November 15^th, 2007  A history lecture and a cooking class

The two main events this week were a history lecture and a cooking class. Nabeel Al-Emad came from Sana’a University to give a lecture on Yemen over the last fifty years. After a short explanation of the word “tareekh” itself: it’s literal meaning, and how it is generally understood, he began his lecture at the end of Ottoman rule in 1918. The Imamate rule that followed was marked by poverty, ignorance, and illness leading to insurrections against the Imams.

Finally in 1961, the revolutionaries succeeded and Abdullah Assalal was installed as Yemen’s first president. Then, a brief description of events in the south prompted a lively debate between the four students and the professor on unity in Yemen that brought the lecture to a close. Although the language was simple it was definitely rewarding for everyone to feel like they could understand, at least the gist, if not all the details.

Then, on Thursday, was cooking class with Abeer. On the menu: salta, basboosa, and tamria. We started by pulling ingredients out of the grocery bags to make sure we knew all the names: baqdunis, kabzara, hail… Abeer kept everyone busy while explaining each step of the cooking process. From pounding kabzara, and frying to dates, to cutting up meat, there was plenty to do. Everyone had a little something to offer to the conversation about their own food experiences: one ingredient reminded Tamara of a dish from South America, Sophie has never seen ghee in Germany, a short lesson on American rice versus Basmati rice. By the end, everyone had learned a lot, and not just about Yemeni food and the Arabic Language.