2/8/08

Copy of email I sent from Yemen on 2/8/08:
Hi everyone,

A few of you have commented on my pics and the fact that there are few women and girls out and about on the streets and in my pictures. Here's my reply to one friend plus some additional comments..."You are correct in your observation that mostly they are confined to the home, however, that is changing somewhat and more Yemeni women are getting jobs outside the home, of course they stay covered/veiled while at work. Some brilliant women have been offered great high-paying jobs at international companies that would require them to not veil their faces (they could still cover their hair at work), but many have had to turn down those jobs if their fathers or husbands won't allow them to remove their veils for any reason. All of that being said, there are some women out and about on the streets, but my pictures don't show it because it is considered VERY disrespectful to take pictures of women and girls. Whenever I ask they always say no, except for a few little girls here and there. It's a huge issue of modesty and would be shameful and disgraceful for their photos to be shown to people. Some even feel that taking a person's picture steals the soul and invites the "jinn" or evil spirits in. Many of the women here say they love being covered and feel protected like "beautiful flowers" that are to be cherished and only seen by their husbands. Hmmm, not sure if I'm buying it."

Technically I could just dress modestly and walk around in normal clothes since I'm a foreigner, but it would really invite unwanted stares, and showing my hair is to them is practically like going topless is to America. So me and the other American women I'm with cover up so as not to draw attention to ourselves and to respect their culture of modesty. It has invited confusion and conversation from Yemenis who wonder if we are Muslim and if not why would we cover ourselves, but ultimately they always end up thanking us for our respect for their culture.

The day before yesterday my aunt and girl cousin and I went to a public hot bath ("hammam") with a Yemeni friend. It was dirty and super basic and like being in a dungeon or old cavern but I loved it just for the experience of it. The Yemeni woman taught us how the locals wash and scrub and prepare for wedding day (scrub first on dry skin, THEN wash...who knew?!). It was much different from any "spa day" I've ever had in the U.S. We had a lot of good laughs (at our own expense) with the other women near us b/c we were doing it all wrong at first. I tried rubbing this hydrating orange mud stuff on me but because my skin is so white compared to the Yemenis' it was staining my skin orange, so they got a kick out of that. For some reason I don't mind being laughed at in a foreign country. If you look at my web album there are a couple pics towards the end of a door on a gross building on a dirt road. That's the front door of the hammam. We were told this was one of the nicer ones.........my aunt had been to one years ago with roaches climbing up the walls.

On the drive home I took off my head scarf for two seconds to flip my hair (you can take a girl out of the 80s, but...) and my aunt freaked and said to put it back on and that she'd tell me why later. After the Yemeni friend got out of the car she said that having wet hair means you had sex that day because women are required to shower afterward b/c it makes them "unclean" and then they wouldn't be able to pray. She didn't want to say it in front of that girl b/c she's not married yet and it wouldn't be appropriate to talk about that in front of her. There are so many rules here that I keep unintentionally breaking!!!!!!! I feel sorry for women here who are shamed at every direction. Women also aren't allowed to pray or go to mosque when they are on their periods since that also makes them "unclean" (so does nail polish), so once they are off their period they have to make up the prayers they missed. Fascinating huh?

Today we visited the home of a local man and his family. We were pleasantly shocked that he allowed his wife to eat and talk with us and even remove her veil! Apparently that is extremely rare and was a huge huge sign of trust. Most times the women would all be put in a separate room and we wouldn't see my uncle again until it's time to leave. That happened to us in Oman a couple times, where us women were herded into the women's quarters with no English speaking Omani women. It was awkward, but fun in a way trying to muddle through the time with smiles and extremely basic English. They did let us take digital pictures of the children there and occasionally of the women because they don't veil their faces as much. So the camera provided a lot of fun and laughs. So anyway, with the family today we were served a traditional Yemeni meal on the floor with everyone eating family style from all the plates (the man with his hands but the rest of us with utensils) and then talked all afternoon -- the women with the wife and my uncle with the husband. We were there for four hours! My aunt tried to translate as much as Arabic as possible for me. I brought some balloons for the kids which were a big hit. The wife got out all these homemade perfumes and made me put them on and then sent me home with some homemade incense chips. I got a headache from all the strong scents in the small room we were in! I keep forgetting to mention that men in the middle east can marry up to four women, as long as they can financially support them all. So guys, you interested in moving over here?!? ;-)

