ZAMBIA: ART AND LITERATURE

Zambia has a great preservation area of rock drawings at its national monument called Mwela Rock Paintings. There are nearly 700 drawings spread across rock walls and inside caves just east of Kasama. Dating to the Late Stone Age, these are some of the most significant examples of rock drawings in southern Africa. Most of these drawings consist of humans and animals together along with some abstract shapes as well.

Much of their traditional arts were mainly handicrafts like pottery, basket weaving, and wood carving. They’re also known for carving wooden stools. Although they typically use quite a bit of natural materials (wood, grasses, bones), they also use metal (copper or wire art), fabrics, and even plastic. Recycled or upcycled art is also a popular art form. One particular form of textile art is called chitenge material: fabric with print patterns on it in a batik style. The style is typically seen as a type of women’s dress or sarong.

Most modern art in Zambia stems from its introduction from Europeans during the colonial years. All mediums of art--painting, sketching, sculpting, and others--reflected not only typical European styles and techniques, but they quickly learned to incorporate their own bits of African and Zambian influences to it. An organization called Lechwe Trust was created in 1986 was designed to promote Zambian art and artists. For many artists in Zambia, they find it difficult to practice their art in their own country due to the lack of classes and ability to get the materials, often having to study abroad and order supplies from other countries.

Busy Town by Henry Tayali

A few artists to take note of include Gladys Kalichini (painter, photographer, drawing), Agnes Buya Yombwe (drawing, sculptor, painter, textile artist, teacher), Henry Tayali (painter, abstract painter), David Daut Makala (sculptor, painter), Milumbe Haimbe (digital illustrator), Nukwase Tembo (surrealist painter), and Stary Mwaba (painter, sculptor, mixed media).

by Milumbe Haimbe

Much of what we know about written literature came from the mid-20th century. The vast majority of published works are done in English, but there have been a handful of novels and other works written in local languages, such as Bemba. There’s not an exclusive push for literature; very little has been published on a global scale. The resources just aren’t there. But it is there, and they have a couple publishing houses in Zambia that do produce some works. And there are writers groups consisting of authors and educators coming together to promote Zambian literature and what they can do to increase the interest.

Before the influence of European powers, stories were told aloud and included elements of dance and theatre. Rituals and languages may vary across tribes, but there are many similarities in stories as well. Fables, moral stories, and stories about animals were common, although the stories themselves may have several variations. The Europeans weren’t really fans of this and forced them to stop, but they were basically like, “Nah, man.” The British introduced Western-style theatre in Zambia, and there were also theatre groups which were kept segregated in the beginning. Radio plays and stage plays were not only performed in English but in local languages as well, often merging Western styles with their indigenous traditions.

Some Zambian writers you should look for include Binwell Sinyangwe (known for Quills of Desire and A Cowrie of Hope), Namwali Serpell (known for Muzungu and The Old Drift), Kayo Chingonyi (known for KuMukanda), Wilbur Smith (known for When the Lion Feeds), Dambisa Moyo (known for Dead Aid: How the West was Lost), Mali Kambandu (known for “A Hand to Hold”), Ellen Banda-Aaku (known for Wandi’s Little Voice and Patchwork), and Efemia Chela (known for Chicken).

Up next: music and dance

ZAMBIA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

A few years ago, I was exploring some different playlists in Spotify while I was working on some other things, and a song popped up in the mix that stopped me. It was the song “Blue Boss” by Sampa the Great. I hadn’t even heard of her before, but I had to find this song. She had a couple singles and a mixtape album out at that time. I absolutely fell in love with her style and promptly downloaded the album from iTunes. I listened to it over and over. In fact, I had even thought about getting a tattoo of the lyrics from her song “Jamal”: “I’m obliged to be a friend, not an enemy.” Although she was born in Zambia and moved to Australia, she’s never forgotten her Zambian roots.

One of my all-time favorite albums

The name Zambia comes from the Zambezi River, one of the prominent rivers in this part of Africa. Zambezi itself means “great river,” and they aren’t lying. In 1911, this area was renamed Northern Rhodesia by the British, after Cecil Rhodes (he was basically a British capitalist, and what Wikipedia refers to as an “empire-builder,” I will refer to as a “chief colonizer”). But they renamed themselves Zambia upon gaining independence in 1964.

