Taiz By Night

We managed to leave the office at 6:30 tonight, but then N needed to go see the university, which is in the west part of town – our office is on the east side. So we got a tour of the city by night – it all comes to life after a quiet afternoon. The afternoon is quiet because most people are stoned on qat, but it wears off by the time the evening rolls around and things pick up. There are tons of people out on the street – mostly men, but some women as well, although they’re really hard to see at night. (That's not meant to be snarky - it's just true. They're completely coverd in black, and if you're out of the city center, about 80% of the street lamps don't have power.)

There are tons of shops open, with people milling in and around them. There was one shop that sold these bizarre, enormous, puffy vinyl chairs. The backs of these chairs were an explosion of hearts – it looked like something from a Vegas wedding emporium (or Long Island, circa 1985). That in itself was funny enough, but to see a couple guys casually lounging together in a glittery red and pink version of one of these, with their jambias strapped to their waists, was just too much. In the U.S., well, I can’t really think of too many people, gay or straight, male or female, who would curl up in one of those babies in the first place. But here – nothing at all unusual about two straight guys chilling out in the Tunnel of Love.

No protests today, so that was good – all was quiet in the city. N leaves tomorrow, which is kind of a bummer – he’s been fun to hang out with. Now it’s just me and TL left here, and I’ll be home in 17 days – yee haw! Knowing what’s supposed to be done and when it’s supposed to be done, I’m left wondering, once again, what exactly it is that I’m going to be doing here for five weeks when I come back in March and April. I mean, I know we have final reports to do, but we need comments in order to do that, and if past experience is anything to go by, these comments won’t be delivered at lightning speed. I’m going to be seriously bummed out if I have little or nothing to do other than wait when I get back - or worse, if they say "well, come back again in June when we really have stuff to work with". But the tickets have been purchased, my hotel is booked – so I hope there’s still a lot to do in March.