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Coral Pink Sand Dunes and the Wave, Southern Utah and Arizona

Linda — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 05:52:03 +0000

Cassondra and I tagged on a couple of days at the end of our climbing trip to see the Wave and a couple of nearby sites in Southern Utah and Arizona. The Nautilus and Buckskin Gulch in Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area are unique and spectacular sites well worth a visit in their own right, but the highlight of our trip has to be the Wave at Coyote Buttes. Carved by water and wind, the Navajo sandstone is covered with dramatic swirling lines accentuated by various iron oxide pigments in the layers.

Click here to view photos in Google+

Southern Utah 2012

28 photos

Zion National Park from Virgin River bridge	Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah	Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah	The Nautilus, Utah	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona
The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona
The Wave from above, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona
The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	Catching the Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona
Catching the Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona
The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona
The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona
The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona	The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona
The Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona

Bilingual Parallel Texts for Language Learning – French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Polish, and Japanese

Linda — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 08:54:44 +0000

What are these files?

They are bilingual texts with original texts and their translations aligned side-by-side. Most of the files are of classic novels no longer copyrighted. In the United States, copyright expires after life of the author plus 70 years. See Copyright Term Extension Act for more details. Most files are in Microsoft Word format, but a few are in Excel and PDF formats.

What are these files for?

They were made specifically for a language learning technique called Listening-Reading Method. Here is the gist of the technique:

You will need:

Text in your native language
Text in your target language
Audio recording of the same text in your target language

First, listen to the audio while reading the text in your native language so you get the meaning, then rewind and listen to the same segment of the audio again while reading the text in your target language. Depending on your memory and language level you can alternate these two steps per paragraph or per chapter. This method only works if you read long texts in an intensive manner. Some who have tried the method reported that they studied 8-10 hours per day for several consecutive days. Here is an excerpt from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo in French and English with the matching audio clip. Listen and read along:

Français	English
Il y a quelques années qu’en visitant, ou, pour mieux dire, en furetant Notre-Dame, l’auteur de ce livre trouva, dans un recoin obscur de l’une des tours ce mot, gravé à la main sur le mur:	A few years ago, while visiting or, rather, rummaging about Notre−Dame, the author of this book found, in an obscure nook of one of the towers, the following word, engraved by hand upon the wall:−−
ANAΓKH	ANAΓKH
Ces majuscules grecques, noires de vétusté et assez profondément entaillées dans la pierre, je ne sais quels signes propres à la calligraphie gothique empreints dans leurs formes et dans leurs attitudes, comme pour révéler que c’était une main du moyen âge qui les avait écrites là, surtout le sens lugubre et fatal qu’elles renferment, frappèrent vivement l’auteur.	These Greek capitals, black with age, and quite deeply graven in the stone, with I know not what signs peculiar to Gothic calligraphy imprinted upon their forms and upon their attitudes, as though with the purpose of revealing that it had been a hand of the Middle Ages which had inscribed them there, and especially the fatal and melancholy meaning contained in them, struck the author deeply.
Il se demanda, il chercha à deviner quelle pouvait être l’âme en peine qui n’avait pas voulu quitter ce monde sans laisser ce stigmate de crime ou de malheur au front de la vieille église.	He questioned himself; he sought to divine who could have been that soul in torment which had not been willing to quit this world without leaving this stigma of crime or unhappiness upon the brow of the ancient church.
Depuis, on a badigeonné ou gratté (je ne sais plus lequel) le mur, et l’inscription a disparu. Car c’est ainsi qu’on agit depuis tantôt deux cents ans avec les merveilleuses églises du moyen âge. Les mutilations leur viennent de toutes parts, du dedans comme du dehors. Le prêtre les badigeonne, l’architecte les gratte, puis le peuple survient, qui les démolit.	Afterwards, the wall was whitewashed or scraped down, I know not which, and the inscription disappeared. For it is thus that people have been in the habit of proceeding with the marvellous churches of the Middle Ages for the last two hundred years. Mutilations come to them from every quarter, from within as well as from without. The priest whitewashes them, the archdeacon scrapes them down; then the populace arrives and demolishes them.
Ainsi, hormis le fragile souvenir que lui consacre ici l’auteur de ce livre, il ne reste plus rien aujourd’hui du mot mystérieux gravé dans la sombre tour de Notre-Dame, rien de la destinée inconnue qu’il résumait si mélancoliquement. L’homme qui a écrit ce mot sur ce mur s’est effacé, il y a plusieurs siècles, du milieu des générations, le mot s’est à son tour effacé du mur de l’église, l’église elle-même s’effacera bientôt peut-être de la terre.	Thus, with the exception of the fragile memory which the author of this book here consecrates to it, there remains today nothing whatever of the mysterious word engraved within the gloomy tower of Notre−Dame,−nothing of the destiny which it so sadly summed up. The man who wrote that word upon the wall disappeared from the midst of the generations of man many centuries ago; the word, in its turn, has been effaced from the wall of the church; the church will, perhaps, itself soon disappear from the face of the earth.
C’est sur ce mot qu’on a fait ce livre.	It is upon this word that this book is founded.
Février 1831.	February, 1831.

