The Suq in Old Sana'a

Update on the Ambassador's TV

8/23/01
Thanks to everyone who responded to our first newsletter. To answer the question that seems to have really concerned everyone: Yes, Michael did get the Ambassador's cable TV fixed. It didn't happen that first day when he stayed late, but the technician finally arrived (with a cheekful of qat) late in the afternoon of the next day. It took him all of about five minutes to replace the smartcard on the satellite receiver and then run through the channels to make sure they were all there.

The Suq

A number of other questions focused on the suq (Arab market) so here's a bit of an explanation and some impressions: The Sana'a suq is partially surrounded by an old mud and stone wall that must go back a long time (let's see what Lonely Planet says: the original mud parts are very old (hundreds of years) but the stone parts were added in 1990 to shore up the wall, but kind of killing the authenticity of it). The main gate is called Bab Al-Yemen (or the Gate of Yemen) and it is where most people start from, or give directions from in the Suq.

The suq here is much the same as the suq in Jerusalem or the one in Cairo. Lots of tiny stores packed in together, narrow lanes, wide variety of things for sale from spices to gold/silver to toys to electronics. The lanes are all cobblestone so they're a bit difficult to walk on , but at least they don't all turn to mud when it rains, which it does a good amount here in the spring and summer (unlike any other mid-east country I've been to).

One characteristic of the suq is that all of the stores of a "type" (silver, gold, shoes, etc...) are clustered together in one area. So inside the suq, you've got the gold suq, the silver suq, the spices suq, etc. I think that you can probably put together a mental map based on this ("turn left at the first alley in the spices section and it's the 4th shoe store down"). I'm not sure if that means there's price fixing or what, but shouldn't it really cut down on competition?

[Michael here: It's quite traditional to have all the same stores clustered together. Most areas of old Arab suqs are named for the type of stores that were traditionally on that street. The Gold Suq, The Meat Suq, etc� The other places we have visited have gotten away from this a bit, mostly because the whole suq has turned into The Tourist Suq. Still, even the suq in Jerusalem has sections that are mainly tourist stuff and then whole streets that are mainly cheap plastic crap, or meat, or spice-sellers.]

Jewish Jewelry?

The jewelry sellers are always pointing out that some silver piece is "Jewish," apparently meaning made by a Jewish silversmith before they were airlifted to Israel in the 50s. They're very proud of these pieces as they represent the best silver work--something that Yemeni Jews were known for and why you can probably get some of the best modern Yemeni silver work in Israel. I heard that during the airlift, Yemen had a law that no Jew could leave until they taught a non-Jewish Yemeni how to work the silver, in order to keep the expertise in-country. But I think that didn't work so well. The storekeepers also frequently tell you if something is Bosani, or made by another Jewish artisan. We figure that that really means "in the style of...", but other people say that those jewelers really were very prolific, so it's not necessary untrue. We're not collectors at this point, so we'll just buy things we think are pretty and are reasonably priced. Maybe we'll pick up a few show pieces later on for framing. We'll see. I'm sure this stuff will grow on us, but I will need to see people actually wearing it as part of their culture (not just around tourists necks) before it'll have much value to me.

Actually, in one shop that has some nice jewelry and antiques, we saw a piece of a parchment Hebrew scroll. Michael made out the words Esther and Achashverosh which of course clued us in to the fact that the piece and the scroll next to it were an old Megillat Esther (telling the story of the Jewish holiday of Purim). The storekeeper wanted $600 for it which is out of our price range, but we might keep thinking about it. And we'd need someone who knew about old Yemeni Judaica to tell us if it's authentic or not.

Since there are very few Jews in Yemen now (there are some north of Sana'a in an area well known for tribal conflicts, so we won't be visiting them) I doubt the Embassy would let us go with the Israeli/Palestinian/Arab situation as it is now, it might not be a good time to visit anyway--we might be someone's target); besides I hear they mostly want to be left alone; and, it strikes me the way Toledo, Spain did. Since Toledo was a center of Jewish intellectual life in the Golden Age of Spain, every store sells things with Jewish stars on them. However, the Jews were kicked out in 1492, so this is a very hollow and exploitative gesture. However, it shows they know their tourist audience well.

The Soft Sell

Another thing that really stands out for me is that if you say to a storekeeper, "no, I've got to think about it," or "I'll come back next Tuesday," their response is "maalesh" (Don't worry about it) or "mish mushkelah" ("Not a problem"). If you don't have enough money on you and you've bought something from them before (or are with a good regular customer), they'll let you take it and bring the rest of the money later that week. They'll let you try on a piece and decide after wearing it for a few days if you want it or not. This really gives the buyer a sense of trust in what s/he's buying and the person s/he's buying it from. The sales people come off as kind, quiet, and unassuming. (Keep in mind, that we were directed to a few stores with very good reputations among the Embassy community- this may not be true for every store or storekeeper).

For the most part, no one's trying to make a hard sell, which is good because I HATE that! In Cairo especially, we were constantly told that if we didn't buy it now, it would be gone. In fact, just asking how much something cost was opening yourself up for the high pressure routine.

I think that one of the reasons for this soft-sell attitude may be that some of the suq storekeepers have day jobs and that the suq is additional income. The suq is at its busiest from 5-8 pm on weekdays (Sat through Wed) and all day Thurs and Friday. So maybe that changes the dynamic somewhat.

The begging women and children, or course, do not work this way. They are very insistent and pathetic, and there are often a lot of them. I'm told that some people keep fruit in their bags or cars so that if someone begs, they can give them food, and if they don't want it, then they aren't really as bad off as they claim they are. Others buy things from them (they're often selling boxes of tissues, newspapers, fruit, or other random things, including inflatable toy hats and electric razors) and give them a little extra. The sad thing is that most of these kids (some just toddlers, really) are also out in the street begging from passing cars in traffic, which is very dangerous, especially given the way people drive here.



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