Zambia is sometimes included as part of southern Africa and sometimes eastern Africa. I tend to think of it as more southern than anything. This land-locked country is surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north; Tanzania to the northeast; Malawi to the east; Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and an extremely small border with Botswana to the south; and Angola to the west. The country consists of high plateaus, hills, some mountains, and lies in the river basins of both the Zambezi/Kafue Rivers and the Congo Rivers. Victoria Falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the world because of its width (over a mile wide!) and is on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Because of the country’s elevation, it has more of a moderate climate, although there are some areas that experience a more tropical and subtropical climate. They have rainy and dry seasons, which also supports their biodiversity and ecosystems.

Zambia gained its independence from Britain.

Carbon dating shows people have been in this area between 300,000 and 125,000 years BC. The Khoisan and Batwe people arrived from Eastern African lands, and the Bantu migration brought tribes from northern and western lands. Tribes merged and created new tribes, cultures, and languages. They joined in with trading across Africa, India, and the Arabian Peninsula and later, the Portuguese. The Bemba joined with several other tribes to create the Luba Kingdom, which was mostly farmers and iron workers and eventually grew to be quite large and advanced. It was also the parent state of the Lunda empire. However, they were no match to the slave trade. Immigrants started settling around Lake Mweru and Lake Malawi and later became known as the Maravi Empire. They had problems with the Portuguese (who didn’t?), who were moving in on their trading and iron export business. As the Portuguese and British established themselves as part of trading in both goods and people, the indigenous tribes started rising up, and conflicts lasted for quite a while. One of the most famous of these leaders was Shaka from the Zulus. Many Europeans started exploring Africa around this time, and one of the most prominent in this area was David Livingstone, a Scottish physician and explorer. He was not a fan of the slave trade and wanted to end it (the city of Livingstone is named after him). Cecil Rhodes was a British mining businessman who also served as the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. The Rhodesian colonies are named after him. In 1911, this area was renamed as a British protectorate called Northern Rhodesia (as opposed to Southern Rhodesia, which was Zimbabwe). In 1964, they finally gained their independence, renaming themselves as Zambia. There was a lot of tension during those early years as conflicts in nearby countries took place, namely Zimbabwe. During the 1970s and 1980s, Zambia struggled as the price of copper, their main export, went down. The 1990s brought a coup, and multiparty democracy was established. Zambia’s economy finally stabilized during the 2000s, and things started to look up as foreign investment in mining, especially copper, began to help create stability in the country.

Lusaka

Located in the central southern part of the country, the capital city is Lusaka. It’s the center of both government, commerce, and education. There are a number of theatres, shopping centers, sporting venues, museums, parks and gardens, and restaurants for people to enjoy. The metro area has around 2.2 million people who live in this area. What’s interesting is that although there is bus service within the neighborhoods and city, many of the public transports are privately owned. But then I found out that there isn't even a bus map (or at least not until recently)!

Copper mining and production

Poverty remains to be a problem in both rural and urban areas, but more so in the rural areas where the main form of earning money comes from subsistence farming. Copper mining has traditionally been their key export, but for many years, the price of copper has fallen globally. They also mine for other materials like tin, uranium, and nickel. Some of the main crops they grow include chili peppers, wheat, tobacco, and corn. Tourism, especially ecotourism, is also an important part of their economy. There are several nature preserves and protected parks, like Victoria Falls, spread across the country.

Officially, Zambia is a Christian organization, clearly introduced by the Europeans who settled (I mean, colonized) the area. The vast majority of Christians are Protestant, followed by Roman Catholics. Denominations like Lutheran, Pentecostal, Anglican, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others can be found throughout the cities and some rural areas. However, there are other religions represented in Zambia as well, including Bahá’í, Islam, and Judaism.

English is the official language because of its status as a British protectorate. It’s used as the official language for government and education. In the capital of Lusaka, Nyanja (or Chewa) is the main local language spoken there. Bemba is the main local language spoken throughout much of the rust belt. Other local languages that are spoken and supported through the media include Tonga, Lozi, Kaonde, Lunda, and Luvale.

I am fascinated with large natural structures. It always leaves me in awe. And Victoria Falls is one of those. As a kid, I would stare at photos of this. I didn’t fully realize it was located between Zambia and Zimbabwe, though. I missed the opportunity to see Iguaçu Falls when I was in Brazil, and I haven’t been to Niagara Falls (yet). But Victoria Falls is definitely on my bucket list of things to see.

