Let's try this again. Re-introducing myself...

I would like to start blogging again. Not that I was really doing it that much before. I actually prefer tweeting Unfortunately, tweets are transient. Not everyone sees them, depending on the time they are posted. And many people, myself included, have short, nano-second attention spans. You might see a tweet you want to address, but your attention has already shifted to the next tweet, so nothing gets done about it. Anyway...

I want to (re)introduce myself, so that I can get my bearings again. I am an American woman, born and raised in the USA. I grew up in a semi-Catholic home. My parents were not very pious, although they wanted to be. I grew disenchanted with the Church. I learned about Islam when I was a teenager and decided it was exactly what I had been looking for. Of course, there are more details along the way, but that's the gist of it.

I met my husband-to-be around that time. He was born in Yemen, raised in the remotest of villages (near Rada) He spent his early teenage years in Britain, so by the time he met me, not only did he speak English, but he was very Westernized. We fell in love, like Westerners do, but we also shared a passion for the Islamic faith.

At this point, we've been married, very happily I should add, for twenty years now. We've had a great relationship. Not a day goes by without us telling each other how much we love or miss each other. There are days we're just like teenagers again, full of loving glances and terms of endearment.

Along the way, we've had 3 children. While my husband and I have been on the same page in just about every aspect of our lives, (our marriage, our finances, our living conditions, our faith, our political preferences...) we tend do differ on parenting issues. I attribute this, of course, to our very different upbringings. What's acceptable in my culture is frowned upon in his, and vice versa. This was a main reason I even started a Twitter account: I wanted to find other families like mine: A mix of an Arab and a Westerner. I've had the Twitter for maybe two years now (?) and I've only found maybe 2 or 3 people who fit this bill. I would call that pretty unsuccessful.

I'm rambling, sorry! This was supposed to be my (re)introduction. Maybe this is why I stopped blogging in the first place: My tendency to ramble and go off-tangent.

In my 20 years married to my Yemeni husband, I've learned a lot about Yemenis and Yemeni culture in general. Some things I like, some I don't and for others, I'm indifferent. I will hopefully, from time to time, address topics I've observed. I want to make this disclaimer: If I make a statement like "Why do so many Yemenis work in convenience stores or drive taxis?" I don't mean ALL Yemenis. Of course, there are many Yemeni teachers, doctors, photographers, singers... I do not mean to fit every Yemeni into a stereotype. What I mean is, "MOST Yemenis, that I (or my husband) know" So, in the above example, it's true, most of my husband's Yemeni relatives and friends do indeed either work in a convenience store or drive a taxi. If I go down his list of phone contacts, I'm pretty sure about 90% of these people will fit that description.

Similarly if I say "Yemeni kids don't get much education", again, this applies to MOST Yemenis that I know personally. It is not a jab at EVERY Yemeni. So, if you're a Yemeni author, baker, computer engineer, clothing designer, lab technician, I am NOT addressing you. Most likely, my husband and I don't associate with people like you (unfortunately for us) This is because, as I mentioned before, my husband is from the village and not many people aspire to become more than farmers, sadly.