First impressions
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Arrival
I cruised through immigration with a free 3 month stay whereas most foreigners had to queue three times (common in the region; once to change money, second to pay the visa fee, third to enter the country).
Yemen? Yes, Yemen ... in the corner of the Arabian peninsula next to the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Somalia) ... one of few countries on the New Zealand's government's "no go" list, ranking up there with Iraq. Makes the previous trips to Beirut and Tehran seem tame right?
The ranking ascribed to Yemen is due the kidnapping risk. There have been tourists kidnapped by tribes and held ransom as barganing chips for new roads, release of political prisoners etc.
Yemen is known for its traditional architecture and buildings which are built in the most inaccessible place. That's why I'm here.
Sanaa
Yemen's capital Sanaa was supposedly founded by Shem, son of Prophet Nuh PBUH (Noah) after the great flood. It is some 6000 ft above sea level. Naturally, I had my share of problems with during the first few days coping with the medieval multi-storey buildings with no lifts.
School
I've got a room at the hostel of a college within the University of Science and Technology. The room rent for a month is about the same as a one night stay in a First Class hotel. I've enrolled at the college for 2 hours a day of Arabic lessons.
The college and hostel are located in highly-decorated medieval buildings in Old Sanaa. These old buildings typically have an internal stairwell with big steps as if it had been built for horses. The ground floor was traditionally for domestic animals.
Examples in Picture 1 and Picture 2.
I have my own very huge room on the fourth floor (huff, puff, pant pant), sharing the only sitting toilet in the college with two other people!
Apart from the ornate exterior, the buildings are also decorated with stained glass panels (often semi-circular) above the windows. So beautiful to wake up to the coloured lights on the white wall next to my bed.