Up next: art and literature

YEMEN: THE FOOD

Man, what an anxiety-ridden last couple of weeks. Between the attempted coup at the Capitol and the inauguration of our new presidential administration, it should’ve been enough. On top of all that, I had to take the cat to the vet twice and my husband broke a tooth. However, the “cold Bernie” memes have been giving me life, so there’s always that. Everything in balance, right?

Oh, these are good. I've already come up with a few variations of these in my head.

But today, I’m making food from Yemen. I started out making Kubaneh, or Yemeni pull-apart rolls. In a bowl, I mixed together 1 c of water, a yeast packet, ½ c sugar, 1 Tbsp salt, 3 ⅓ c flour, and 1 egg and mixed it all together until everything was combined well. I kneaded it for several minutes before adding in 2 Tbsp of softened butter, just a bit at a time and kneading it again. Covering the dough with some plastic wrap, I let it rest in the bowl for about 20 minutes. After flouring my hands a little, I turned the dough out onto a floured workspace and kept cutting it in half until I had 16 even pieces and covered them with some plastic wrap. Meanwhile, I took a piece of butter and buttered my workspace as well as my hands, taking one of my dough pieces and flattened it out with my hands. The shape doesn’t matter so much. Then I sprinkled a bit of poppy seeds (in lieu of nigella seeds) and rolled it up like a long skinny log. Then I took my log and rolled it like a snail. I took out a springform pan and buttered it well and put my dough snails in my buttered pan. I did the same thing for the rest of the dough pieces, placing them in my pan like I was making cinnamon rolls. When I finished all of them, I covered the whole pan with plastic wrap and let it rise for about an hour (they didn’t rise all that much). When that time was done, I preheated my oven to 350ºF. Before I put them into the oven, I whisked together an egg with a bit of water and brushed the top of the rolls with it. I baked these for 30 minutes until the tops were golden. While that was baking, I took a can of diced tomatoes and crushed them by hand, drained off some of the liquid, seasoned it with a little olive oil and some salt and pepper (I added in some green chilies too). Once I took it out, I served the sauce on the side. I thought these were really good. Some of the egg wash dripped down to the bottom, so the bottoms of the rolls were kind of crispy and stuck to the pan. But otherwise, they were really good.

Very good, indeed.

The main meal I made was Yemeni Chicken Mandi. First, I assembled my Yemeni spice mix and set it off to the side: ground cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, ground cardamom, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground turmeric, and a touch of red chili powder (it’s optional, but I used a touch of cayenne pepper anyway). I couldn’t find a half chicken, so I went with some chicken thighs with the skin on. I seasoned it with some salt, and then I mixed a bit of softened butter in with 2 Tbsp of the spice mix and brushed it on the chicken and set the chicken off to the side for about 10 minutes. I put my chicken pieces on a baking sheet and covered them with aluminum foil. I baked them for about 20 minutes and then removed the top foil and baked it for another 15 minutes. I did wipe off some of the spices before serving it since it looked caked on there. For the rice part, I fried some chopped onion with a bit of olive oil, followed by some diced tomatoes and diced green chilies. Then I added in about 1 ½ tsp of the spice mix and stirred before adding in 2 cups of water with a little salt. Once the water came to a boil, I added in my rice, covered the pot, and turned down the heat. After about 10-15 minutes, I stirred my rice (especially stirring up from the bottom to keep it from sticking) and turned the heat off and put the lid back on until the rice was completely done. To serve, I put some rice on the plate and topped it with a piece of chicken and garnished it with some raisins and almonds. I really liked this. And even though I’m not much of a fan of raisins, I thought the raisins and almonds were a nice addition to it to the complexity of this dish.

Such a good comfort food. Especially with the bread.

To go with this (because it’s cold and I thought it would go well with the bread), I made Yemeni Red Lentil Soup. I washed and drained my red lentils and set it off to the side. In a large saucepan, I cooked some diced onion and cumin together in some oil until the onions were starting to turn brown, about 5-10 minutes. Then I added in some minced garlic and stirred together before adding some tomato sauce, the lentils, water, salt, and a touch of turmeric and brought everything to a boil. Then I lowered my heat and let it cook down for about 30 minutes until the lentils were soft. Some people throw their soup in a blender to puree it, but I didn’t want to dirty up the blender. But regardless, this was amazing. I topped mine with a bit of fresh cilantro, although I wish I had some parsley instead. It did go well with the bread and was practically perfect.

