A bunch of firsts!!!

First time riding the buses.  I didn't even realize that they were buses until we got into one.  The buses here are little minivans that shoot around the city, making impossible U-Turns and blasting their horns for the slightest reason.  There are only two rows of facing seats in them, and the women aren't allowed to sit with the men so often people aren't allowed to get on.  It is a pretty efficient system, however—the buses are always full and there are a ton of them.  And the ride is only 20 Rials—that's one penny.  (Divide by two then multiply by .001 to convert rials to dollars.)

We were taking the buses for my first trip Old City of Sanaa, and it blew me away.  I had the day off teaching due to the fact that it was "Unity Day", which celebrates the 1992 unity of the north and the south.  I don't have the pictures right now, but it really was like the set of a movie.  Small streets winding through endless markets…  I went with a few of the other teachers and one of the first things that we had to do was return the key.  They had lived in the old city for a while and had to return their key for the apartment.  We walked in and headed up a long flight of stairs and I discovered that the air really is a lot thinner up here as I was huffing and puffing after just one flight.  But once we got to the top it was all worth it.  It was a beautiful view of the old city and  you could see the entire city of Sanaa.  And just as we got there, the call for prayer went off and all the mosques around us started blasting Arabic chanting.  It was wonderful.  As I said, I will try to get pictures because I really can't describe it right now in words.

I had my first experience of buying something (a coke) at a shop by  myself for the first time.  I know that this doesn't sound like a big deal but remember that no one speaks English here, they are not used to foreigners and I hardly speak any Arabic.  My friends were looking at a furniture shop and I jumped away for a minute and it was my first time on my own.

Finally, at the Old City I had my first experience buying falafels at a local restaurant.  They were incredible, but they led to my first case of food poisoning and my first day of trying to teach when I couldn't stand.  Canceling classes here isn't really done.  Thank god for Cyanne who combined our classes because I couldn't stand and could barely speak without my stomach going haywire.  But I feel fine today—15 hours of sleep will do that for you!!!