Moving on.........I found out the other day that the vet clinic in Ethiopia is definitely happening, and sooner than I thought. I will fly from Yemen to Ethiopia on Sunday, and then we'll leave first thing Monday morning for the remote desert to work with a nomadic "people group" immunizing their camels, goats, and sheep. We'll have four men and two women, so me and the other girl will handle goats and sheep, thank God b/c I am keeping my distance from camels these days! Pray for that and for my own battle with fear. It always seems that I get all freaked out before big stuff like this, and then I get there and the holy spirit totally takes over and brings me peace and strength. I am praying for remembrance of God's past blessings and for faith in His promises of future grace towards me. Your prayers will be extremely important, so please keep them coming!! Monday - drive all day to desert camp, Tues-Thurs - Vet Clinics all day, Friday drive to hotel, Saturday - drive back to Addis. We won't be able to shower til we get to the hotel Friday night, so we will be N-A-S-T-Y with dirt, sweat, and animal crud all over us. I know that Kilimanjaro and Panama have prepared me for this, but still, I tend to get anxious and scared about being that primitive! This time I'm really really REALLY trying to claim victory in JC and surrender my pride to God's protection and provision. Growing my faith has been a humbling and messy process, and I'm still a work in progress, breaking old habits as I learn to trust God more. Also pray for my pre-work lesson planning for Egypt. I am running behind (shocker) and needing to get all my stuff turned in by Sunday. I'm working on it a little bit each day and plan to spend several hours tonight and tomorrow finalizing stuff to send to the translators before I leave for Ethiopia.

I know it's hard to know where I am and what I'm doing, and having to be so vague about so much of this is no fun. But it just helps me to know that you guys are out there thinking about me and praying for me. I think of you OFTEN and am missing home quite a bit this past couple days. I'm going to call home tonight for the first time in three weeks.

To all the Gatewayers - I will totally be praying for the AIDS Experience exhibit this weekend!! Good luck with everything!
Love,Susan

To see my Yemen pics click on this link...
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/susan.knechtel/YemenPics?authkey=3UuMfIAzFhg

Prayer requests for my family back home

Please pray for:
-healing for my mom from shingles and the constant headache that it creates
-my nephew Cal's first trip to the dentist which can be scary for a little guy at age 3
-my sister Carolyn's job situation & praise for health insurance which changed for the better

Also, pray that God will lead me to the right apartment rental and/or roommate situation when I return to Austin homeless in late March. Ask him to prepare a home for me that is comfortable and peaceful and within my new financial constraints.

I'm back to blogging!!!!!!

Hi you guys!!! I'm finally back on my blog! What a disappointment it's been to not be able to blog and post pics like I had planned. I'm hoping to get back on track now that I'm at my aunt and uncle's house. I safely arrived here day before yesterday. I'm not going to mention what country I'm in just to be safe.

When I arrived my aunt and cousin picked me up from the airport. On the way home we stopped at a little fruit and vegetable shop to get some veggies. I was taking all kinds of pics, and my cousin laughed and said, "I can't imagine THIS being new to someone to where they would want to take pictures!" Their everyday shopping experience is exotic and eye-opening for me! All the men who worked there and who were hanging out on the street were chewing quat, the daily ritual for about 80% of men here. Quat hour starts around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and the various stages of the drug's effects take them through chatty and energetic, to mellow and dazed, to no appetite, to the inability to sleep. Their cheeks were bloated like chipmunks and eyes bloodshot red.

After that we went home and had tea and cookies in the muffrage, or communal living area with the couch cushions and pillows on the floor. We caught up for a couple hours and then had a nice spaghetti dinner. It was nice to have home cooking and a mellow evening at home with family! My uncle has been in another part of the country helping because one of their coworkers died unexpectedly a few weeks ago. He'll be back today. Two of their other kids are at a boarding school in Kenya near where all the riots and violence is happening. Please pray for their safety, that the school can get the food and supplies it needs, and of course for God to bring peace and forgiveness to the region.

Fridays are holy days here, so yesterday we went to a fellowship at a home. It was neat to experience that first-hand in a country where the Truth is not widely known or celebrated. Afterward we went to the old town square to do some sight-seeing but there were many armed soldiers out everywhere not letting cars in where they can normally go. So we decided not to get out and to just drive around the city. Today or tomorrow we will try again. My aunt thinks maybe a dignitary or some important person was in town. There did not seem to be any violence, thank God. Pray for extreme tribal violence that is currently taking place in another region of the country.

Today we will be visiting the home of a local believer. This is a huge deal and an experience so few get to be a part of! I feel blessed to have the opportunity to get to know this person, and to be able to convey prayer requests to you guys at a later time on their behalf. God is at work here bringing people to Himself, and it's exciting to see the fruit firsthand!!

Monday afternoon I will get to volunteer at a local outreach program for street kids. Please pray for me to have grace and sensitivity to their collective situation and individual needs. Pray that God's light will shine through me and that I will be able to live out His love for them by being the hands and feet of JC. Pray that I will have one-on-one heart connections with these kids and that my visit will be eternally meaningful to them.

