This is the first time I can log on this blog since I moved to Sanaa. I am suddenly overwhelmed, as I have to choose what I will write about. Will I write about my frustration not to be able to take pictures in the streets, since the deterioration of security conditions and the fact I mainly move around in full niqab? Taking photos of this beautifu

I am almost ready to depart to Mali. I have collected the seeds for the garden. I showed the lady from the shop in Paris, photos sent by my ex housemates in Sanaa: "Look! You have a garden in Yemen". She couldn't believe her eyes. "If these ones grow in Mali, I will bring you back photos as well", I promised. The lady was very touched -but didn't o

On my outbound flight from Africa, my connection in Addis Abeba was cancelled. The company forgot to inform the airport -and the passengers. After spending the night looking for the elusve flight, I understood I have to wait for another 24 hours. I took a taxi and asked him to show me around: a cathedral and a pedicure shop were the highlights of t

Since I met Nabil, I knew I would become a yoga teacher one day. What I could not imagine are the circumstance under which it would happen. I didn't join a yoga school. I didn't take that teachers' training in India. I didn't make it to Kerala, nor to Rishikesh. I joined a military mission. In Africa. Since last June, I am stationed in a military c

Nous sommes confrontés à des menaces tant locales que globales. Le monde est un, et de plus en plus l’actualité brutale vient nous le rappeler. Pendant longtemps, nous avons cru, en Europe, que nous pouvions visiter des destinations exotiques à des moments choisis (pendant les congés payés), à nos conditions (aux endroits, formules, logeme

I changed the time on my laptop. Until now, it was on Yemeni time although I've been in Europe for a month. I was supposed to fly back today to Yemen. But we were told not to. So, once more, I have abandoned a house, staff, pet, my best shoes and many more things. This time, as I was already in Paris, I was spared the chaos and humiliation that cha

Tomorrow I will leave Mali. I have been here for the past 11 months. How will life be outside a military mission? How can I tell someone's nationality without seeing his uniform camouflage pattern? How will it be to actually cook? Wear a mini-skirt? Behave silly without thinking of anything? Interact with civilians? Share an opinion? Talk without a

We are faced with global and local threats. The world is one, and more and more the brutal news stories come to remind us of this fact. For many years, in the West people thought they could visit exotic countries at specific times (when on leave) and at their conditions (in the locations, format, accommodation and currency they have chosen) and the

Today I wish to sincerely thank Hizbullah, and the Israelis, and the PLO, and Amal, the Kataëb and the Mourabitoun, and all those militias that have ruined my childhood. Thanks to the unintentional training I received with them, I am able to live the present war in Sanaa with the zen attitude. Some friends wrote to check on me. Thank you. I am ver

tricycle displaced kids in war-affected Zamboanga I slept well on the Cebu Pacific flight to Manila. Better than in my hotel room last night. I seem to sleep better on planes, my second home. Sometimes, I recognise a stewardess on some flights and I feel bad. Do I travel too much? I returned to Hotel Lantaka. On the right behind the trees, one can