Woman Who Fell From the Sky - Jennifer Steil [1]
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Broadway Paperbacks, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
BROADWAY PAPERBACKS and its logo, a letter B bisected on the diagonal, are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover in slightly different form in the United States by Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 2010.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published and unpublished material:
American Institute for Yemeni Studies for permission to reprint a poem from The Book of Sana’a: Poetry of Abd al-Aziz al-Maqali, translated by Bob Holman and Sam Liebhaber (2004). Reprinted by permission of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for permission to reprint excerpts of the locust recipes taken from their website. Reprinted by permission of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy.
The Yemen Observer for permission to reprint excerpts of articles from the Yemen Observer. Reprinted by permission of Faris al-Sanabani and the Yemen Observer.
Zaid al-Alaya’a for permission to reprint an excerpt of his note and poem to Jennifer Steil. Reprinted by permission of Zaid al-Alaya’a.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Steil, Jennifer F.
The woman who fell from the sky / Jennifer Steil.—1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Steil, Jennifer—Travel—Yemen—San’a’. 2. San’a’ (Yemen)—Description and travel.
3. Journalists—Yemen—San’a’—Biography. I. Title.
DS248.S26S74 2010
953.32—dc22 2009037172
eISBN: 978-0-307-71587-6
Cover design by LAURA DUFFY
Cover photography by JESSICA BOONE/GETTY IMAGES (pomegranate); JENNIFER F. STEIL (city)
v3.1
For Kawkab,
and all the other feisty Yemeni women
who give me hope for the country
she was a woman
who fell from the sky in robes
of dew
and became
a city
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
one FANTASIA IN GINGERBREAD
two READING, WRITING, AND ROBBERY
three AN INVITATION
four THINGS TO CHEW ON
five YOU’LL DIE OVER THERE!
six WHEN, EXACTLY, IS INSHA’ALLAH?
seven MY YEMENI SHADOW
eight KIDNAPPINGS, STAMPEDES, AND SUICIDE BOMBINGS
nine THE FRONT LINES OF DEMOCRACY
ten HOMEMAKING IN THE HOLY MONTH
eleven THE TRIALS OF MOHAMMED AL-ASAADI
twelve TUG-OF-WAR
thirteen PILLARS OF RAYON
fourteen TROPICAL DEPRESSION
fifteen THE ARTIFICIAL MAN
sixteen THE POWER OF PEANUT BUTTER CUPS
seventeen A WORLD BEYOND WORK
eighteen DRAGGING DESIGNERS FROM THE QAT SHED AND
OTHER DRUG PROBLEMS
nineteen BRIGHT DAYS BEFORE THE DELUGE
twenty THE DELUGE
twenty-one BOMBS, BREAKUPS, AND BASTILLE DAY
twenty-two POMEGRANATE SEASON
twenty-three SHE’S LEAVING HOME
twenty-four REASONS TO RETURN
EPILOGUE
AFTERWORD
About the Author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Nothing in this book or my life would be remotely possible without the entire staff, past and present, of the Yemen Observer. Thank you for working so very hard for me, despite my mercurial management style. I owe you all an infinite debt of gratitude.
I also owe bottomless thanks to:
Theo Padnos, for getting me here.
My friend Tom Zoellner, whose invaluable assistance and encouragement from the very beginning helped this book to get off the ground.
My agent, Brettne Bloom, for believing in this book, for her unflagging enthusiasm and support, and for her inspirational thoughts on my original proposal.
My editor Kris Puopolo and her assistant editor, Stephanie Bowen, for their wise counsel in shaping this book, their meticulous editing, and their patience with my frequent long-distance phone calls.
My editor Christine Pride, for guiding this book through its final stages of labor and birth and for so indefatigably championing it.
Faris al-Sanabani, for trusting me. Sometimes.
Sabri Saleem, for his