Well, things are progressing. After a lot of back and forth I finally got a cell phone this morning. For some unclear reason it has the wrong date and time on it and I can't for the life of me find the settings menu to change it, but whatever, it works.
It appears I'll be going to the field on Tuesday for my first visit. I interviewed two young women today in order to choose one to be my interpreter and accompany me on all the visits. It was really really interesting because they were both naqabi (their faces were covered). I'd never spoken at length before to a naqabi woman, especially not in a position of authority like I was today, interviewing them for a job. They were both very nice, and nervous, you could tell. The one I ended up deciding on is named Khalija. She has a BA in English and has worked with the Social Fund before. She's willing to travel and eager for the job. The really interesting part is that she said that when she has traveled to the field before for work her father accompanied her. I asked if her father would be accompanying her this time and she said probably not, but probably her brother would. This struck me as really interesting in light of something that happened last night.
Last night one of my fellow guests at the American Institute, a German woman named Katrina, took me with her to the big supermarket. She is working for some branch of the government on a conditional cash transfer program (where they give money to families to send their children to school). Her work has given her a car, so she drove us to the store. It is absolutely insane to me that she is willing to drive in this country, it's so crazy in the streets! But she said you just have to jump right in and just do it, and you end up being OK. Anyway, while we were driving we were talking about whether or not I should feel comfortable going out for lunch during my work day. I was explaining to her that in general the men at work go out for lunch, but the women stay in to eat. She was saying that I shouldn't restrict myself to all of the constrictions placed on the Yemeni women because I'm not getting the benefits they do. This totally flipped my thinking around. She was saying that yes, it's true, Yemeni women have many more restriction on their movements compared to men, but because of this, the men in their families have to work very hard to make up for everything they can't do for themselves. They have to drive them everywhere and run errands for them, etc. I had never thought of it that way before, that the Yemeni men don't necessarily have such a cushy situation in terms of all this extra stuff they have to do, and this really hit home when I realized that in order for this woman to take this job, she must be accompanied on her job by a male member of her family who will not be compinsated in any way by the Social Fund, he'll just be tagging along. Imagine being her brother and having to put everything on hold in order to go with her to her work... interesting.
Other than that, things are just moving right along. I'm slowly checking all the things off the list that have to be done, like registering with the police (something you have to do if you'll be here for more than two weeks); getting paid (they gave me the check today, but I have to decide whether or not to open a bank account here or just cash it... I'm not sure yet); getting my cell phone, and getting to know all of the drivers at the Social Fund (so far I've had 4 and I believe there are a total of 6 so once I've seen their faces once each it will be easier to find them when I'm told who will be driving me home).
Actually it's the drivers that are my favorite part so far. They're all supper nice and happy to chat and teach you Yemeni Arabic and be patient with your broken attempts at communication. It's fun. So far I've met Ahmed (who picked me up from the airport), Abdulla, Salih, and then the guy today whose name I can't remember... darn.
Well that's the news from Sana'a... hope you're all well.
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