I'd say this was a great meal. My son wouldn't touch it at all, but everyone else liked it.

During these last few weeks, I’ve been seeing Yemen in the news quite a bit. Things are getting worse there, I fear. Admittedly, I haven’t been following what’s going on there too closely. But what I’ve gathered was that one of the last things Trump did was declare the Houthi regime a terrorist organization, but it’s also complicating the efforts of aid organizations getting food and medical supplies to people in need, which is nearly 80% of the country. Organizations like the WHO, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the UN Security Council have all warned it’s a very dire situation for most Yemenis living in the country. The country may be on the brink of collapse. It puts things in perspective sitting here in the US when I watch people here act like wearing a mask is an infringement on their life.

Up next: Zambia

YEMEN: MUSIC AND DANCE

The music of Yemen shares many similarities with the music of the Arabian peninsula, but it has its own versions. Many of their Jewish musicians have also been successful in Israel as well. There’s a type of folk music that is essentially poetic songs called al-Ghina al-San’ani. In 2003, it was added as part of the UNESCO Oral and Intangible Heritage list. Folk music is traditionally performed in the home with the performers chewing on khat (it’s a kind of leaf that has a moderate psychoactive stimulant effect when it’s chewed, so of course musicians would chew it). Another type of sung poetry is called homayni, which dates back to the 14th century. However, there’s a kind of urban style of homayni that’s performed now.

Because of Yemen’s location, their folk music and folk dance are influenced from Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula. However, dances that are purely Yemeni mainly fall into two categories: Afro-Yemeni dances and Asian-Yemeni dances. Each region of the country has its own versions of folk dances and folk music. Percussion and other instruments often accompany many of these dances. There are tribal dances and war dances where dancers hold daggers (hope they don’t fall!), and some dances that are men-only, women-only, and some for both.

In recent decades, hip-hop has become quite the popular genre among young urban musicians. Gravitating toward its history of using hip-hop as a means of socio-political expression, it’s no wonder why some young Yemeni rappers have used it as a means to rap about the ongoing war, anti-terrorism, and the state of life in general. Drawing from American and European styles, they bring their own versions of songs to their Yemeni audiences.

So, it was a little difficult to find some current Yemeni musicians (admittedly, I also didn't do an extensive search because of time). Because hip-hip is so popular in Yemen, even in diaspora, I managed to find a few. I listened to one artist who calls himself YungYem. I believe he grew up in Detroit, Michigan, so he mixes a lot of American rap styles in with Yemeni Arabic. There were some references to another rapper named Hagage “AJ” Masaed who grew up in Ohio, but I had trouble finding examples of his work on Spotify. I liked what I heard from YungYem, though; it was fairly chill, which I find myself gravitating toward as I get older. Can’t go hard all the time, right?

I also found an American DJ named Erez Safar, whose mother is from Yemen. Professionally, he’s produced albums under two names. Under his name Diwon, I listened to some of the album called New Game. I really enjoyed this; it was very well put together. It’s a little bit hip-hop, a little bit techno, a little bit club mix, a little bit lo-fi. I thought it was fantastic.

Under his other name, h2the, I sampled through his album An Album of Lo-Fi Songs That Will Never Trend. I have increasingly been drawn to lo-fi beats (especially since the pandemic forced us into quarantine), so I immediately gravitated toward this. This is the type of album you can listen to while you’re working. And trust me, I will definitely add this into my mix. This dude definitely has some skills.

Up next: the food

YEMEN: ART AND LITERATURE

Early art of the South Arabian region reflected much of what you saw in the classical era of art. Inscriptions and geometric designs were found on sculptures and architecture. Pre-Islamic art depicted scenes from daily life, battles, musicians, hunting, animals, and even meeting deities. Like other countries where the dominant religion is Islam, their art has been highly influenced by this religion, namely not being allowed to depict people anymore. Handicrafts include jewelry making, embroidery and textile art, and Islam-inspired architecture characterized by geometric designs and arches. They also did quite a bit of metalwork and created their own coins.

