Friday, February 27, 2009

A little light reading


Just doing some leisure reading during my spare time before my big move...

Language Barrier

An Arabic phrase I’ve made sure I know before I embark forth on my big adventure:

هل هناك دورة المياه الأوروبية المجاورة ، وأنا لا يبرع في الاقامات فقط بعد؟

"Is there a European toilet nearby? I’m not proficient at squatting just yet"

Growing Up Hanley

Mom: "Taryn have you considered what you’re going to do if someone tries to steal you’re camera? That could be a year’s salary for someone"

Me: "umm… well I’ll keep it in my house if I’m not going to be using it. They have locks in Yemen..."

Mom: "No no I mean what If they try and steal it while you’re using it!"

Me: "I don’t know, maybe I’ll try and punch them in the eye, you know like you’re supposed to do if a shark is attacking you, you gotta aim right for the eye"

Mom: "You can’t fight back! You could be killed! But what happens if it’s hanging around you’re neck and a motorbike whizzes by and they grab it! You could be strangled! Or dragged Along!"

Taryn: "Oh wow! Ya know that never occurred to me. I bet I could just flick it off my neck real quick. Like as the pressure was increasing I could just whip my head down really fast and it will fly off from around my neck maybe"

Mom: "Sounds unlikely…I don’t know if that would actually work…"

Taryn: "I mean.. well lets practice. Okay you be the thief, pull my camera away with increasing pressure and I will whip my neck down and free myself!"

Mom: "Okay!"(Pulling camera strap taught)

It took me years to realize that my family is odd. Well actually about five minutes into college. We all think we’re great. And by the way, it totally worked. I will not be dragged through the streets and then strangled from my camera strap by a thief riding a motorbike. Phew! Once less thing to worry about.

Malaria be damned!


I finally got my prescription for malaria. I will, at least initially, be living in Aden, Yemen’s second largest city, on the coast. The weather is exceedingly hot and muggy and a veritable breeding ground for mosquitoes and pestilence! You don’t need to take malaria meds in Sana’a or any place above 2,000 feet which, Aden is not. The pharmacist carefully explained the side effects and procedures for taking my meds- small concern being stated because of the extended duration I will be needing the medicine- and then proceeded to hand me the bottles. Yes plural. BottleS. Oh shit. I have gone ahead and put a normal size prescription bottle into the picture for size comparison. I’ve never seen anything like it. The pills are however, a very unusual shade of cerulean blue that I find quite becoming.

It's much easier than explaining

As I’m stocking up on weird supplies in large quantities, people are always asking where I’m off to with 10 oversized linen tunics-

“I’m moving to Yemen”

“Good grief! Really?! Why on earth are you moving there?! Yemen! That’s in the Middle East!!”

“Oh, you know, I really like hummus…”

And then they stare agape for a moment and back away

Wholly Irrational

As people ask about my upcoming adventure, I often get asked about the spider situation. That is the one topic of information I’m actively avoiding. Giant snakes? Cool. Scorpion on my pillow? Been there, done that. Cockroaches? Whatever. Spiders? HELL NO.
Had anyone told me previous to my trips to Honduras that there would be tarantulas there, it might have given me pause. I will be constantly vigilant, and non-confrontational. They shouldn’t come near me, and I will try and get the locals to kill them but otherwise steer clear. Fine, truce. But had I known that one bright, sunny day I would be innocently writing in my notebook and casually glance down to find a GIANT TARANTUALA NESTLED ON MY SHOULDER I never would have gone. I would have sequestered myself into a hermetically sealed room and never stirred from there again. No joke.
How did this great fear start, you ask. Because its not only that I don’t like them, it’s that I’m so shaking-and-crying-when-I-see-one, deathly afraid of them. Perhaps I have always been afraid of spiders, of that I cannot be certain. What I CAN be certain of however is that as a young child of six or seven I found myself one day, sick in bed. My father in a well-intentioned act, proceeded to rent his beloved daughter a movie. He rented “Arachnophobia” HE THOUGHT I WOULD THINK IT WAS COOL. Well let me tell you. It wasn’t. In fact it was, quite truly, the single most terrifying 2 hours of my life. For years and years I have been plagued by a reoccurring dream about cunning and malicious spiders who stalk my family and then kill my sister (sorry Kallyn, it’s always you). So I just don’t want to know about the spider situation in Yemen, I just don’t want to know about it because if I did, I honestly might not be capable of going. One horrific day in the none to distant future I will find out first hand. Until then, I remain gratefully, blissfully ignorant.

Efficient and Methodical










As I’ve been packing I’ve really endeavored to proceed in an organized
manner. I’ve made a Herculean effort to maintain structure and order throughout
the process. Why make it harder than it
needs to be?
I think its coming along quite nicely.

Not at all awkward

As I was running errands the other day my mother asked if I could also pick up some more kitty litter and toilet paper. In an unexpected bout of productivity I also used this time to compile the contents for my first aid kit which included various items useful in the alleviation of intestinal turmoil... As I proceeded through the check out feigning nonchalance and amiably chit-chatting with the young male attendant, we both tried to ignore the contents of my shopping cart; a family pack of toilet paper, kitty litter, a super-size pack of Immodium anti-diarrhea medicine, Pepto Bismol, and a YEARS supply of tampons. I just know he was thinking, “good lord does this girl ever leave the bathroom?” it was, in a word, embarrassing.

Lofty goals

Things I’m hoping to accomplish whilst in Yemen:

  • Learn Arabic
  • Eat a lifetime's worth of hummus and lamb
  • Brandish a scimitar
  • Ride a camel
  • Ululate like a Bedouin
  • Briefly see but not actively partake in a harem(joke!)
  • Gallop away from an impeding sand storm

Okay life, here we go!

As I’ve been gadding about Bremerton the last couple of weeks my life has been a frenzy of preparation and packing because, wouldn’t you know it, moving to a foreign country that you know remarkably little about for A YEAR is a rather difficult endeavor.



I've been practicing wearig a Hijab around, and if I may say so myself, looking quite dapper(is “dapper” only really used to describe men?) The blue and green striped scarf really made my eyes pop, which, no doubt, is what Muslims are going for. I almost wore it out running errands but I thought- wear a hijab in Yemen, they will appreciate your earnest attempt to assimilate with their culture and your respect for their conservative way of life. Wear a hijab in Bremerton, everyone will think you’re a big asshole. Soo…no.
I have also procured a number of loose, natural fabric, clothing items. Yemeni culture is highly conservative and obviously I want to dress appropriately/not make an ass of myself. I tried on a large, billowy linen shirt with my hijab the other day. Let me tell you I cut a fine figure! Big, oversized clothing does little to inspire my self confidence and I feel dowdy and prudish but, I promised my father I wouldn’t come home with a husband so I guess all is well.