The Bohemian and The Bulbul: Journeys in the Middle East (and further east), by Mira Baz

About

Mira Baz is a Lebanese writer and traveler who lived in Yemen for over eight years between 2001 and 2011, teaching English, writing about various social and cultural topics, and photographing Yemenis in their daily lives. Being a woman and speaking Lebanese Arabic as her native language have helped her get to know the country, the people and the women’s segregated world in depth.

She has been published in GlobalPost, and her work appeared regularly in Lebanon’s The Daily Star and the Yemeni monthly magazineYemen Today.

Her blog The Bohemian and The Bulbul includes a series on her life in Yemen titled Yemen Journey: A personal narrative of my life in Yemen. New installments in the series are posted every Tuesday and Friday.

The blog also has her published articles on Yemen and a Photo Journal of her current travels.

Mira She knew little about Yemen when she moved to this impoverished country in southern Arabia. She’d heard about it in the news and read an article in National Geographic on qat, the leaf with mildly intoxicating effects that is a social glue. The recurring question she has to answer about living in Yemen is “Why?” – the country is struggling with poverty and internal discord as well as terrorists adopting it as a safe haven. Because it’s mysterious, Yemen is sometimes misunderstood. Its troubles often overshadow its beauty, its architecture, its history, and its people’s hospitality and friendliness. The writer is still appreciating the many reasons to explore this little-known, complex, fascinating country – most more than meets the eye.

Yemen doesn’t give up its secrets easily, but the journey’s worth it.

Mira is currently discovering Southeast Asia. She lives in Thailand and has visited Cambodia and Malaysia. She can be contacted here. She is also on Twitter @mirabaz – join her for a chat!

All photos on the website are property of Mira Baz, unless otherwise noted.