Have you tried the method?

No. I’m only hosting the files temporarily until a permanent home can be found.

Does Listening-Reading Method really work?

I don’t know, but I have read success stories from people who have tried it. The key is to do this intensively so you can beat short-term memory loss by repetition. Theoretically most words in a long novel should’ve been repeated enough times for you to memorize them. You would want to read something longer than 800 pages and go at it for more than eight hours per day until you finish the book. The goal of the method is to simulate the intensity of an immersion environment where you are surrounded by nothing but the target language. Have you ever wondered why after years of language courses at school all you can do is order a beer and ask where the bathroom is? Here is your answer: five hours of studying time spread out over five days DOES NOT equal to five consecutive hours, and 70 hours of studying time over a semester does not equal to a week in an immersion environment. Studying a language for an hour a day will never get you to fluency no matter how many years you go at it. By the time you come back for your next lesson you’ve already forgotten most of what you learned the previous day. When it comes to serious language study, immersion, real or simulated, is the only way to go. If you don’t have the time or money to study abroad, spending a few days with Victor Hugo or Stieg Larsson might be the next best (cheapest) thing.

Where can I find the audio files?

Free sources:

Non-free sources: Amazon international sites and eBay international sites.

Most books here are over 100 years old, do you know where I can find books in contemporary language?

Yes, but not for free though. You can find translations of popular novels such as Stieg Larsson’s Trilogy, Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, etc on Amazon or eBay. Here is an example from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:

