This week has been difficult. I'm trying to concentrate on good things. These are some things I really enjoy about being here so far.Saltah: the national dish of Yemen, usually eaten in the north for lunch but there are a couple spots nearby that make it and it is good. You can see in the picture above the heavy dish with saltah in it. The dish is heated empty then in goes a cracked egg, rice, beef or lamb with sauce/juice, and then at the very end a frothy cup of fenugreek. It comes to your table bubbling hot and it takes a lot of patience to let it cool down enough to eat - because it's good! The bread in the picture next to it is the everyday bread you get at restaurants here. The food in Yemen is some of the best I have ever had.
This picture is of Elephant Bay beach. This is where I go swimming every weekend. I swim past the rocks and can see fish of all colors and sizes, beautiful coral, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. Last week I even saw a morey eel. The best is swimming with a huge school of tiny silver fish.Other things here that I enjoy are going to the Seera fish market, choosing a fish just caught, then going to the restaurant to have them cook it; tea with everything; seeing Somali children everywhere; buses driving with their side doors wide open; being able to buy good incense and oud in almost every outdoor market; every outdoor market; fresh lime juice; how people greet each other with salaams; how things get relatively quiet on Friday mornings; the boats; seeing people fishing; the mountains that surround Aden; the way most Yemenis treat beggers with respect; the goats; the music.
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