My Yemen Story
And so it began . . . I suppose if I'm going to ask folks to share their stories of Yemen, then I guess I should be willing to share my own. Sadly, I can hardly claim to be an expert on Yemen - or even have that much experience within the country. My only visit to Yemen occurred in May 2012, and it lasted one weekend and I never left the confines of the old center in Sana'a. I spent that academic year on sabbatical at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, and it was inconceivable that I would not try and pay a visit to a country that fascinates me. So, I ignored the warnings of the US State Department - and the concerns of the local Yemeni official in Abu Dhabi when approving my visa ("why do you want to go to Yemen?") - and boarded a Yemenia Airways flight for a much too brief visit to Sana'a. Why did I want to go? I'm a historian by training, and there aren't many places in the world that have more history than Yemen. On a very quie