Mismat…means “NAIL”

I learned that word the hard way as you can tell from my last blog. I realized as I pouted in pain that what I felt in my foot was merely the tip of an iceberg compared to the crucifixion.

On the way home a day early, the taxi drivers put me in a car with a couple of Somali’s and a Japanese man who I befriended. Shohei, had lived in New Zealand and spoke English well. I could barely muster a couple of words from the 2 semesters I took at San Antonio College with Sensei Kawabe: “Anata wa nihon-jin desu ka?” (Are you Japanese)…Watashi wa Amerika-jin desu. Miguel desu ne. (I am American. I’m Miguel.)

Shohei is a commercial photographer and decided to make Yemen his first destination in the Middle East after reading that people were nice here. Traveling alone, he had seen a good amount of the country in a couple of weeks and was continuing on to Aden, Hodeida and then back to Sanaa.

I invited him to stay with me in Aden. I enjoyed helping him out with what I could, though my injury kept me from showing him the hospitality I would have liked to. He took an interest in the seafood, so we went to the fish market near Seera Castle in Crater. We marveled at the new fish market (which btw, I hadn’t been to before), and picked out a nice big kingfish for 700 rials (US $3.50). This fish could have fed 3 or 4 people, and we feasted like kings at the mokhbaza- Yemeni restaurant. The mokhbaza-style preparation, means lowering the split fish into a pit oven where it is left to cook until the whole outer edge is charred pitch black. In my broken Arabic, I attempted to order the chefs to take it easy and not to burn it, but we still received a charred fish. Anyways, it’s pretty good when you dust off the burnt part. They serve it with a fresh oven-baked hobz bread which resembles a giant tortilla and a salsita that is mild and refreshing. Mokhbaza’s are open air and cat’s make a living off the many leftovers.

Over dinner, Shohei expressed interest in making sashimi. Sashimi is raw fish prepared Japanese style. It is made without rice- that would be sushi. So the next day we went back there and bought another big Kingfish and had it filleted. We took it home and Shohei showed me the way to prepare it while I captured it on video and digipics. Basically you get the fresh kingfish and remove any other bones, then you sear the surface (he asked if I had or could get a small blowtorch! Lol). This kills any malevolent microbes etc. He told me also that all of the condiments have a purpose…to counteract any bacteria that may be in the fish. I never knew that, but it makes perfect sense. I kinda just always cared about the taste and the sadistic pleasure of feeling my nostrils enflamed by wasabi.

That reminds me of my first sushi experience….While attending NYU, I worked at La Maison Francaise and my suprervisor, Madame Nina Burnelle invited me to join her for sushi at a nearby Japanese eatery. Following her suggestion I ordered the “sampler” lunch special…miso soup, some sushi, tempura and some green tea. I ate the first sushi and could not really stomach the coldness nor the texture. Hard to swallow I remember. Well, I tried to maintain my composure and show her that I was open to new culinary experiences so I kept on eating. I noticed there was a small daub of avocado, so I said to myself, “Oh that’s cute, some aguacate. That’ll make this taste better I’m sure.” So with wobbly chopsticks in hand I struggled to grab the last of my sushi, pick up the avocado, and get it over with. As I chewed expecting the familiar pleasant flavor of the alligator pear, I instead felt extreme heat and pain emanating from my mouth and rapidly permeating my olfactory. Miguel meet WASABI! I coughed and choked gasping for air, and tears rolled down my face due to this grave error. Meanwhile, my supervisor, cried too- but from laughter. Unforgettable, it traumatized me for years and kept me away from the beauty and exquisiteness of sushi and sashimi. Years later, however, after making friends with Japanese students in college, I tried and tried again an again, until I developed the palate for ikura, unagi, hamachi, etc. oh how i love unagi!
And look at me now, gearing up to make sashimi in Aden, Yemen. Why not?!?

CLICK HERE to related pictures of the sashimi fest.

Eid Mubarak and Happy New Year!

Hello friends and visitors! I know it’s been some time, but I’m very happy to deliver you my first post of 2007. I ended 2006 and inaugurated 2007 on the road in the Hadramout region in the eastern part of Yemen. I had a great trip and have posted 75 photos. I actually took 700 plus video, so that’s the abridged album, entitled Eid-al-Adha Trip to the Hadhramout, that you will find as usual with my Yahoo! Photos.

So let me run it down for you…

Day 1 I left Aden on Thursday, December 29th. I bought a spot on the passenger side of an old Toyota LandCruiser bound for the coastal city of Al-Mukalla. We left at about 3:30pm and arrived at our destination just after midnight. The route began following the coast, but shortly after Abyan we headed into the higher elevations inland of Shebwa region. This is apparently an area that is risky for foreigners to go through, so there are several police checkpoints. Going to Hadramout, they assumed I was Yemeni and just waved our car through. I understand that when Westerners usually go through this area, they must do so with an armed escort, either a Kalishnokov-bearing policeman or a truck with a mounted machine gun and 3 or 4 men.

Mukalla looked beautiful even at night. The city is laid out before the Arabian Sea and much of the ocean drive is majestic with either rock formations or as one proceeds, old buildings and mosques. There wasn’t much going on when I got to my hotel. Some guys were gathered outside drinking tea, chewing qat and watching WWF. (Yes –Rick Flair, Sean Michaels and whoever else is wrestling these days have a thriving fan base in Yemen.)

