Suq it to me baby!

The last two days we have been spending considerable amounts of time wandering the suq(open market, bazaar). In my idealized and romanticized mind I have always envisioned the suq to be one long, narrow winding lane with dark, covered alleyways jutting off. It would be bustling and noisy with tea shops and sweets-sellers. Spice vendors and silver and fine cloth merchants. Lots of haggling and intrigue! It was in fact, quite different than that. Bustling? Yes. Haggling? Yes. Tea shops, sweets-sellers, merchants galore? Yes, yes, yes. But it is a wild labyrinth that spans many blocks. There are squares that are teeming with crowds and streets extending in every direction from them. There seemed to be sections of the suq; the electronics section, the furniture makers, the fruit carts, clothing, etc. but many, many shops were tiny stalls jammed with everything you could think of. Honestly it reminded me an awful lot like Canal street in New York, different but not disappointing.
We made our way to the fresh seafood- pungent aromas assaulting our senses well before we even arrived. Lots of men were vying for our business but one particular vendor had a giant, unique looking fish in a pretty shade of blue that intrigued me very much. And for that reason alone he got my business! After picking out a few fish, they were flung cavalierly into a plastic grocery sack and off we were to a restaurant with dinner in hand. Some men at the front of the store relieved us of our parcel and ten minutes later, voila! Whole roasted fish, rubbed with spices and served with pieces of flat bread. Delicious.
Last night we were escorted about the suq but today Matt, Ben and I decided to foray out into the semi-controlled chaos of the suq all alone. We stopped at a fruit stall for some fresh juice- we discussed this particular matter and decided, hang it all! We are going to eat street food! It smells so tantalizingly, out-of-this-world delicious that I just can’t wait any longer(plus I’ve been brushing my teeth with the local water anyway…) For about 35 cents we had the sweetest, most delicious fresh fruit smoothies this world could possibly offer. Mango, guava, papaya, banana and pineapple with ice blended to cool, creamy bliss. We’ve been there several times already. As we were wandering aimlessly enjoying the cultural assault before us, we turned a corner and lo and behold! We had stumbled upon the Qat market! I’m sure I’ll have many more things to say about Qat later, but for now- Qat is THE social lubricant of Yemen. Alcohol is forbidden in Islam, but do you know what isn’t? Qat. It is a green, leafy plant that is massively cultivated throughout Yemen and celebrated for is use as a social stimulant/mild narcotic. It is immensely popular and hours of everyday are spent sitting idly by, chatting and chewing the qat leaves(you masticate the leaves gently, and store them in the hollow of your check, sucking the juice as you go. You have to continually eat more and more leaves, everywhere you go you see men with giant, baseball shaped protrusions from their cheeks).
I don’t for even one second think you can come to Yemen and not partake of the quintessential Yemeni social phenomenon. With only minimal hesitation we decided to try it. All over the square men had bundles of qat leaves wrapped in damp clothes, gesturing to us emphatically. We approached one. He offered us a MASSIVE bundle of leaves. HELL NO, we do not need to die today, thank you sir. We told him half. At this point I was unsure if I, as a lady, would be able to indulge, or was I continuing to exacerbate the “loose-American-woman” stereotype. The seller named a price, “HA!” I scoffed quite loudly by accident- clearly I’ve never bought qat before, I have zero knowledge of how much it goes for, just no idea, but Yemen is a bargaining culture and that seemed exorbitant. He lowered his price and looked at me-not either of the men I was with, they men currently bargaining with him- and I shook my head. He lowered it again and as Matt was about to pay I said, “Laa! Laa!” (no, no) and named a different price. Am I allowed to chew this? I don’t know, but at least I’m getting a good deal! The seller grinned at me and good naturedly accepted the price I offered. Heck yes Yemen. To show our appreciation we gave him a bit more than the agreed upon sum. (buying the qat foiled a scheme that Ben and I were EXTREMELY excited about- Matt had been talking about wanting to try qat for a while. We knew this, so while we were at a market we came across a nice bundle of bay leaves. We were planning on picking off the stems, putting it in a generic plastic bag and surprising Matt with our extremely generous gift of fresh qat! What I would give to have seen Matt munching away at bay leaves thinking it was a mild narcotic… oh well, maybe I can try it on another unsuspecting person..)
With our new purchase firmly in hand we started wending our way through the market. As we passed by a tea stall we heard someone shout “Englizee!” not an uncommon occurrence, we just waved and continued on. This man however, spoke English. He took us to the tea stall(where I had formerly been under the impression that woman weren’t allowed) and we had delicious tea and tried to talk to the locals. We stayed there for awhile and quite a crowed gathered, we took their pictures and shared our qat, they gave us free tea and kept shouting “OBAMA! YES. BUSH, BAD!” Hah. The man who originally hailed us gestured us to his car, come on, he’ll show us a great site- okay strange man, yes we will come with you in your car. Right now. He drove us down a winding, narrow, dirt lane that suddenly opened to the sea! But not the sandy, touristy beaches, no! To some rocky bluffs bordered by cliffs. This was a bit of a locals hang-out that we never would have found on our own. We stared out at endless ocean as white-capped waves broke on the rocks beneath us, salty spray whipping our face. It was stunningly beautiful. He went back into his car and got some rugs which he arranged on the ground around a rock for us to lean on. The qat chew had begun! Qat tastes pretty much exactly like what you would imagine any broad, green, leafy plant would taste like- bitter, acrid, a bit dry. Definitely an acquired taste(I think the boys have already acquired it, hah!). We chewed the qat and talked to Omar for hours(known throughout the suq as “Obama” because he is originally from Kenya) and it was unbelievably relaxing. I can certainly see the appeal of whiling away a lazy afternoon chewing qat, talking with friends, watching waves crash upon the bluffs…
It also turns out that Omar’s son Amar, will be taking one of our classes- we took pictures with Omar and got his business card and are planning to prank his son by photoshopping a picture of America in the background and pretending we knew his father back in the states- it will be interesting to see how this joke translates between the languages… We came back and spent some more leisure time on my terrace, sipping mango juice and watching some wild parrots play in the tree by my room. It was a truly once-in-a-lifetime, unforgettable day.