Ahlan wa sahlan min Al Yemen (Hello from Yemen)! Ringing in the new year with my family in Yemen has been a completely different NYE experience for me, but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world! I’ve spent the past few days in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, and tomorrow I’ll be heading to Aden, my father’s hometown. Sana’a is in North Yemen and is an incredible city full of life, even more-so than back home in New York City. It feels like nothing has changed in centuries, all of the architecture remains the same, tradition is stuck to, people drive like maniacs and kids play in the streets freely. I love it so much here. It truly feels like home.
Qat is still as dominant in the Yemeni lifestyle as it has been for decades. Yemen was once known for it’s trade in coffee, grapes and other natural crops, but now the fields are dominated with qat. Now, farmers have abandoned growing anything other than qat since it grows all year long, doesn’t require plenty of water, does not need any fertilizer, and there is plenty of demand. The last time I was in Yemen was in 2008, and I posted a short blog about qat, but this past semester, I’ve found myself engulfed in studying it’s effects on Yemen as a country. The wide-spread addiction has caused a halt on growth in Yemen in so many ways. Yemen is one of the only countries in the world that consider this stimulant legal and the active chemical only lasts a few hours from the time it’s picked, leaving it unexportable. The government once tried to ban the crop to no avail, so instead they placed a tax on the growers so they, too can benefit from the addiction. Aside from these downfalls, qat promotes laziness on individuals and chewers spend more money on the leaves than they do on food. It isn’t surprising to see an 11 year old child chewing qat, either. Yemeni’s government is incredibly corrupt and weak, and the country continues to get weaker and deeper in poverty. The wide-spread addiction plays a great role in these factors and unless Yemen abandons it’s bad habits, we’ll continue to see the country decline. I guess that’s the sad reality of life here in Yemen.