Français	English
PROLOGUE	PROLOGUE
VENDREDI 1er NOVEMBRE	A Friday in November
C’ÉTAIT MAINTENANT devenu un événement annuel. L’homme qui recevait la fleur fêtait ce jour-là ses quatre-vingt-deux ans. Il sortit le paquet de l’enveloppe et retira le papier cadeau. Puis il souleva le combiné du téléphone et composa le numéro d’un ancien commissaire de police qui depuis sa mise à la retraite était installé en Dalécarlie, près du lac Siljan. Non seulement les deux hommes avaient le même âge mais ils étaient aussi nés le même jour – ce qui, vu le contexte, pouvait paraître de l’humour. Le commissaire savait qu’il allait recevoir cet appel après le passage du facteur vers 11 heures du matin, et il prenait son café en attendant. Cette année, le téléphone sonna dès 10 h 30. Il décrocha et ne s’embarrassa même pas des préambules.	It happened every year, was almost a ritual. And this was his eighty-second birthday. When, as usual, the flower was delivered, he took off the wrapping paper and then picked up the telephone to call Detective Superintendent Morell who, when he retired, had moved to Lake Siljan in Dalarna. They were not only the same age, they had been born on the same day—which was something of an irony under the circumstances. The old policeman was sitting with his coffee, waiting, expecting the call.
— Elle est arrivée, je suppose. Qu’est-ce que c’est, comme fleur, cette année?	“It arrived. What is it this year?”
— Aucune idée. Je vais la faire identifier. Une fleur blanche.	“I don’t know what kind it is. I’ll have to get someone to tell me what it is. It’s white.”
— Pas de lettre, évidemment?	“No letter, I suppose.”
— Non. Rien que la fleur. Le cadre est le même que l’année dernière. Un de ces cadres bon marché à monter soi-même.	“Just the flower. The frame is the same kind as last year. One of those do-it-yourself ones.”
— Cachet de la poste ?	“Postmark?”
— Stockholm.	“Stockholm.”
— Ecriture ?	“Handwriting?”
— Comme toujours, des majuscules d’imprimerie. Des lettres droites et soignées.	“Same as always, all in capitals. Upright, neat lettering.”
Ils avaient épuisé le sujet et observèrent le silence, chacun à son bout de la ligne, pendant une bonne minute. Le commissaire à la retraite se pencha en arrière sur sa chaise de cuisine et suçota sa pipe. Il savait très bien qu’on ne comptait plus sur lui pour poser la question qui ferait déclic, la question d’une folle perspicacité qui jetterait une nouvelle lumière sur cette affaire. Ce temps-là était révolu depuis de nombreuses années et la conversation entre les deux hommes âgés avait le caractère d’un rituel entourant un mystère que personne d’autre au monde qu’eux n’avait à cœur de résoudre.	With that, the subject was exhausted, and not another word was exchanged for almost a minute. The retired policeman leaned back in his kitchen chair and drew on his pipe. He knew he was no longer expected to come up with a pithy comment or any sharp question which would shed a new light on the case. Those days had long since passed, and the exchange between the two men seemed like a ritual attaching to a mystery which no-one else in the whole world had the least interest in unravelling.

Download Links: Please be gentle with the bandwidth and download only what you need.

Aswat Concert at College of San Mateo

Linda — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 05:52:58 +0000

Aswat concert celebrating the work of Egyptian musical genius, prolific composer, and innovator Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991).

Aswat is a premier Arab music ensemble. For more information visit their website at Zawaya.org

Click here to view photos in Picasa

ASWAT Mohammed Abdel Wahab Concert at College of San Mateo

38 photos

ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	Dabke, ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	Dabke, ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
Dabke, ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	Dabke, ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	Afterparty at Sahara Restaurant. ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	Afterparty at Sahara Restaurant. ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)
Afterparty at Sahara Restaurant. ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)	Afterparty at Sahara Restaurant. ASWAT concert celebrating the work of Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991)

Partial Solar Eclipse Viewed from Mt. Hamilton Observatory, San Jose, California

Linda — Mon, 21 May 2012 05:24:53 +0000

I went up to Mt. Hamilton Observatory with Alex to take pictures of the partial solar eclipse. We could’ve driven up to Tahoe area to see the full annular eclipse, but neither of us planned it ahead enough to make the trip. I happened to have a B+W 110 ND 3.0 filter, a 10-stop filter that cuts out 99.9% of light, and Alex had a 300mm lens plus the extension. Together we had just enough equipment to take some mediocre photos of the sun, but it was the experience that really mattered, right? The next total solar eclipse in the U.S. will be in 2017, so we have 5 years to get our equipment ready.

Partial Solar Eclipse, May 20, 2012

20 photos

Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.
Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.
Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.
Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.
Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.
Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.
Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.	Partial solar eclipse viewed from Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose, California.

Shabwa, Yemen

Linda — Sun, 06 May 2012 00:22:16 +0000

I took a short trip to Shabwa (or Shabwah) with a friend to see her family. The province borders Marib, Abyan and Hadramaut, and has been the wild wild west of Yemen long before the recent conflicts began. Northern Shabwa is dry and mountainous while the southern part is dominated by volcanic landscape and beautiful beaches.

Click on the map to see photos from the trip.