Bright and early the next day I grabbed another taxi, this time headed to the heart of the Wadi Hadramout…Sayun. As we sped along, the desert scenery evoked memories of the Sahara. Camels, rocky plateaus, Arabic scripts painted on mountains, and the Phoenix Dactylifera (date palm tree) contributed to my nostalgia. (At this time I’d like to give a shout out to my fellow Adraris – past and present).

Well, as much as it reminded me of Mauritania, it also surprised me. The architecture is much different in the small towns. Women are the shepherds in this land. They don black garb that covers their whole body and face. Many also wear a pointed straw hat that bears some resemblance to a witch hat. I found myself incredibly stupefied by the architecture. There were many fortresslike tall buildings made of mud, and sentry posts strategically placed atop the surrounding mountains that envelop the wadi (valley). Wadi Hadramout is said to be the longest wadi in the Middle East and it did not disappoint. Whizzing by town after town of mud-brick structures, the car made it’s way past the majestic Manhattan of the desert, Shibam and on to nearby Sayun. I wanted to lodge there since it’s the biggest city in the vicinity of the places I wanted to see. Sayun has been the Wadi Hadramout capital since the 15th century and has the impressive Sultan’s Palace that all Yemenis know from the 500 rial note. It is now a museum that exhibits photos by Freya Stark, an intrepid British lady who traveled in Yemen back in the 1930s, as well as artifacts from the ancient times up to the sultan’s heyday.
While in Sayun, I also made day trips to Shibam and Tarim. Shibam is in a word, Magical! The whole city is encircled by a wall and entering through the official door (Bab), feels like a time warp- though the sight of air conditioners, electrical wires and plumbing amidst the mud-brick edifices keeps it up with the times.

Tarim was fascinating too. I just wandered around the dusty roads appreciating the architecture. I noticed there in Tarim and in other parts of the Hadrawmout, occasionally one sees some people that seem Asian. I spoke with a couple on the taxi rides and found out that many are from Indonesia. Several of them maintain their cultural language in addition to Arabic.

I returned to Mukalla and enjoyed another night of Eid-al-Adha celebrations. It goes on for 3-5 days depending on what city you are in. Apparently, al-Mukalla does it right with 5 days of festivities. Most people enjoy the time with their family and friends so it kind of resembles Christmas. (In Sayun, the children receive money and then head out to the center of town to buy toys and candies. ) Since this was New Year’s Eve, I went out and had some shrimp in Al-Mukalla, and then walked on the boardwalk taking in the ocean breeze. New Year’s is not really celebrated in Yemen, aside from some fancy schmancy hotels where foreign tourists go, so nothing to report with respect to that.

The next day I went to the nearby village of Ghayl Bawazir. Khaled Yehia, one of my students invited me to visit him there, so I thought, “Why not?” After checking into a hotel, he came by and then gave me the grand tour including a stop at an interesting old school that is now a local museum. Inside one finds tools, implements, money, and newspapers of yesteryear. After that we went to his home to eat Kebsah for lunch. It was my authentic Yemeni Eid meal and consists of rice, mutton, and a special pickled lime sauce that is used sparingly. I liked it.

After lunch, we watched some Van Damme movies. Khaled’s a big fan of Jean-Claude. Khaled showed me more of the town including date palmeries, a sheikh’s tomb, some gardens, an abandoned sultan’s palace, a soccer game in town, and we played some PlayStation soccer too. I still cant seem to win.

The next day, He and his friend Ahmed took me to some nearby pools. It was really cool. One of them reminded me of the “cenotes” one sees in the Yucatan. Of course they were not as large as some of those, but as I was in the desert, it felt like heaven! The water was crystalline clean, and a local chap was enjoying it with a snorkel mask.

That afternoon I said goodbye and went on to the next town, Ash-Shihr. I hired a car to take me there for 700 rials (approx. $3.50) and my driver was the jovial and very informative Abdullah. He explained a lot of the scenery and then showed me around Ash-Shihr. We went and bought some tuna and then took it to a restaurant to have lunch prepared. It was simple and delicious. Moments like this I enjoyed on my trip. Being alone, yet being with the Yemenis, allowed me to try more Arabic and make more friends.

At the call for prayer, Abdullah headed for the mosque and I went to the beach for a walk. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to say goodbye due to the following: I strolled along snapping photos and really not worrying about being anywhere or doing anything. I climbed up on a jetty and looked between the crevices for signs of sea life. After 15 minutes of that, I decided to head back to town and look for another old bab (doorway to the city) that still stands today. I jumped from the jetty on to the pavement and felt sharp pain in my right foot. I hadn’t noticed that several nails were just standing straight up out of the cement. Each of them had about 2 ½ inches and the head of the nail. (not the point). This particular nail went through my sandal and into my foot, but did not go through my foot and it didn’t seem to make it to the bone. I felt great pain, and could not walk. Luckily, a man on a bicycle witnessed the whole accident and went to get me a taxi. I went to the hospital where I was treated and bandaged.

For the next 2 days I limped about. It was a downer because I had wanted to go snorkeling or diving the next day in Al-Mukalla. Don’t worry, I’m doing fine now after some medical attention and prophylaxis. Details coming soon! Click here to enjoy the picks!