The old city - 2/26

I hopped out of the cab, and went through Bab-al Yemen, the gate into the old city. Immediately on crossing through I felt like I’d stepped back many decades if not centuries. Like the rest of Sanaa, traditional dress was everywhere. Flowing waves of black cloth, jambiyas jutting out (the traditional dagger worn by the men), and minus a few displays, wares for sale that ranged from dates and raisins to bolts of cloth. Not my typical experience at Fort Henry or the Pentagon Mall. To make things more exciting, they weren’t just boxes of Sun-made raisins, but they were in barrels - full of varying qualities in ways that people treat their wines. The dates were in large blocks, with the gentlemen offering a taste. Many approached our group exclaiming welcome to Yemen as they passed by. Some stopped to ask where we were from, sharing a brief story with us before they moved on. I’m not sure there can ever be the “right” amount of hospitality, but they seemed to have found that perfect blend, like at the best of Waffle Houses, where you feel appreciated and cared for, but not overwhelmed, and these weren’t business people, but citizens passing by in the streets. It was great! Accompanying the donkey market, the cobblers, and even the camels turning the mill to grind sesame seeds into oil is perhaps the most amazing architecture I’ve seen in my life. The towers of the old city range greatly in age, appearance, and design, but the brick patterns, and the white detail work combined with many of the stained glass windows was breath-taking. I can only compare it to the most impressive cathedrals I’ve seen. I thought long and hard, perhaps some of the ancient pagodas in Japan could rival them, but nothing else I’ve seen in person, or on TV/in books comes close.