Shabwa trip route map, April 2012

Nowadays the government still controls the provincial capital Ataq, but five minutes outside the city the army is conveniently absent until the coastal town of Balhaf five hours down south. In between the land falls under the control of Ansar Al Sharia, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, Hirak Independence movement, and various tribes and villages. On our way to the beach, we passed through Azzan where Ansar Al-Sharia fly their own flags at checkpoints and broadcast propaganda over loudspeakers. The father cursed Al Qaeda as he pulled over in the middle of the market not far from a tree where two government informants were hanged just a week ago. I asked nervously: “Do we really have to stop here?” “The qat is awesome here.” He hurried to the sea of qat sellers leaving us and the kids in the car staring at a sign that said “The Islamic Emirate of Azzan”.

The highlight of the trip was definitely swimming in the Arabian Sea at a deserted beach north of Balhaf. Since no one else was willing to brave Al Qaeda territory to get here on that day, we had the whole place to ourselves. As I floated mindlessly in the turquois sea, war was looming on the horizon. The government troops have started the offense on Ansar Al-Sharia positions in the neighboring Abyan province, it’s only a matter of time before they reach Shabwa. We might as well enjoy the calm before the storm hits.

I apologize for the lack of quality photos from this trip. Shabwa has huge potential for great photos with its mountains, sand dunes, lush oases, and unique architecture, but I was too afraid to use my large SLR camera that would’ve definitely attracted unwanted attention. A few photos I posted here were taken either from a moving car or from my phone camera.

Click here to view photos in Picasa.

Shabwa, Yemen

10 photos

A typical adobe house near Markha, Shabwa. مدينة مرخة بمحافظة شبوة	The area near Markha Shabwa is littered with granite domes full of climbing potential.
A village outside Ataq, Shabwa. Houses with bad taste in color ruin the whole neighborhood.	Haban, Shabwa. مدينة حبان بمحافظة شبوة	Haban, Shabwa. مدينة حبان بمحافظة شبوة
Azzan, Shabwa. مدينة عزان بمحافظة شبوة	Azzan, Shabwa. مدينة عزان بمحافظة شبوة	A typical mansion in Azzan, Shabwa. مدينة عزان بمحافظة شبوة
A deserted beach at Balhaf near Bir Ali, Shabwa. بالحاف شبوة

This is my first attempt at displaying photos on Google map using the embedded GPS data. The interface is buggy and the photo size can not be controlled. For a friendlier version directly from Google, click here. WordPress/Google Map API gurus out there, if you know a better solution, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

“Loyalty to Abyan” – Friday Prayer on 60-meter Road, April 13th, 2012

Linda — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 05:11:54 +0000

Every Friday, the opposition organizes the noon prayer on 60-Meter Road outside the University of Science and Technology Hospital. The number of participants various widely depending on the political situation. Friday, April 13th was one of the lighter days with festival-like atmosphere. Even the soldiers were relaxed enough to pose for pictures with kids.

The day was named Friday of “Loyalty to Abyan”, the province that has seen the heaviest fighting between the Yemeni army and militants calling themselves Ansar al-Sharia – Partisans of Sharia Law. Sheikh Abdullah Saatar (الشيخ عبدالله صعتر) of the Islah party gave a moderate sermon (a notch down from his usual harsh tone) criticizing Ansar al-Sharia and calling for unity among Yemenis. At the end of the sermon he invoked Allah’s curse on those who kill in the name of Islam and those who work with the old regime, i.e. loyalists to the ousted president. In Islam invoking Allah’s curse on someone is no small matter. You’d only say it to your worst enemies. Since many loyalists are ordinary citizens who are not convinced of the revolution for various reasons, the curse is essentially placed on neighbors, colleagues, and family members who hold a different view. This type of rhetoric, unacceptable by most moderate Muslims, is one of the reasons that have repulsed many Yemenis from joining the opposition camp. To be fair, the loyalist Sheikhs adopted the same type of rhetoric putting curses on the revolutionaries who sent the country into chaos.

Yemeni politics has descended to the level of a schoolyard brawl. It desperately needs a charismatic leader to bring Yemen out of the political and economic crises by advocating unity instead of division, forgiveness instead of an eye for an eye, and peace negotiations instead of violent confrontations.

