On the way to Bait Baws, the Jewish settlement I wrote about earlier, we ran into this young lady who was herding her sheep down the road and I thought it lovely that she was carrying this little guy in her arms. It seems the baby wanted to suckle and it was holding her up.
And on the road back into town, we passed this Egyptian War Monument from the war of 1962. Egypt was and is an ally of Yemen. As we proceeded down the main drag, we ran into the President's Mosque which is open for all to use. In fact, as we approached, afternoon prayers were letting out so we decided to stop in and visit the Mosque.
This is the ceiling in the men's side of the Mosque and it is very ornate as you can see. Hand inlaid stone work, marble, alabaster windows, some stained glass and gold everywhere. The men's side will hold about 20,000 men and it is full usually on Fridays.
Rich and poor are welcome here and all pray together...well, men together and women elsewhere.
Columns and glass lighting everywhere...again, on the men's side of the Mosque which cost in excess of $120,000,000 to build. The average Yemeni earns less than $2 per day and that is before he buys his Qat!
And here, looking like a cow in this photo, am I! This is the women's side of the Mosque...note any differences here? This side holds about 2,000 women and they can see through some woodwork what is going on in the men's side. As we were entering, hundreds of completely covered, veiled women were leaving and I asked, "How do the men know which woman is his?" Men were shoving and looking but not calling out to their wives or sisters. Answer? The woman finds her man. 
Rich and poor are welcome here and all pray together...well, men together and women elsewhere.
Columns and glass lighting everywhere...again, on the men's side of the Mosque which cost in excess of $120,000,000 to build. The average Yemeni earns less than $2 per day and that is before he buys his Qat!
And here, looking like a cow in this photo, am I! This is the women's side of the Mosque...note any differences here? This side holds about 2,000 women and they can see through some woodwork what is going on in the men's side. As we were entering, hundreds of completely covered, veiled women were leaving and I asked, "How do the men know which woman is his?" Men were shoving and looking but not calling out to their wives or sisters. Answer? The woman finds her man. On the women's side, I had to wear a scarf. When we went to the men's side, I had to put on a complete black thop, which is not a pretty sight to see!!
And here is the President's Mosque which is causing quite a stir because the historical mosque in the old city is Old Yemen, the pride and joy of Sana'a. This new monstrosity took years to build, cost a ton of money and has only been open for a couple of years. The money spent, many have told me, could have been used for health, education, electrical power and more. Instead, there is a monument to the President.
And here is the President's Mosque which is causing quite a stir because the historical mosque in the old city is Old Yemen, the pride and joy of Sana'a. This new monstrosity took years to build, cost a ton of money and has only been open for a couple of years. The money spent, many have told me, could have been used for health, education, electrical power and more. Instead, there is a monument to the President.
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