While Yemen was under British rule, they introduced many Western painting techniques and artistic styles. Many British artists also traveled to Yemen to paint its cities and landscape, but there are also a number of Yemeni artists who create in a number of mediums.

by Murad Subay

Some Yemeni artists of note include Murad Subay (contemporary street artist and political activist), Boushra Almutawakel (female photographer focusing on gender representation), Abdul Jabbar Numan (realism painter), Fuad Al-Futaih (painter, one of the first to promote graphic arts in Yemen), Saba Jallas (female artist, known for manipulating photos of smoke), Hashem Ali (plastic artist), Haider Galib (surrealism painter), and Sabri Al-Haiki (painter and art critic).

by Saba Jallas

For some reason, it was difficult to find an extensive history on Yemeni literature. With its influential kingdoms spreading South Arabian languages across that region during its early history, it’s reasonable to assume that there must have at least been written accounts from the royal courts and histories. I did find a book published by the British-Yemeni Society called From the Land of Sheba: Yemeni Folk Tales, although some of the stories originated from other areas. But the vast majority of literature from Yemen jumps to the 20th century. Perhaps the centuries of civil war and socio-political turmoil affected their ability to produce their own literature until then.

Poetry has been a dominant form of literature in the Arab world for many centuries with Yemen among them. There are quite a few poets from Yemen, include Abu Bakr al-Aydorus (sufism scholar and patron saint of Aden), Abdullah Al-Baradouri (considered Yemen’s most famous poet), Abd al-Rahman Fakhri (known as a modernist poet), Abdulnasser Mugali (writer and poet, known for his poems of Yemeni immigrants living in the US), and Shalom Shabazi (Jewish poet, considered the Poet of Yemen).

I love this painting of Abdullah Al-Baradouri

There are a number of novelists from Yemen who have produced a number of works as well. Many of them have had translations of their works published in a London-based literary magazine called Banipal, which aims to promote Arab literature. Authors of note include Ali al-Muqri (several of his novels were listed for the Arab Booker Prize), Zayd Mutee’ Dammaj (his novel The Hostage was included in the Top 100 Arabic novels of the 20th century), Abdallah Salim Bawazir (renowned short story writer, novelist, and columnist), Wajdi al-Ahdal (laureate of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2008), and Samir Abdel Fattah (novelist, short story writer, playright).

Wajdi al-Ahdal

Yemen also has a strong history of the theatre starting in the early part of the 20th century. Both amatuer and government-sponsored professional theatre troops entertained people in cities and towns across Yemen. Several of the poets and novelists mentioned above (and others) also wrote plays as well as had their works adapted for the stage. And although they celebrate their own Yemeni stageplays, they also perform other Western works by William Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Luigi Pirandello, and Bertolt Brecht. Sana’a is famous for holding theatre festivals including participating in World Theatre Day.

Up next: music and dance

YEMEN: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

I wasn’t always a coffee drinker. I’d say I started drinking coffee around age 16 or so. I loved the ideas of coffee shops. Sitting around and drinking coffee with friends talking about anything and everything, our plans for the future, and solving all the world’s problems. I spent many nights at my local coffee shop in college studying until it closed. It was one of my favorite places, and it still is. When my kids were young, it became a place to escape to in order to read in peace for a couple of hours. But the history of coffee is interesting: making its way from modern coffee shops, its influence in the industrial revolution, all the way to its roots in Africa and the first documentation of people drinking the brewed version in Yemen. I mean, the caffe mocha is named after the city of Mocha, Yemen.

The name Yemen is thought to be related to the word Yamnat, which probably referred to historical Yemen, which was much larger than what it is today. It may derive from the word ymnt, meaning “south,” or from the word yamn/yumn meaning “felicity” or “blessed” due to the fertile lands.

Yemen is located on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It’s bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the east. It also has a coastline along the Gulf of Aden to the south and the Red Sea to the east. It’s directly across the water from Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia on the Horn of Africa. There are also several islands that belong to Yemen as well, many of which are volcanic. The areas close to the Saudi border are largely desert but the interior is quite mountainous. However, the western highlands are ideal for agriculture. Because of its elevation, much of the country enjoys cooler temperatures than the rest of the peninsula. The western coastal plains are more of a tropical climate, and there’s more rainfall there and many areas of the country except in the desert areas, especially the northeast corner.