Friday Prayer – Loyalty to Abyan

30 photos

The security checkpoint on the women's side. Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	People wait for the sermon to begin. Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	People wait for the sermon to begin. Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء
Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء
Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Real soldiers and toy soldiers. Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Abudurrahman and Raghad. Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء
Abudurrahman and Raghad with Mama. Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء
The sign held by the old man says: O tyrants! Oppress and be arrogant, but don’t think you can stay forever or escape justice. Do know that your fate will be like that of the Pharaoh. (This refers to the Exodus story told by the Quran in Surat Al Baqarah verse 50 where Pharaoh’s people drowned in the Red Sea when chasing after Moses.) Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Sheikh Abdullah Saatar (الشيخ عبدالله صعتر) of the Islah party gives the sermon. For all the money they are putting into organizing these events, you'd think that they'd get a better looking truck. Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء
Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء
Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء
Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء
Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء
I like his henna-dyed beard. Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	The old man indicates with his hand that the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh should be hanged. Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء	Friday prayer on 60 Meter Rd, Sana'a, Yemen جمعة الوفاء لأبين في شارع الستين بصنعاء

Garbage Mounts in Sana’a due to Strike

Linda — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 17:24:09 +0000

By now you probably have read about the armed conflicts and persistent power outages in Yemen, but to Sana’a residents, the most pressing problem at the moment is the mounting garbage due to a strike by garbage collectors and street cleaners who are demanding salaried positions instead of daily wages. I saw one garbage truck on Hadda Street today, does it mean the strike is about to end?

صنعاء … بعد أن كانت مدينة التاريخ صارت مدينة الزبالة. أضرب عمال النظافة منذ قرابة أسبوعين مطالبين الحكومة بتثبيتهم في عملهم، فتراكمت الزبالة ومازالت تتراكم إلى أجل غير مسمَّى.

Garbage Mounts in Sana'a, April, 2012

7 photos

The garbage collectors and street cleaners have been on strike for over two weeks in the midst of the raining season. At Souq Assabah in the old city, piles of wet trash have taken over vegetables in volume and smell.	The garbage collectors and street cleaners have been on strike for over two weeks in Sana’a in the midst of the raining season. At Souq Assabah in the old city, piles of wet trash have taken over vegetables in volume and smell.	Trash pile in front of Sana'a Nights hotel. Sana'a, Yemen
Once the upscale hangout of expats and elite Yemenis, Hadda Street is now full of trash thanks to a strike by garbage collectors and street cleaners. Sana'a, Yemen	A cleaner part of Hadda Street, Sana'a, Yemen	A strike by garbage collectors and street cleaner has left Sana'a buried in trash for over two week. People have resorted to dumping trash in the center divide outside Al Kumaim Center on Hadda street, Sana'a, Yemen
Hadda Street near Al Zuberi street, Sana'a, Yemen

The Old City of Sana'a is still magical after the rain as long as I pan the camera away from piles of garbage.

“No Sun All Day, No Light All Night”

Linda — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:14:41 +0000

ما بش شمس طول النهار وما بش نور طول الليل

This was how my friend described yesterday. We had no electricity and it pretty much rained all day yesterday. In the years past I had always enjoyed the rain because it kept the temperature cool and presented interesting skies for photography, but this year with all the depressing news coming out of Yemen, the gloomy sky just added another layer of melancholy.

When I first got here in March, there was a two-week period of consistent electricity supply. The security situation was stable enough that I felt comfortable getting around most places within the capital. Starting in April, things took a turn for the worse. The power line between Marib and Sana’a has been attacked repeatedly or so they say, and we have had no more than 1 or 2 hours of electricity per day which is not enough to keep my laptop and phone charged. I’ve given up on trying to keep food in the fridge. Whining about the situation earned me no sympathy amongst my friends. “Shut up Linda, we’ve been living like this since May last year.” is the usual response I get.

The latest rumor on the street is that Ali Muhsin and Al Ahmar family are gathering troops outside the capital for another attack. The fighter jets have been buzzing over Sana’a for the past few days and loud explosions can be heard at night. Since the military command reshuffle two days ago, those who were ousted took control of the airport on Saturday but were driven out on Sunday. The central security office on Hadda, the main commercial street, was attacked yesterday, prompting the military to show up at major intersections along Hadda today.

