onderwijzers lid is van de Islah partij en dus nu aan het protesteren zijn. De kinderen hebben al drie weken geen les meer gehad. Een prive-school in de diplomatenwijk heeft juist deze week de lessen weer hervat. De eigenaresse: "We hebben de situatie even afgewacht; we waren allemaal bang dat het mis zou gaan. Er zitten leerlingen bij ons op school van invloedrijke personen en omdat we in de diplomatenwijk zitten lopen hier ook nogal wat soldaten rond. Maar nu lijkt de rust een beetje weergekeerd dus hebben we besloten weer les te geven. Echter, slechts een derde van de leerlingen kwam opdagen deze week."

Steeds als President Ali Abdullah Saleh instemt met eisen van de oppositie, voegt diezelfde oppositie eisen toe aan hun lijst. Hierdoor zijn de onderhandelingen in een impasse geraakt. Het lijkt er dus op dat vele studenten voorlopig nog even verplicht vakantie zullen houden.