The Queen of Sheba

Yemen has a strategic location right in between eastern and western civilizations, and people have been living in this area for thousands and thousands of years. The Sabaean Kingdom was one of the first main kingdoms, making its entrance around the 11th century BCE. Saba was one of a few other kingdoms that were in this area; it was also thought to be Sheba (with its famous queen) that was mentioned in the Bible. The Sabaeans set up the foundations for key trade routes. The Romans explored the area, named it, and then left it in pieces. Much of the early centuries AD were spent fighting over borders and the spreading of Christianity and Judaism. But by the mid-600s, Islam became the major religion of this region. Several dynasties ruled Yemen during the period of around 1000-1500, each with its own battles, revolutions, and advancements. By the 1600s, the Ottomans began to really act on their interest in Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula: namely, their interest in Mecca and Medina (in current-day Saudi Arabia) and the key trade routes established from Yemeni ports. There was a lot of resistance as they moved into some areas (especially the highlands areas), which seems to last a long time. However, they were finally ran out of Yemen in the 1630s, right around the time that Yemen was the sole producer of coffee in the world. As the British were busy transporting Asian spices back to Europe, they became interested in Yemeni ports since the British had a strong naval background. They butted themselves into an incident that allowed them to take over the port of Aden, which really ticked off the Ottomans. The Ottomans tried to retake Sana’a but failed, and the opening of the Suez Canal made them determined to stay. The Ottomans were still hellbent on controlling the tribal regions of the highlands and failed again at trying to accomplish colonialism, this time leaving for good in 1918. The British controlled several colonies and protectorates in this area, including Aden. The North Yemen Civil War that took place during most of the 1960s convinced many to rise up against the British, but it also divided the country into two. By 1990, they came to an agreement and joined the two countries together again. But it didn’t take long before another civil war broke out in 1994. In 2000, an attack on the USS Cole in Aden set tensions on edge (claimed to be launched by al-Qaeda), although Yemen assured the US they were with us in the fight against global terror. Even as of a few years ago, al-Qaeda has been strong in Yemen (no doubt taking advantage of the political instability), and the country is once again in the midst of a civil war. The country is now plagued with lack of infrastructure, cholera, and starvation.

Sana'a

In a lot of resources, the capital of Yemen is Sana’a (sometimes spelled as Sana). However, after Sana’a was occupied by the Houthis, the capital was temporarily moved to Aden in 2015. The old sections of Sana’a was declared one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and home to the Al Saleh Mosque. It’s the largest city in the country with a population of around 2.5 million people and also one of the highest in elevation. The port city of Aden is located on the southeastern shore, and although it’s smaller than Sana’a, they still have a population of around 863,000 people.

Port city of Aden

Yemen highly depends on the services sector to bolster its economy. They also have strong footholds in food processing, textiles, oil refining, commercial ship repair, and natural gas production. Because of its landscape, agriculture is limited, but it’s there. Crops like sorghum, cotton, mangoes and other fruits, and khat are grown in Yemen but generally go back to supporting its own people. However, rising food costs are a growing concern. Their biggest exports tend to be coffee, natural gas, crude oil, and dried/salted fish. 

Al Saleh Mosque, Sana'a

Not surprising, Islam is the state religion of Yemen, with slightly more Sunni than Shia (55% to 45%), but other sects/denominations are included as well. There are also a small number of Christians in Yemen still and very few Jews are left in the country.

Officially, Modern Standard Arabic is the language used in Yemen, but it’s only used for written materials mainly. Yemeni Arabic is the variety that is spoken there. Mehri is a South Semitic language that’s also spoken in Yemen, and the Soqotri language is spoken on the island of Socotra. Other old languages originated here that had its influences throughout the Arab world. English is one of the more important foreign languages studied and used here because of its ties to Britain, but there are also pockets of Russian speakers.

Yemeni-brewed Seera Beer (the label says this is brewed in Aden)

For most countries that declare Islam a state religion, there’s also a ban on alcohol. And that’s mainly true for Yemen, except that I read it’s not quite true about Aden and Sana’a, where people apparently drink like a fish. Or sailors. Beer is the main thing drunk there, but they do have a zero tolerance on drunk driving and public intox. They also smoke a lot too: I read the average adult smokes 34 cigarettes a month (considering that there are probably many people who don’t smoke at all, those who do must smoke like chimneys to keep the average up). Nearly one-third of the population suffers from malnutrition, and heart disease is a major killer. The statistics can be staggering, so it’ll be key to remember that it doesn’t quite paint the picture of this country, and I’m determined to see this country in a different light, from a cultural point of view.