Though I’m in the middle of the events, I’m pretty much sitting in the dark literally and figuratively. I can’t watch TV or check the internet. All my information came from rumors on the street and we all know how unreliable they can be.

Last night as I sat without electricity for the fifth night in a row, I turned up the volume of my mp3 player, the only device that still had the juice to run, to tune out the sound of fighting in the distance. Maybe it’s time to go home?

Sana’a may be falling apart little by little, there is still a lot of beauty all around if you look hard enough. I took these photos after a rain shower last week. People came out in droves to enjoy the view, temporarily leaving the misery of the past year behind.

A double rainbow graced Sanaa's skies this afternoon.

The old city of Sana'a after the rain. People came out in droves to enjoy the view, temporarily leaving the misery of the past year behind.

2010-2012 Price Comparison of Common Products and Services in Yemen

Linda — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:33:08 +0000

The following table compares prices of common products and services in Yemen between August 2010 and March 2012. Fuel and imported food items saw the most increase while locally grown food pretty much stayed the same. “Luxury” food such as meat was already priced out of the range of average consumers thus didn’t increase much. Qat and internet prices are lower than when I was here last time.

Yemen imports 90% of its wheat and 100% of its rice. A handful of traders control the entire domestic market thus the prices are monopolized. Since most of Yemen’s fertile land is used to grow qat, the entire population, even the farmers who grow corn and sorghum to supplement their food supply, rely on imported food for survival. When the currency devalues and transportation cost goes up so do food prices.

The Yemeni government has announced that starting in April the gasoline price will be 25% lower while the diesel price will be 50% higher. I’m not sure if it’s good news or bad.

Another added burden to the urban population is the cost of water because the government has pretty much stopped supplying water to residents through the pipes. Most of my friends say they either get water once every month from the city or none at all. Every household is forced to buy water from water trucks at 2500YR per tank which lasts 7-10 days for an average household. I suspect that those who shutdown the water through the pipes are the same ones who fill the water trucks.

Prices in Yemeni Rials	August, 2010	March 31, 2012
1 US Dollar	224	215
50kg of wheat flour	3000	5500
50kg of sugar	7000	9500
1 egg	20	30
1 glass of tea without milk	20	30
1 bottle of drinking water (750ml)	40	60-70
Distilled water (4 litrs)	20	50
1 14-inch freshly baked bread	30	50
1 kilo of tomatoes	150	150
1 kilo of zuccini	150	150
1 kilo of beef	1800	2000
1 order of fahsa (salta with meat)	700	1000
1 12oz soda	60	80
1 rotisserrie chicken	700	1000
AlThawra Daily newspaper	30	50
1 jerry can (~20L) of gasoline(petrol)	1500	3500
Gasoline price in dollars	US$1.32/gallon	US$3.08/gallon
1 inner city bus ride (dabbab)	20	50
Taxi ride from the airport to the old city	1500-2000	5000
Taxi ride from the old city to Hadda	~300	~500
1 can of cooking gas	700	1500 (at the height of the crisis it was 4000)
1 bag of mid-grade qat	300	250
ADSL internet service monthly fee	6500	4200
1 hour of internet cafe	60-90	60-90

Sand and Camels, My trip to Marib, Yemen, March 2012

Linda — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 07:40:38 +0000

Last week I took a short trip to Ramlat as Saba’tayn in Marib just southeast of Safir. See photos from my earlier post. The desert area is part of the Empty Quarter, but it is not as desolate as one might think. In addition to Bedouin settlements there are numerous oil and electricity facilities dotting the region. At night, their lights can be seen glowing over the sand dunes from miles away.

