Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Ladies at a Men's Cafe



Before I begin to write this post, I'd like to point out that women in Yemen NEVER eat or drink publicly at local cafeterias in Yemen's provinces.

Now! In the cute photo above is me (in pink) along with wonderful ladies; one of Yemen's leading female photographers, Boushra al-Mutawakel (with the eye glasses), my French friend Cloe (with bluish headscarf) and the fantastic Arwa Othman (who's taking the photo), founder of House of Heritage. We all were at a cafeteria where women are not supposed to sit at!

We went to the Change Square, last week. We walked around for awhile and decided to take a break. Arwa Othman invited us to have some tea at one of the cafeterias there. "That's unacceptable! Can we do that!! But those cafeterias are only for men, no? ," I asked.

"This is our new thing. Girls, women and I decided to have a new ritual at the square and have some tea where men do. The square is for all the people; men and women. Just sit and enjoy your tea, girl!," she answered.

This is the new Yemen, everyone ^_^ The Yemen where women could enjoy sipping tea at "men's" cafeteria.