Up next: art and literature

VIETNAM: THE FOOD

Man, what a week. First of all, it was the first week back to work and school after the holidays, so it was already gonna be a struggle. Then halfway through it, we had to deal with an attempted coup. And the stores were out of a few of the ingredients I needed, so I was forced to improvise. To top it all off, my daughter decided she wanted to bake her best friend a chocolate cake for her birthday but wanted to get all fancy with it (even though this is her first cake she’s baked [eye roll]). We tried, and it was just too crumbly, so I ended up having to go buy one. This sets the scene for my second baking fail of the day when I tried to make Vietnamese Banh Mi.

Definitely too small for sandwiches, but they make fantastic baguette breadsticks.

Banh mi can refer to the bread as well as the whole sandwich (a type of word called a synecdoche). I tried to make the bread, but I think my yeast was dead because it turned out to be baguettes the size of breadsticks. Here’s what I did: In a bowl, I mixed in the flour, yeast, dough improver (which I Googled and came across a blog that said adding ¼ tsp of ground ginger is one old substitute), salt, and sugar and whisked them together. Then I poured in my water and stirred until it all came together as a smooth dough. I poured in a small amount of oil in the bottom of the bowl and rolled the dough to coat, kneading it for several minutes. Then I formed it into a rectangle that was about an inch thick and divided it into 12 equal pieces. I took each piece and flattened them out, folded them lengthwise, flattened them again, then rolled each piece like a worm, trying to taper the ends. Once I placed these on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, I set them in the cold oven with a pan of boiling water and let them rise for 30-60 minutes (mine did jack squat). When that time was up, I took the baking sheets out of the oven but left the pan of water. I set the oven at 500ºF, and when it was ready, I baked them for about 20 minutes until they were golden brown. They never rose, even during baking, but they certainly tasted like a baguette. They’d be good dipped in some melted chocolate or something, but definitely not large enough to make a sandwich out of. I made an Aldi run, and they were also out of baguettes, so I had to opt for top-cut brioche hot dog buns.
 

My first time eating a banh mi, although I've heard so much about them. 10/10, would recommend.

Now it came time to make the sandwich. There are tons of options on what goes into a banh mi, but I chose to make Grilled Lemongrass Pork Banh Mi, which was neither grilled nor used lemongrass. The first thing I did was make the pickled vegetables: I cut a couple carrots and part of a daikon (Japanese white radish) into matchsticks, soaked them in salted water for about a half hour. Then I drained them, added a bit of sugar and some vinegar to them, and put it in the fridge. Then I prepared my pork by cutting it into bite-sized pieces and soaking it in a marinade of soy sauce, worcestershire sauce (in place of fish sauce), sugar, white wine, and black pepper. I let that sit for about an hour. Because I couldn’t find lemongrass, I sauteed some onions with a quarter of an actual lemon (minus the rind). Once the onions started to turn brown, I removed the onions and lemon pieces to a bowl. I took my pork out of the fridge and sauteed it in the same skillet as the onions. When the pork was done, I added the onions back in and let everything cook down together for a few minutes. To make the sandwich, I took my brioche hot dog bun I bought and spread it open. On one side, I spread some mayonnaise (I always use the fake stuff since I hate real mayo. The real recipe called for it to spread pâté on the mayo, but I’m not a fan of pâté, so I left it out.) Then I added the pork mixture and topped it with some sliced cucumber, sliced onions, jalapeñoes, the pickled vegetables, and some cilantro. There was so much stuff packed into that sandwich, it reminded me of a Brazilian hot dog. I thought it was fantastic. The rest of the family didn’t like the pork, but I thought the pork was amazing. I had two sandwiches and the rest of my son’s. Despite all my troubles with the bread and finding ingredients, it was really good in the end.

Basically the sandwich was my whole meal, so here's a picture of Phantom seeing mylar balloons for the first time today (they were on the ceiling). She stood like that for five minutes just staring.

I was also going to try making some Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls with shrimp, but I also couldn’t find any of the rice wrappers, only eggroll and wonton wraps. Traditionally, I suck at making any kind of dish that requires wrapping food in other food. This includes almost every kind of dumpling, cabbage rolls, burritos, eggrolls, and anything that is similarly put together. Perhaps I will try the recipe later. (I did buy eggroll wrappers, so maybe I’ll amend my recipe and make some for dinner one night this week.) It’s been a day of patience to be sure. As I told my daughter earlier tonight: you can’t cry if you’re eating breadsticks.

Up next: Yemen