Although I didn’t see any violence during my trip, I sensed the tension just from the 30+ security checkpoints manned alternately by the military and tribesmen on the road to Marib. Several times soldiers boarded the bus to see if it had picked any armed men on the way, then just a few miles down the road, some tribesmen would get on the bus to see if there were any soldiers onboard. The paved road from Marib city to Safir, a major oil, gas, and electricity facility, is defended by the army with tanks and heavy artillery at almost every kilometer. Despite all this, the transmission line (not the facility itself) was attacked twice while I was in Marib causing Sana’a to lose power intermittently. An affiliated oil refinery has been sitting idle since the pipeline to Ras Isa was blown up in January, 2012.

This was my forth trip to the Empty Quarter and three years since I saw my buddy and driver Muhammad. Other than losing some weight and having more gray hair, he is still his old self, cheering and optimistic. While everyone else suffered during the political crisis over the past year, the enterprising Muhammad made a lot of money from buying cheap gasoline in Marib and selling it for an exorbitant price on the black market in Sana’a.

With each trip to the desert, I’ve noticed that he is more and more addicted to qat and getting lazier and lazier. After I took over the cooking and tea duty, he pretty much just drove the truck to destination and assumed his qat-chewing cigarette-smoking position all day in the shade of the truck. The only time he got up was to pee or to turn the truck for maximum shade.

Muhammad spends his days chewing qat and smoking cigarettes.

After three days in the dunes we ran out of fresh food and more importantly Muhammad ran out of qat. Time to hit some Bedouin settlements. He never cared about his appearance when we were out in nowhere, but the morning before we were to visit a Bedouin village, he put on a clean shirt. “I want to look my best so I can flirt with the pretty Bedouin girls.” said Muhammad as he combed his half-inch gray hair.

The good thing about Bedu is that it doesn’t matter if you know them or not, just show up and you’ll be treated like a guest. The temperature was rising fast, so we pulled into the first village we saw. Just our luck, someone slaughtered a sheep so we joined the feast. The meat tasted especially good after three days of dry bread and canned tuna. The Bedu here have settled into houses although they still don’t have electricity or running water. Their dialect is a mixture between pure Bedouin dialect and urban dialect which means that I can understand better and converse more freely. My previous trips were to the area further north where the Bedu still lived in tents and spoke pure Bedouin dialect which I found very difficult to understand.

After lunch I went with some young men and women to cut grass for the sheep and milk the shecamels, while Muhammad stayed to chew qat and look for opportunity to chat with girls. Bedouin women wear form-fitting dresses and are quite open to talking to strange men, so there was plenty for Muhammad to see and do.

While there was abundance of the same grass near the village, the naughty boys and girls chose to hop on a pickup truck and drive 30 minutes out of the way so they could mingle freely out of the sight of the village elders. The whole afternoon consisted of 10 minutes of work and three hours of flirting. At sunset, we went to the pen where the baby camels were kept and where the mama camels returned at night to feed their babies. The girls milked the camels before releasing the baby camels to their moms, and I drank the frothy camel milk to my heart’s content.

After dinner, Muhammad and I drove 45 minutes out of the village to sleep in the dunes. Muhammad slept in the back of the truck, and I dragged my blanket to crash behind a dune about 50 yards away. I was exhausted after a day of non-stop talking and slept until 8:30 the next morning when the sun was already high. Muhammad popped over the dune toting his AK-47 and handgun. “He is being awful active this early in the morning” I thought.

“Linda, did you hear anything this morning? A car came by.”

I was still waking up, but I could sense the urgency in his voice.

“No, I heard nothing. You??”

“I slept through as well. Didn’t hear anything.” said Muhammad.

“That’s because you spent too much energy thinking about girls yesterday.” I yelled over the sand dune.

I didn’t think it was a big deal until I came down the dune and saw fresh tire tracks just 10 yards away from our truck. The tracks then went up the dune, obviously to see the spot I was sleeping, then turned around and left. This is the area where Abida tribe and Bani Harith tribe have been fighting since the American drone killed a prominent figure from the Abida tribe two years ago. We both felt unease while playing out different scenarios in our heads. If they were the bad guys, they could’ve subdued Muhammad and kidnapped me. Muhammad wouldn’t be able to convince the police that he wasn’t in on this since the tire marks were so close. He felt embarrassed failing his duty as a bodyguard. We packed up and decided to follow the tire tracks which led us right back to the village. It turned out that someone from the village came out to make sure we were OK. Seeing that we were both sound asleep, they went back without saying hello.

