The Cricket was here...

Detail of a Traffic Jam, Old Mukalla

She Sells Seashells...

Well, our plans for the long weekend have been postponed until next weekend, but this one was still pretty cool. Today we were snorkelling at a nearby reef, hanging out with the most beautiful tropical fish you can imagine; all the characters from Finding Nemo were there:) And no, Ruth doesn’t snorkel in her balto – the dive centre has a private beach so she can wear a bathing suit. We do wish we could get our hands on a waterproof camera, and so be able to share more of the adventure with you! Stingrays, giant starfish, sea urchins the size of basketballs, and sooo many dazzling fish. Click here for photos that we didn’t take but are nonetheless representative. A wonderfully exciting afternoon.

The pictures that are in this post are from a picnic that happened yesterday. It was on a rocky stretch of coast with some wonderful tidal pools to wander through. Here you can see some of the little fish, urchins, and a weird sort of toothed clam. The conglomeration of shells is also an urchin – things tend to stick to them. We didn’t do it.

I might as well tell you about those plans that fell through. We’ve been working on getting up the coast to a highly populated sea turtle colony. For the past few days a couple of our staff have been ill, and Ruth was one of them. But it wasn’t serious and they’ve both made a full recovery, ready to go exploring next week.

Click on any of the images to view larger versions of them. I recommend this particularly for the urchin colony and the Snorkelling Muslim.

Coming soon, by popular demand: Yemeni Cricket, the Mundane Details edition! You’ll see pictures of the everyday things – where we live, work, and shop.

Climbing Mountains

Here are some shots from the hike we mentioned a couple posts back. The lake in the crater of the second volcano looked beautiful and inviting, but was too far down to reach on that day. The garment Ruth is wearing is not a burka but a balto, which is cooler. And yes, she does climb mountains in it; John and Lois raised a trooper.

The shot on the right is of Ruth and some others climbing the first volcano. Its crater was dry, and full of the skeletons of small animals, including the blowfish pictured below (and others like him). The birds take them up there to eat, but we also found numerous bird skulls. Do unto others...

The last shot is one my favourites. Yemeni Samurai Chick (Ruth's objections to this name have been noted). The lava formation beside her was unique in that landscape - very few upright rocks remain on the mountain. Shortly after this was taken, we climbed down to the sea in the direction she is facing. The slope was sandier than the one we had climbed up, and the shifting rocks beneath us made for a tricky descent. Lesson learned: don't be an idiot. If the route you took up the mountain was safe, take it again on the way down.









It was a beautiful day, all told, and we look forward to many more adventures. Keep thinking of us as we deal with the daily struggles, too - there are more mountains to be climbed.

With Love,
The Cricket

In the Bullrushes

Yemeni Cricket: now coming to you in full polychromatic technicolour!! We have solved our photo posting problems; many thanks to Josh and Andrew for their helpful advice. We were about to resort to sending our pictures back home via the Camel Express but this is quicker (and less smelly).

This is a shot of Ruth at the beach near our house. The shoreline is teeming with life and is a beautiful place for a walk. More to come...

Filling In

Right, we forgot to mention the classes. Sorry, and thanks to Bob and Heather for reminding us. They have started - we've been teaching for a couple weeks now, and we're enjoying it a lot. Sean teaches two three-hour classes each day, and Ruth is in the computer lab from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., facilitating interactive exercises with which students practice what they learn in class. Every student spends three hours in class and one hour in the lab each day, and there are roughly 110 students in the programme. Ruth also does some administrative work between labs.

We live close enough to the university to walk there. For other destinations, the public transportation is wonderful (beating New Brunswick by a long shot, I'm afraid). Every few minutes a small bus rolls by - more of a van really, Toyota's answer to the VW Westfalia - with the side door open, and you hop in. Any time, day or night, you walk out your door and within three minutes you're on a bus. It will take you through town for 20 Rials, or to another town for 30 Rials - about 15 and 20 cents Canadian, respectively. They are in various states of age and repair, and this makes it fun. You can cruise down the highway in one, and since the door is open and most of the windows are missing, the wind is always blowing around you and it feels great. If most of the roof is there, you can get out of the sun, too. The towns are an average of fifteen minutes away from each other, and at 20 cents, it can't be beat.

As far as driving your own car goes, it can be done if you know the rules. Here they are. 1) General: the best defence is a good offence. It's true in hockey and it's true in Yemen. 2) Intersections: if your bumper is in front of his, you have the right of way, no exceptions. He who hesitates loses his bumper - make a new one out of old exhaust pipes. And that's about all there is to that.

Last weekend we went hiking and climbed up - and into - two volcanoes. In the crater of one was a lake, and in the other one was sand, bones and fossils. The beach beside them was littered with bits of coral, very beautiful. Every weekend tends to turn into an adventure like that. We love it.

The food is wonderful. Each day around noon our assistant goes out into the town and comes back with the best grilled chicken we've ever had. And another thing: wander anywhere in this country and you'll soon pass a man with a pile of fresh fruit, a blender, and an extension cord. He's waiting to make you some juice, and you should let him; it's phenomenal, and it'll cost you about a nickel.

That's all for now. A long weekend is upon us (Wed-Sun); we're heading up the coast a little ways with the rest of the staff, and it should be a lot of fun. We'll let you know;)

Hello Everybody! Well here we are, one month later and still no phone line (this is to explain the long silences and meager emails). There have been many delays and a handful of frustrations, but the joys definitely outweigh the annoyances. We have been in our apartment for a couple of weeks now and are settling in nicely. I think we have become the neighborhood entertainment. I hadn’t realized that watching white people walk and shop could be spellbinding but day after day we continue to amuse the children and bewilder the adults. We are within walking distance of the university, the beach and food. It seems Foah (our town) has as many shops as people. There are three convenience stores within eyesight of each other and 3 fruit stands within 5 minutes of each other (that we’ve discovered so far!). Restaurants abound although ordering is always a challenge, but the Yemenis sure have a good time watching us try.

Soon I hope to fill you in with more details about what we've been up to. We've had many adventures already, and the pictures are coming! Take care everybody.

Love, The Cricket.

On Delays

Ok, I know. We broke our promise. It's now after Feb. 25th, and still no posts or information. We're sorry, but there's something you should know: things don't go as planned in the Middle East. Consequently, we are having a very good time, but not a productive one. Our class start date has been postponed and we are still not living in our apartment. We moved in a couple days ago, for about an hour. Then we moved back out. We're no longer sure when we will move in to stay. But it might be soon, and once it happens, there really will be more information!
Beyond that, it is March in Yemen. The sun falls like a bludgeon. The land is parched and barren, but beautiful. Twice we've been swimming in the open sea, and the water is warm. You will see pictures when our own computer is up and running in our own apartment. So check back later:)