This country is very poor, so there are lots of beggars and street kids here. Last night during dinner a beggar rang the doorbell looking for money. It's hard to turn them away, but my aunt and uncle give in so many other ways that they can't give to every beggar that rings the doorbell. They do keep bags of rice and lentils in the front seat of their car to give to beggars who come up to the windows at intersections. It's kind-of like Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in that way, although I think it was actually worse in Addis, with lots more crippled and maimed people coming up and knocking incessantly on the car windows. Granted, I've only been here two days!

I am sleeping in one of my cousin's rooms (while he's away at boarding school) which is what would otherwise be the guard-house outside by the gate. It's kind-of nice having some privacy. I have my own little bathroom with a "squatty potty" (i.e. hole in the floor toilet). Each night around 4am I am awakened by the local mosque's call to prayer over loud speakers. The do it at 4am, 11:30am, 3:30pm, dusk, and an hour after dark each day. That being said, there's one going right now and it's 12:30pm, so they almost an hour late (being on-time is relative here...if you are a punctual person it would drive you crazy, but I feel right at home in that way!!!). The call to prayer is a really creepy sound, although I'm getting used to it, and my aunt and uncle barely even notice it anymore other than to signal what time of day it is. Our hotel room in Oman had a mosque right outside, so I got woken up by that some nights, but here it's louder since I'm right out by the street, so I anticipate that this will be a nightly ritual for me. I just say a quick prayer to JC and then doze back to sleep!

Yesterday morning I was awakened by the sound of birds I've never heard before. It reminded me of being in Africa last year. It's weird to be on the other side of the planet and hear and see so many new sights and sounds. It can be sensory overload, so I'm really happy to be here relaxing with family for Week 3 of my nine-week adventure!

My main goal in the next few weeks with family is to have more down-time to experience growing intimacy with God. We were so on-the-go in Oman that my personal quiet time suffered. We did a group devotional daily and lots of prayer, but it's not the same as spending one-on-one time with God myself. This morning's devotional brought the message home that my personal love relationship with God is the single most important thing, and everything else will flow out as it should from there. When I get busy and stressed I start relying on self-sufficiency and works instead of relying on God's promises of future grace to get me through. I thank God for continually reminding me that he created me for an intimate and personal love relationship with Him!!!

Love to all, more soon,
Sooz

Trying to post pics - we'll see if this works!

Wish me luck. Here goes....

1/28/08

Last ones for tonight are attached. The beautiful blue water pic is of a Wadi we hiked into for an hour and then got to swim in. It led to all these pools of intensely blue water that looked like they were lit from beneath. The blond woman in that pic is my aunt. From that first pool you see we swam and hiked in and out of several wadi pools and finally swam through this little crevice through a cave for about 25 feet which then opened up to a gorgeous cavernous pool. The swim was really good for my arm. I think the resistance of the water helped to loosen up where the camel had kicked.

The memory chip with my dune-bashing and dune skiing pics is up in the room, and I need to get to bed. More hopefully tomorrow if they give us time to chill out for more than two seconds so I can email!!! :-) I'll also try to put in more stories about the people we've been meeting and the types of interactions we've been having. I have to be careful about emailing some of those details. It's tough b/c I wish I could be totally free to say whatever like back in the States. Just know that we are connecting with people but that a lot of patience and restraint is required.

I meant what I said about you guys emailing me what's going on with your life. I don't want two months to go by and me totally be detached. I am realizing more than ever how much all of you mean to me.

Also, has the stock market crashed over there??? What's going on, or should I not want to know?

Good night!
Susan

1/28/08

1/28/08 - PICS FROM OMAN

1/28/08 - It's 1:15am here but I am trying to send you guys a few pics before going to bed since I've had such a hard time posting them to my blog...... please bear with me. I'm sending 2 by 2 so they go through..........this hotel lobby computer is SO SLOW it's driving me nuts!

Here's a story while I wait for these pics to attach -- Wednesday night we are going to the Muscat festival with a group of Omani women we met last week. We were invited to their home and had the whole traditional coffee and sweet noodles, dates, and oranges pre-meal meal in the majales (sp?) room. Then we had a full on real meal with them. The whole event took nearly five hours! It was getting so late that they ran out of time to do this tradition where they put a pot of burning incense under your skirt to make you smell good. I can't remember the name of it but if I find out I'll let you know. It's about the weirdest tradition I've ever heard of, but at this point nothing is really surprising me anymore. :-)

1/28/08

1/28/08 - CAMEL ATTACK!

