may be better than quail

Woa. Today, 16 May, I recieved my first batch of mail which included a package from Aunt Carol sent 20 March, and two postcards from my sweet friend Athena in the Eugene sent 6 May. So that's how long it takes. Write me letters. If you send packages, I hear DHL is the cheapest and quickest to get here. There's a rumor that I may be able to transfer to a different city for the next session, starting mid-June, but as far as mail and stuff, we can worry about that later.
The political situation is hairy right now. Next weekend on 22 May is the national holiday celebrating the anniversary of unification between North and South Yemen. In the past weeks the North-slanted government has been cracking down on separatist movement in the South. Separatist rallies have turned into riots then quashed by the military and resulting in some deaths. Seven newspapers have been effectively shut down for promoting disunity. They're still printing issues because the legal process to shut them down takes too much time or money, but the military has been collecting the printings before they ever reach their audience. The editor of one of these papers, al-Ayyam, centered here in Aden, has been wanted for a year in connection of a murder (the details on this, as always, are fuzzy) and the military on Wednesday sought him ought. They stormed the office in Crater, Aden which was protected by the paper's own guards/militia and resulted in three deaths and the arrest of the editor. Taryn's friend who works/ed for Ayyam is fine. I'm not sure what the coming week has in store, but I imagine that if nothing epic is triggered by the 22nd, everything will be alright after that... for a time.
PS: OMGZ MAIL IS AWESOME!

marginals

Unity between North and South Yemen was made in 1990 and there was a civil war in 1994 to little effect but the repeated marginalization of the south. Civil war in Yemen is going to happen again but nobody really knows for sure when. There has been some civil unrest here in the south which has prompted reactions from the governing north. Seven have died in Mukalla (where I'm trying to get transferred) during rallies held by secessionists that have turned into riots by the pro-government militia Guards of Unity. The newspaper al-Ayyam, the employer of a friend of Taryn, has been shut down along with six others for allegdly promoting a "harmed national unity." Revoking freedom of press and speech will undoubtedly fan the fire.
Yemen still has no cases of swine flu, or H1N1. Similar to in Israel, under sharia, referring to pigs is Haram. Unlike Israel though, we're not stupidly calling it the Mexican flu.

mayday

One session down. Matt's moved to Sana'a so I have a room to myself (with no view) now. Taryn went with him over the break and got her life stolen from her. Over lunch she told me the tale today -which is our first day back- and it sounds pretty horrific.
I on the other hand, spent a bunch of my time off nerdily reading about grammar and punctuation and usage (turns out the Guide to American Usage by Bryan Garner which I picked up in a thrift store in Bend of all places is the new Bible, or Linguinomicon rather, having pretty much ended the usage wars haughtily faught in the imaginations of dictionary and grammar editors). Not that that's going to do any good for my writing but it just means I'll have more self-confidence when I correct your terrible grammar. Which reminds me, this site is all around fantastic and you should check it out.
Anyways, Taryn got her passport stolen along with all of her banking information and any other personal information. And this happened in Sana'a, not Aden where she lives and works. Fortunately the American Embassy is in Sana'a, right? Physically, yes; effectively, it doesn't exist. How do you prove your citizenship without a passport, and how do you get anywhere in a beauracracy quagmired by bribery after you've lost all access to your money? Her situation right now is the nightmare of any foreigner; I'm feeling homesick, vicariously exposed, and am not taking this incident lightly. Her first vacation was ruined, decimated really, and basically invalidated her first three months of work here or at least that's how I would feel. After two months she should be able to get a new passport so that she can then reapply for all of the visas and not be living and working in Yemen illegally. It's a crappy situation for her right now that makes us all feel slightly unsettled until it gets sorted out.