Today, I went to an all girl’s Qat chew and dance party at one of the teacher’s sister’s home. Just to say it right away, this was one of the most remarkable experiences I have made so far in Yemen. And I feel lucky that I actually went there, because I didn’t sign up for the ‘event’ at first because I thought that I was going to be out of town at that time. But luckily, I was witty enough to just sit down in the bus that drove us there.

As I have written before, Yemeni women wear more or less a full veil on the streets. Well, you may guess that they wear normal clothes when they are at home. But you won’t guess what kind of dresses they wear on such a gathering! Actually, they dress up in transparent dresses and they wear a lot of make-up. And they like to stuff their guests with tea, cookies, cake, and Qat.

So we sat down in this mafraj, the common room without any furniture which features colorful windows. In fact, traditional Yemeni houses feature about 4 or 5 floors which serve different functions. On the ground floor, there are shops, while the other floors are inhabited by one sole family. In a sense, every family lives in a sort of a fortress, which stands autarkic next to the others.

So we ate, and we drank, and we danced to traditional Yemeni (and later I guess to modern Egyptian) music, we got some frankincense into our hair, smoked shisha (I smoked for the first time in years… oh well, as long as it is an exception), and we chatted in Arabic. What a great day. Really, the women were so very kind! It was simply wonderful. I am definitely going there next time again. But this time, I will dress up, too.

P.S. And we bought fabulous football dresses… just for fun. I am already looking forward to wear it when I will be going for a run in a Parisian park.