Yemen: Christmas Day in Tarim: 2005

After an extended visit to Mukulla, my friend and I made our way up dusty, asphalt roads to Tarim. [The extended visit came, surprisingly to me, from Yemen’s fear of terrorists. Authorities had no concern for my country of birth, but suspicion was raised at my Pakistan visa – and my beard and clothes (shalwar kameez) did not help since they apparently remind people here of Afghani warriors. They checked me out and then let me go].

The geography of the Hadrahmat district of Southern Yemen consists of undulating hills and gorges that appear from above as a maze. The land is dry and cities are few and far between. One will pass the most amazing patches of green land occasionally – but maybe it’s just sensory deprivation. In any case, the land is beautiful in it’s austerity.


Tarim is comprised of hundreds of story houses constructed of mud and/or concrete blocks. Construction is a booming business in this town that has received a boost from the expanding Dar al Mustafa School in Islamic science (or law). The town has grown with international students flocking here to study for approximately four years (plus an initial one-year intensive course in Arabic for prerequisite skills).

I arrived in town in the afternoon, ate some delicious food (homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw – who knew they could do this here), and visited Dar al Mustafa to meet with the school’s founder Habib Omar who welcomed me. I finished the day at another friend’s house where we chatted late into the night and consumed tea, soup, humus and bread, rice and vegetables, and desert. The day carried no resemblance to my idea of Christmas, there was not even time to cram in some Christmas carol music from my laptop, but it was a good day in Tarim.