fighter jets, thunderstorms, and a 4th of july in the indian ocean

Early this morning, as I was not studying for the final exam I had to take at 09:00, my attention was drawn to the noise of jets flying overhead, repeatedly, loudly. Fighter jets? Katie the small (of my two Katie roommates) thought it might be the only fighter jet Yemen had, and that it was just being flown around and around to give the impression of great strength. A little online research later in the day when the internet was working confirmed that they were fighter jets - plural - indeed. From the Yemen Times,

SA’ADA — For the fourth day in a row, the Yemeni army has been attacking with heavy weaponry and fighter jets several villages in Mirran district and other areas in Amran governorate’s Harf Sifyan district, believed to be another stronghold of Houthi loyalists, tribal sources said Sunday, noting that hundreds on both sides were killed or injured.

“During direct clashes between the army and Houthi supporters, army fighter jets dropped bombs on Saturday, but they missed their targets, instead hitting military positions in the area of Mirran, resulting in an increased death toll involving troops,” the sources continued, pointing out that the same mistake was repeated Sunday morning.

According to the sources, bloody confrontations between army personnel and Houthis have continued for many days in the Mirran mountains as the Yemeni army attempts to score a ground victory and seize control of strategic positions in the area. However, despite backing from fighter jets, the army is facing fierce resistance by Houthis.

In the area of Bani Hushaish, located east of Sana’a, witnesses say fighting between Houthis and the Yemeni army continues incessantly.

Is anyone outside of Yemen aware of this fighting? We talk about the Houthi rebellion here some, but it hasn't affected our life here at the language center much, other than messing with travel plans. But the conflict is significant and affecting the lives of many Yemenis - just last week a 14 year old threw a hand grenade into a group of people in front of Sa'ada's city government complex, and 4 people were killed, including the teenager. Many have been displaced, there's a mounting food crisis in the area, and the army isn't gaining ground. More thoughts on this to come later, but....let this be a preliminary FYI.

I do have lighter thoughts, and many of them.

Bowling in a balto can be fun, kids! Here I am, playing a remarkably dismal game with Majed and Hassan. Pictures were few because the bowling police came by and explained the prohibition on photography (women here are extreeeeeeeemely skittish about being photographed).

and this is Wendy in Shibam (in the Hadramaut). How hard I try to look native. Or native-ish. Really, though, think what you will - it is much more comfortable to wear a balto and a headscarf and feel respectful than to dress like a westerner, however conservative:

When Yemen is mentioned in news articles, two statements are made with regularity - that Yemen is Osama bin Laden's ancestral homeland and that it was the site of the 2000 USS Cole bombing as well. The third topic of interest that might come up would probably revolve around kidnappings. Well, I figured after visiting ObL's homeland, what better way to have a Really Complete Yemen Experience than to visit the place where the Cole was bombed as well?

Please note the sarcastic tone - I hope I'm doing my small part to illustrate that Yemen is much much more than a deep dark frightful home to terrorists galore. All the same, over the 4th of July weekend I did travel with friends to Aden (ie, site of the USS Cole bombing. ooooor, home of what used to be the 3rd largest port in the world, or what used to be the capital of South Yemen, the only Communist country in the middle east before South and North were unified in the early 1990s).

Aden is home to an extinct volcano. Many people live in it now. I slept in it. And we hiked up it at the crack of dawn Thursday morning. The area is called Crater, and this is what it looks like:



Our crack-of-dawn start was warranted by the insane heat and humidity that descended upon the area at, oh, say, 8am. See the island in the distance in the picture above? The Qu'ran says that that island will explode to herald the beginning of the end of the world. So, it was naturally necessary to go pay a visit to it as well as the castle built up on its peak. The views are pretty great, and I decided to claim the Indian Ocean as mine:
Midday, before Katie the Small and a couple others of us headed to swim in said Indian Ocean, we walked around the city a bit.

And later in the day, we visited some giant water cisterns (some original WCs!). Way more awesome than you'd think, and ridiculously old:

These are some of the people I traveled with. Certain problems with our travel arrangements with my Yemeni friends meant that Katie and I wound up going on a bus with 12 other people. Not exaaaaaaactly what I'd had in mind, but it worked out fairly excellently anyways.

We visited a mosque and had a rare opportunity to watch evening prayer (followed by a 2-hour discussion with an Islamic scholar who had many fascinating things to share - but also many off-putting Christianity-is-dumb comments that slightly tainted the presentation). When this was done around 22:30, we went to the fish market, bought 4 giant fish, then took them to a restaurant on the beach and had them cooked up for us.
The drive home on 4 July took us through a different 9-hour route that boasted some amazing scenery (of which I have no pictures presently). I did catch this shot, though - Katie was enthralled by the dirt/mountain combo, and all I could think was, wow....this looks a lot like the drive from LA to Bakersfield.

But more on fish and how we like them so much. Several of us had dinner last night, as the term ends tomorrow and many are traveling away. The restaurant was excellent, and Katie ate this little fella....

...while Mike and I enjoyed a very large piece of goat.
When I learned that Sana'a has a rainy season, I was disappointed to realize that I was probably going to miss it (it usually begins mid-July). The thunder gods must love me, though; we had a huge afternoon storm today, complete with hail and thunder and lightning and flooded streets).

This street is actually a canal street. Most of the year, cars and trucks and bikes and kids can be found in it. When the rainy season begins, it fills with water and becomes a very-undriveable canal. No one told that to my cab driver tonight, though, as we drove in it anyways with water levels near the top of the tires. Fortunately, we did not float away, though I'm still not sure how we managed...I got henna done again too.
Farewell, Yemen. I go to Jordan tomorrow night, late. Many further adventures in store, insha'allah.