Our little episode of carelessness became the entertainment of the day. The women joked how they could’ve married me off for a new car and some camels while Mohammad got teased to no end over at the men’s gathering place.

Since it was Friday, the women decided I should go take a shower and get cleaned up. (did I look that dirty??) Someone siphoned some water from a water barrel into a basin. While I cleaned myself, someone else washed my clothes. By the time I was done, my clothes were mostly dry under the desert sun. I felt refreshed and was ready to eat.

A month ago, some idiot from the village shot himself while carrying a machine gun. The bullet went in from his right chest and exited from his back. He spent a month in the hospital in Marib and just came back home a few days ago. The family slaughtered two sheep to celebrate his survival. It was bad that the idiot almost died, but good that we got to enjoy another feast. After a good meal and some sweet tea, the ladies were relaxed and started to joke around. The grandma, a widow in her 70’s, kept teasing me that I should just marry Muhammad because I’d get kidnapped one way or the other the way he slept through everything. I told her that I’d find her a husband in Sana’a. Others chimed in that the prospective groom should be about 100 years old with no teeth. The grandma felt a bit defensive so she pointed to her private area and made scissor movements with her index and middle finger toward me and other unmarried women in the room while winking mischievously. I thought female circumcision was only practiced in the South and Tihama area, but apparently it was practiced here at some point. I asked those who sat next to me and was told that it was no longer practiced.

The teenage girls pulled everything out of my bag and asked me item by item what they were for. I was glad I didn’t have any tampons, something I would not able to explain. They were mostly fascinated by the smartphone. In less than five minutes, they learned how to unlock the screen, navigate to the picture app, open the picture folders, swipe the screen to advance, and zoom in and out with two fingers. I was amazed how fast children learn when given the opportunity. There is a school in the village, but it doesn’t have any female teachers. Since families would not send their daughters to study with a man, the girls are still growing up illiterate in 2012. The girls asked me to stay and teach them the Quran. Ironically, I was considered the most educated female out here when it comes to Arabic and Islamic studies only because I can read and write. On my last day there, I was chatting with a couple of women and noticed that we all had our toe nails painted. They asked me if nail polish was forbidden in Islam. Apparently some guy from the village told them so. I have no credentials to give religious advice, but the guy could be correct since nail polish prevents water from reaching the nail surface during absolution. I asked them if the guy chewed qat, they said yes. I told them that there is a hadith that says:

طُوبَى لِمَن شَغَلَهُ عَيبُهُ عن عُيُوبِ النَّاسِ

Good tidings to the one who is more concerned about his own shortcoming than that of others.

Qat is considered a drug on par with alcohol by most Islamic scholars thus should be strictly forbidden in Islam. Chewing qat is a much bigger sin than wearing nail polish. Anyone who chews qat is in no position to tell others how they should practice Islam. In other words, he should mind his own business.

After sunset, the village fell in darkness but the lights from the nearby Safir electricity station could be seen glowing over the horizon. While Safir is churning out electricity for Sana’a and other cities, it has neglected small villages just a few miles away.

The next morning we drove back to Marib so I could get on the bus to Sana’a. Muhammad was stopping at every checkpoint to chat with his army buddies and handing out cigarettes through the passenger window. I kept my head down the whole time to avoid attention. He was also picking up people left and right until the back of the pickup was packed with armed men. I was getting pretty nervous until we got to Marib and all the hitchhikers jumped off the truck. Sticking to the strict code of conduct, no one asked Muhammad about me. They probably just assumed I was his sister or wife. I wanted to see Bilqis’ temple again but decided against it since it might attract unwanted attention given the total lack of tourists these days. The bus ride back to Sana’a was uneventful and I had a nice chat with a high school teacher about the sad state of education in Marib province and Yemen as a whole.

Sana’a was in darkness when I got back. Some disgruntled tribesmen in Marib have attacked the power line yet again!