Rookie Mistakes

Someone ones told me I focus on the bad side of things. Not really - I just think they make for better stories. So, a few "bad" things of note from the first 3-5 days (depending on how many "days" of travel there were).

1) I booked the wrong flight
2) I left several overpriced gifts from a street vendor in my guide's car yesterday (sorry)
3) I brought hand sanitizer, but neglected to use it (I have a cold - and I'm blaming it on one of numerous handshakes)
4) I mistook a Canadian for an American (but, really - who hasn't done that?)
5) I left my Lonely Planet travel guide book in my guide's car today (alas, two different guides; two different cars)
6) I left my dental bite guard in Los Angeles (yes, I have a bit guard). Hopefully my teeth wont start looking like Yemeni teeth before I can get home and use it again!

Years ago, on a trip to Mexico, my travel companions and I started calling such errors "rookie mistakes" - you know: the kind of thing only an un-seasoned traveler would do. Oh well, what can I say - I'm not unseasoned, but apparently I'm out of practice.

The cool thing about it - it all works out in the end.

Safer than West Los Angeles

OK, first off - Yemen: visit.

Before I left, a friend told me that Yemen was one of two places in the whole world he wouldn't visit: for safety reasons. Well, having walked Sana'a multiple times and various times of day, and having spent two full days touring the countryside outside it's walls... I must say, I feel safer here than in many parts of Los Angeles, and certainly safer than many other cities int he world.

I'm not even kidding. I've been more concerned about my surroundings walking home from Kelly's house at 10:30 pm than I am in the Old City here in Sana'a at any hour. Perhaps the same can't be said for downtown Pittsford, but still - it puts things in perspective.

Oh sure, there are a few men with automatic rifles wandering the streets and the occasional bombing, but really - what are the odds? Now, I'll admit, when people ask me where I'm from - I say "California." Yes, they're all smart enough to know that's in the United States... but as yet, not one person I've met actually has any problems with the United States. They all seem to like it. A few have expressed excitement over our new president elect, but otherwise - even politically speaking - Yemen is safe and worth putting on your "to do before I die" list (if you like world travel, new foods, and adventure).