WAJsal
SENIOR MODERATOR
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- Aug 31, 2014
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I have been hoping to return to my home in Yemen for the last five years.
Currently studying in Malaysia, whenever a friend inquires about my country, I am quick to offer my services as their tour guide.
When you decide to go to Yemen, I will personally take you around, I always say with a huge grin.
I hope to take them to Shibam Hadhramaut to show them "the oldest skyscraper city in the world", a little known fact; its streets known for harmony.
Shibam Hadhramaut is also called the "the Manhattan of the desert", and is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction. — javarman / Shutterstock.com
I hope to take them to Wadi Dawan so they can taste the purest of honey in the world, a symbol of peace, created through a centuries-strong tradition. I can almost imagine us walking through the beautiful valley, with the voice of singer Abu Baker Salem echoing over the desert sands.
I hope to take them to Bab al-yaman, the point of entry into the Old City of Sa'adah if only to introduce them to the people. I have discovered first-hand an unparalleled kindness in them. I often think back to the strolls with my brother down the streets here as children, every farmer that we passed would generously offer us fruits and refuse any payment for them. All of them so poor, yet the richest!
Bab al-Yaman is where old Sanaa meets modern Sanaa. — Judith Lienert / Shutterstock.com
A young boy selling goods at the night market. — Oleg Znamenskiy / Shutterstock.com
The traditional architecture of the Old City of Sanaa. The Old City is also a UNESCO heritage site—dinosmichail / Shutterstock.com
I remember mostly how we were never refused help here. How strangers offered car rides without a moment’s hesitation.
There is a wonderful silver market here that I frequented with my father. We would always stop at a shop owned by a Jewish family to exchange pleasantries. You must always respect them, my father told me once. In the nooks and crannies of these streets, people thrived on mutual admiration. No matter their belief, every greeting was a warm one.
I especially hope to introduce my friends to the finest thing about Sada'ah – its pomegranates. How I could write pages and pages on those pomegranates.
A man sells janbiyas in Sanaa. Janbiya is a traditional knife that Yemeni men above the age of 14 wear as an accessory to their clothing. — dinosmichail / Shutterstock.com
I hope to show them Sanaa through my eyes, the city that has so profoundly captured my heart.
I hope to take my friends to the traditional Friday gathering at my relatives’ house, where we especially gather for tea just to catch up on everybody else’s life. I hope to take them through the streets to distribute free candy to joyful children, to hear them scream ‘Jaalah’ as they dance around us gleefully.
Children in search of drinking water in Sanaa. — Oleg Znamenskiy / Shutterstock.com
I hope also to arrange a stay for them at a tairamanah, where the room at the top offers the view of a breathtaking sunset, bathing the entire city in hues of yellow and purple at the time of maghrib.
