As we pulled up to the imposing and beautifully-built government palace, we could hear the faraway booms of Saudi bombs, and the very loud, very near crack-crack-crack of anti-aircraft fire. We were here to interview one of the new leaders of the Houthi rebels in Sana’a, and it suddenly felt like we were in a very obvious target. An untouched … Read More
Street Snack in Yemen: Prickly Pears
It’s a sight common across the middle east — giant flatbed carts full of fruits and vegetables, pushed around by turbaned, and often wizened men, slinging the freshest produce of the season in that particular region. In Afghanistan, you’re struck by white mountains of oversized cauliflower and blood red pomegranates, some cut open to flaunt their juicy insides. And in … Read More
Outside Beirut, Home-Cooked Hospitality
It doesn’t take long to escape the traffic- and dust-clogged streets of Beirut. Just an hour spent bouncing around in the car will get you high into the hills, overlooking the corniche and the coastline, above the congestion and pollution. There you’ll find cedar trees (immortalized on the Lebanese flag), deep valleys and beautiful stone homes perched perilously on the … Read More
Tunis: Dine in the Souk… Or Eat with the Locals
Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, has one of the most amazing souks in the Middle East: a warren of stone streets lined with perfume shops, shoemakers, cafes, and countless souvenir hawkers. There is an amazing restaurant in the middle of the souk – Dar el Jeld – and if I hadn’t been working so hard, for such long hours, I would have … Read More
Quick Snack: Cereal… with a Treat
Presented nearly without comment…. Methinks many people in this unnamed hotel in Antakya, Turkey, are NOT eating cereal. These flakes must be several years old. This bug is slightly newer, but had a very nice life in the plastic tube of breakfast-y goodness. Perhaps he ate himself to death. Thankfully, I saw him before I ate him. But there may … Read More