Last night we went to the Aden Mall. We got there via bus, a hop-on-hop-off fiasco.
A lady from one of the blogs I stalked told me that at no time while she was in Aden did she ever feel threatened or unsafe EXCEPT while in a car. I absolutely understand that. It is insane. Thus far it seems that stop signs are merely a suggestion and I haven’t seen a single traffic light anywhere. As we were careening around single-lane but two-way blind corners the driver would honk the horn to let everyone know WE ARE COMING, WATCH OUT.
These “buses” are truly the most derelict yet still functioning vehicles I have ever seen. They don’t have doors(to facilitate the hopping on, hopping off). You just pile into one, the drivers don’t really even acknowledge you, you sit there until every seat is filled AND THEN IT’S OFF TO THE RACES! People on the street hold up a hand and if there is an empty seat they pull over and get you, while others hope off(I haven’t paid more than 20 cents for a ride yet). When we stop we yell “NAZIL” which we think means “stop” but aren’t really sure. It warrants further investigation, but its worked thus far. The mall is large(by Yemeni standards) clean, modern and blessedly air-conditioned. Matt and I got in trouble for taking pictures but I got a couple anyway. The mall is right on the gulf-which we didn’t realize at first because it was night- and as we were going down an escalator( escalators in Yemen!)(at least one) we saw through a huge class wall, the sea! The mall is RIGHT on the edge of the sea. Very beautiful. Also the mall is nestled around some cliffs and quite stunning. There was a grocery store at the mall so I picked up some fruit/sweet ambrosia and coffee- after searching my apartment and the boy’s we were unable to find a coffee pot. We couldn’t find one at the mall either which was, clearly, quite devastating. I decided to buy coffee anyway and cling to the vain hope that there would magically be a coffee pot in a hidden cache of my apartment. As Katherine and I were cleaning off a shelf-jumble in the kitchen WE FOUND A MINI FRENCH PRESS!! Oh you magical and mysterious kitchen! What other wonders do you have in store for me! First a hidden terrace and now life-giving coffee! Alhamdulillah! So this morning as I woke up without an alarm at 7(the first and only time I have ever/will ever purposefully do that) I boiled water on our butane stove and had coffee and fresh fruit and mango juice on the terrace. I’m just livin’ the dream.
A lady from one of the blogs I stalked told me that at no time while she was in Aden did she ever feel threatened or unsafe EXCEPT while in a car. I absolutely understand that. It is insane. Thus far it seems that stop signs are merely a suggestion and I haven’t seen a single traffic light anywhere. As we were careening around single-lane but two-way blind corners the driver would honk the horn to let everyone know WE ARE COMING, WATCH OUT.
These “buses” are truly the most derelict yet still functioning vehicles I have ever seen. They don’t have doors(to facilitate the hopping on, hopping off). You just pile into one, the drivers don’t really even acknowledge you, you sit there until every seat is filled AND THEN IT’S OFF TO THE RACES! People on the street hold up a hand and if there is an empty seat they pull over and get you, while others hope off(I haven’t paid more than 20 cents for a ride yet). When we stop we yell “NAZIL” which we think means “stop” but aren’t really sure. It warrants further investigation, but its worked thus far. The mall is large(by Yemeni standards) clean, modern and blessedly air-conditioned. Matt and I got in trouble for taking pictures but I got a couple anyway. The mall is right on the gulf-which we didn’t realize at first because it was night- and as we were going down an escalator( escalators in Yemen!)(at least one) we saw through a huge class wall, the sea! The mall is RIGHT on the edge of the sea. Very beautiful. Also the mall is nestled around some cliffs and quite stunning. There was a grocery store at the mall so I picked up some fruit/sweet ambrosia and coffee- after searching my apartment and the boy’s we were unable to find a coffee pot. We couldn’t find one at the mall either which was, clearly, quite devastating. I decided to buy coffee anyway and cling to the vain hope that there would magically be a coffee pot in a hidden cache of my apartment. As Katherine and I were cleaning off a shelf-jumble in the kitchen WE FOUND A MINI FRENCH PRESS!! Oh you magical and mysterious kitchen! What other wonders do you have in store for me! First a hidden terrace and now life-giving coffee! Alhamdulillah! So this morning as I woke up without an alarm at 7(the first and only time I have ever/will ever purposefully do that) I boiled water on our butane stove and had coffee and fresh fruit and mango juice on the terrace. I’m just livin’ the dream.
No comments:
Post a Comment