Settling In

I had my first day at the office yesterday, which was good. TL continues to be a remarkably…intense individual, who seems almost incapable of brevity, but that’s okay – he’s very committed to the work we have to do, and thus far appears perfectly content to work as much as necessary to get everything done. SO, if that means I get to get my stuff done and go home faster, so much the better! I may even be able to swing it so that I don’t have to spend New Year’s Eve alone in Yemen, something for which I would be inordinately grateful, as that’s a thought that’s almost too depressing to contemplate. Well, if I have to be here, I have to be here, and I’ll chug some sparkling cider or something at midnight, and maybe even make a few phone calls to let people know how 2006 starts. Let me know if you don’t want me to spoil the surprise for you.

I got a brief driving tour of Taiz yesterday, up the mountains, down into the old city, back up some more mountains, all that good stuff. It really is a remarkable place, at least it is if you think mountains are cool – which I do. (Can you tell I grew up on the East Coast? Can we really even call Sugarloaf a “mountain”? And while we’re at it, who on earth came up with the name “Sugarloaf”? It doesn’t exactly conjure images of purple mountains’ majesty and all that.) In any case, one thing that’s extremely cool about this part of the world, and many parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, etc. is that there is so much history here, such a presence of the past that is largely absent in the US, partially because we decimated a largely nomadic society when we settled the country, but also because we did that a few hundred years ago. Taiz is 1,000 years old. This castle/fortress (called Al Qahira) is about 600 years old. And it’s “newer” than a lot of things you find around here. One thing that the government would like to see here is an increase in tourism, which at first mention to the average American sounds like an unlikely angle. Kind of like when I saw a request for proposals to increase tourism in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – just doesn’t sound like a natural vacation spot. However, there is so much cool stuff to see here, as I hope these pictures will partially illustrate. (And hey – apparently they’re fine with giving military escorts…I should have taken a picture of them.) I think they do have potential for tourism, honestly, because the natural environment is stunning, and the history here is so rich. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out how to make it all feasible.

There’s the rub.

The people in the office seem nice, there’s a very nice woman here who’s an architect (and who is, I’m guessing, a good bit younger than me – she doesn’t look too far out of school). I asked her if I was dressed appropriately, and she assured me that I was, so it looks as though I may be okay on that count. (But as I was so helpfully told in Paris, I guess I’ll have to “leave all of my miniskirts at home.” No kidding, Genius.) She went with me on my driving tour yesterday, and was apologizing for the quality of her English. Her English, however, is fantastic, and I’m reminded again how easy it is to be lazy if your first language is English, since many educational systems in many parts of the world will teach children English, so it’s very widespread and the incentive for native English speakers to learn something else is pretty low. TL is, however, French, and while he’s fluent in French, English, and Arabic, he’s been nice about speaking French with me so that I can practice. When it comes time for work stuff, however, we usually speak in English, since I’m not sure if I’d catch all the essentials were we to speak in French.

The others here have also been very friendly, not that I expected otherwise. It’s hard to describe what I expected, really. I think Pakistan was an appropriate warm-up for life in Yemen, really. Overall, the people are really nice and want you to feel welcome in their country. No one is stupid, I think we all realize that we might have some preconceived notions that we should get past, so it’s mostly about getting to know people with an open mind, which I’m pretty good at. There may be some peculiar or unpleasant incidents (none to report so far, however), but most people are just going about their lives. I am, as I expected, the object of a certain degree of curiosity when walking or driving down the street, but it’s not too bad – my last trip to Vietnam was worse, to tell you the truth. If I end up going shopping in the old market one day with one of the girls from the office, I expect that I’ll get a few more stares, but I’d like to try it nonetheless, it looks like it would be an interesting experience. I wish that I’d gone to the bazaar with one of my Pakistani friends while I was there – Samina was very disappointed that she never got the chance to take me.

So, life here will likely have that restrictive quality that life in Karachi did, but I’ve got practice, and I’ll bring a ton of books and DVDs with me when I come back, I suppose. (Anyone who is inclined to get me a Christmas gift – paperback books. I’ve got an Amazon wishlist that I’ll add to.) From the perspective of having been here a handful of days, though, I think it will be okay. Not exactly where I’d want to live forever and ever, but it’s okay. I was talking to one of my co-workers from DC the other day over IM – she’s been traveling more than I have, and sounds like she’s thinking about making some changes. But I know that if she leaves, my travel schedule is likely to get worse, so I’m selfishly praying that she doesn’t leave, and force me into a decision that I’m not ready to make yet! But in fairness to her, we both need a break, so if she stays, she’s likely to get first dibs on some home time, if it comes to that. (But when I really think about it, I have to say that “fairness to her” isn’t always at the top of my list – things like “having my nephews remember my name” are more important.) For my part, I’ve been learning that, politically speaking, it would be very complicated for me to just “switch” to domestic work full-time. Not impossible, but very complicated. Which is unfortunate, because my current company is far more likely to give me domestic projects than if I were to go shopping around at another firm, as my domestic experience is not, as of the present time, extensive. But all I really wanted from doing domestic work at this stage was balance, and a way to keep busy when things got slow. It is, however, a notoriously difficult balance to strike and maintain, because they operate differently. And all of that is just too much for me to really think about now anyway – there’s plenty here to keep me busy, and my brain is a little too fried to give much thought to future machinations, such as they might be.

It’s a little strange to be in my office on a Sunday, but the weekend here is Thursday and Friday, so I guess that’s the way it works. I can’t wait to really sleep in on Thursday, assuming that I can. The hotel we’re staying in is nice, but I miss my über-comfy bed. Ah well, I’ll be there in less than two weeks!