As a lifelong animal lover, vegetarian since adolescence, a one-time dog, hamster, and degu owner, and several times cat-owner, I have a soft spot for animals. Had my life taken a different trajectory, and I hadn’t moved to a big city full of small apartments, I could see me still living in Michigan with several […]
Category: Cultural Differences
Medical Tourism in Istanbul
I’ve worn glasses since I was eight and contact lenses since I was 12. They don’t normally give contacts to 12-year-olds, but since that was the same year I got braces, I wasn’t about to be that girl with glasses and braces. Luckily my dad helped me convince my optometrist that I was an especially mature 12-year-old […]
The Middle Eats
I love reading restaurant reviews, and was an avid reader of Tom Sietsema’s reviews in the Washington Post of the various dining establishments in and around Washington DC. But since I got to Yemen, reading those reviews just makes me sad that I don’t get to eat all that delicious food so I stopped reading. […]
I’ll Drink to That
There a certain magical hour at U.S. embassy in Sana’a that occurs exactly once a week. During this hour, the desks of the Americans are empty and hope and anticipation hover invisibly in the air. The Americans are gathered, like eager children on the first day of school, or like the feral cats perched on […]
It’s Always Sunny in Sana’a
I like to sleep with the shades pulled shut, blocking out even the tiniest slivers of light. Every morning when I get up, I throw them open and yell “Top O’ the Morning to You, World!” with a big ol’ grin on my face. Ha, yeah right. That’s Mr.YemenEm , who is the in other […]
Where the Livin’ is Easy
A Yemeni asked me recently what the U.S. is like. Of all the adjectives that appeared in my head: “fun,” “beautiful,” “amazing,” and some word that would encapsulate the fact that you could pick two random people from the U.S. and they could very well have completely opposite views on politics, religion, and social justice […]
The Transition to Government
Working for the government takes some getting used to, and it’s not just because the microchip they planted in my arm keeps getting infected. Despite living in the most bureaucratic city in the world (Washington DC, not Sana’a) I managed to avoid being too engrossed in the inner workings of the government. I’ve been working […]
A Post in Which I Overuse the Term “Passion”
My biggest fear about moving to Yemen — a fear bigger that what I’d wear, eat, and whether I’d get blown up — was whether I’d be sacrificing a piece of myself. After all, it was Mr. YemenEm’s goal to work in Yemen, and I just came along for the ride. One thing I knew […]
Say ‘Cheese!’
You know how people sometimes ask “If you had to pick, would you rather be deaf or blind?” (Which is a dumb question, because obviously you’d pick deaf. No offense, blind people. Who probably aren’t reading this anyway). Well sometimes I ask “If you had to pick, would you rather never eat cheese again, or […]
The Western Lens
For my job, I recently had to pick out a photo that illustrates how the U.S. is working to improve health in Yemen. While the U.S. really does a lot to improve health here, the photo selection was slim. I asked a Yemeni co-worker where I might find some pics and he led me into […]
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