PSU Magazine Winter 1989

Attitudes in Yemen in many ways are unchanged as well , partly because of the infrequent contact with outsiders. Women remain fu!J y veiled and have limited rights. Religion and government are tightly interwoven; Islam is the binding force throughout the country. Fi ve times a day a public address system in the cities calls the faithful to prayer (including at 3:40 every morning, the travelers recall). And in the hill country there is a "wild west fl avor," says Walter Ellis. Yemeni tribesmen now brandish AK-47s in addition to their loaded pistols and rifles, however. " The trip to "Yemen and Tunisia opened my eyes to an incredibly fascinating culture." The Oregon travelers also experienced great wannth and a surprising acceptance in Yemen. More Yemeni 's are going abroad for their education. They are increasingly interested in the outside world . And they were grac ious to their fore ign guest . Tn Taiz, at the home of a Public Administration doctoral student now at PSU, the whole group was treated to a meal "Yemeni style.'" "First we were taken to the mafraj room, similar to our li ving room," recall s Walter Ell is. " It's a large, carpeted room with the walls and fl oors lined with cu hions. We sat in typical Middle Eastern style, leaning up against these cushions." PSU 6 Getting up and down from floor level was awkward , Lisa Andrus remembers. And everyone sat with legs tucked under to assure that the soles of their bare feet were not insultingly fac ing others in the room. "We had soft drinks, fru it, and sat around and talked before going downstairs for a midday meal which we ate on the floor, communal style," says Ellis. 'l\n area probably four feet wide and eight or nine feet long was fi lled with traditional Yemeni di shes." "The people there were lovely,'' Sandra Anderson recalls. "They weren't at all critical of our culture; they thought people should accept others' cultures." One thing they did not understand , however, was women in America wearing short sho1ts and showing so much of their bodies. T unisia, a North Afri can country bordering the Mediterranean, was a totally different experience for the travelers. Its flavor was as much European as Arabic . Half the size of Yemen, with a population of eight million, Tunisia has a per capita annual income of $1,163. A pl ayground for Europeans, it hosts 1 1/2 to 2 million tourists yearly. With its veneer of western ization, it was a more comfo1table place for project members but also less rewarding. "We didn't get as much of a fee l of the people there," Sandra Anderson says . ''Tuni sia was coloni zed by the French in 188 1 and the culture denigrated by a colonial regime," histori an Jon Mandaville reveals. "The government and people of influence, Silversmith at work in ~men perhaps five percent of the population, are pushing to modern ize, to adopt the French language and western ways. You can't even get into the uni versities unless you know French. Arabic is spoken mainly with the family." T here is more separation between church and state, greater secularization. Mostly unveiled , women have more equitable rights in divorce and child custody matters. The standard of li ving is higher and life expectancy longer. Yet Tunisia is paying a price for its modern ization. I I San 'a, ~men