What should I remember of Yemen?
Beautiful ladies in abayas? The black abayas are getting tighter and tighter with time, making you guess what is inside... very exciting! Far better than a vulgar bikini! Far more attractive than the still victimised women in burquas of Afghanistan!
The eyes that are staring you behind the veil? We all know that the veil helps to go for the forbidden!
The architecture of the old city, Tulla, Manakha or the skyscrapers of Shebam? They are really builders and cannot be copied by any other people!
The clever ladies that surround me in the office? The smile of Saba? The elegance of Hanan? The ambition of Buthaina's family? And keeping in mind Rana, Najla, Anharo...
The kindness of field staff (Khaled, Farah, Ebbi, Fadhl) when I visit them or the skills of drivers with whom I have been travelling? Hussein, Hamza, Mohamed (many Mohamed in fact, from Aden or Dhale, or Ibb, Hodeidah).
The way Yemenis are shouting at each other? So typical, surprising, noisy but I got used to it. I am more astonished by those who reject these habits and want to hide themselves behind walls and doors and want to impose their own habits instead of adjusting to local situation... They are found red handed as intolerant individuals!
The big cheek of khat chewers? I stopped the day I tried to do it properly (4-5 hours) because I ould not sleep and had a hang over the day after... I keep thinking that it is wrong even if it is not recognised as a drug! Water scarcity and malnutrition should be remembered but how to make people aware of it?
The evening walk in the main street of Al-Malla/Aden ending in the Chinese seafood restaurant with a Kronembourg beer...? The nights spent at Sheraton Gold Muhr, Elephant Bay or Mercure?
The craziness of the huge President's mosq in a country that is not guaranteeing survival an development to the majority of its children?
I stop here because I already listed 2 negative comments...
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