I am retroactively updating my blog since I couldn't access it from overseas. All the headers were in Arabic for the first half of my trip, and then poor internet access became the issue. This post was from an email I sent to my supporters on Jan. 28th...

Hi all,

I miss you so much! I don't have too much time to write, and it's overwhelming to try to tell you all that's going on. I've been away from email from several days b/c we went on an excursion to the desert. I have lots of stories to tell, most of which can be told better through pictures, but I'm having a hard time uploading my pics onto my blog and onto a Picasa web shared album b/c I'm on the hotel lobby computer. So for now I'll just attach a few here and there.

The first pic attached is of me getting henna this morning from a Bedoin (sp?) woman out at the desert camp we stayed at last night. The Bedoins are gypsies of various tribes. We stayed in their region for two nights at two different desert camps. Yesterday we were able to snowski and snowboard on the dunes and then went dune-bashing in 4-wheel drive SUVs, which was INSANE. You won't believe it til you see the pics. I was really scared at first b/c I was in a car being driven by one of us Americans. It wasn't until I switched to a car being driven by the local guy that I was able to relax and totally enjoy it. He's been driving these dunes since he was nine, so that just put me at ease. This is a camp that our local friends here take groups to several times a year. Pray for the people who run the camps, for blessings on their families, and that God would draw them near to Him.

The other pic is of a village boy we saw on the drive to the desert. We were driving slow through a little village and stopped for something and saw this boy playing with four kittens that couldn't have been more than a day or two old. He was soooo happy playing with them and was excited to share his joy with us on the side of the road.

I have a scary story to tell -- mom, dad, Carolyn, and Kathy: close your eyes for a minute -- on the first day of our drive to the desert we stopped the cars to take pics of wild camels that were on the side of the road. Long story short I think there were too many of us too close to one of them, and I was the closest to him and happened to maybe look him in the eye too long or something, who knows why but he all of a sudden charged me. In an instant I knew I had to run for my life or be trampled by this huge beast. Something told me to suddenly zig-zag ala my powderpuff football quarterback-style moves (as seen in the BHS class of '90 yearbook). Just as I zig-zagged I threw my arm above my head and behind me to block just as his hoof or head or something came down and hit it. My arm hurt all day and is now bruised, and I was really shaken up for an hour or so, but overall I was not hurt considering how dangerous the situation was.

Since then it's been hard not to think about it, and in a weird way I've been pretty deeply affected by the incident. It's the first time I've ever had to run for my life, which is a weird feeling. One time when I was 13 I had to swim for my life when a boat was coming straight at me in the lake, but since then I can't recall feeling this feeling, and this camel thing was definitely worse. For the first day or so I kept replaying the scene over and over in my head, not being able to shake that moment of fear when I knew he was coming after me. It all happened so fast that I didn't really have an accurate picture of what went on. It wasn't until the next day that I actually got all the stories from the others about what they saw happen. The first day everyone was just trying to let the dust settle and get my mind on other things.

Apparently when the camel started to charge he was practically on me within just two big steps of his long legs. Then he reared up, which is (I'm told) right about the time I did my zig-zag. On the way I threw my left arm up and behind me to protect my head. Either his head or foot (they think his head) hit my arm and then somehow I got away and he went the other direction chasing some of the others briefly and then stopping. I know the holy spirit was what prompted me to zig-zag at that exact moment, but I literally shudder when I let my mind go to a place of wondering what would have happened had I not moved in that way in that instant. It's not healthy or productive to think about that, but naturally I was shaken up and kept thinking about that the rest of that day and the next. I'm always looking for spiritual metaphors in things lately, and I can't help but equate it to my spiritual walk. I think of the certain death I was headed towards before God rescued me, and I shudder to think of what would have been had he not stepped in. But I shouldn't fixate on that, rather on his mercy and love and promises of future grace. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

Another interesting side note about the camel incident is that I didn't even have my sandals on all the way. I had slipped my toes into my Teva straps but hadn't fastened the strap around my heel. And we were on this bed of little rocks, in what they call a Wadi, which is a dried up river bed. So, the footing was shifty and insecure. How I was able to turn on a dime the way I did I'll never really know.

This morning I conquered my new fear of camels by going on a camel ride. This one was muzzled and leashed, so it wasn't so bad, and actually I really enjoyed it!! I'll send pics in a separate email so they go through.

Please send me updates on your lives and what's going on in Austin and cities you live in. I'm already feeling a tiny bit homesick and really really like hearing about you guys b/c it helps me feel connected. I may not be able to respond one-on-one, but know that I am reading them all!!

Attached is a picture of the guilty camel. You can tell by the look on his face that he is about to go postal on me.

Love to all,
Susan

1/28/08