[joe-frank-list] 'Another country, part 2'

[russellbell at gmail.com]

	Naim lights into Protagon (the unnamed fellow who's the
protagonist of the story) for Israel's brutality in their invasion of
Lebanon, mentions the massacre at Sabra and Shatila
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabra_and_Shatila_massacre 1982
September 16-18).  Protagon is working to defend Israel's reputation
at B'nai B'rith, his employer.
	3:30: Residents of the boarding house rent-strike, which
Protagon gets involved in (he had moved out in part 1)
	4:50: Naim gets a job at the Computer Science Corporation way
out in Reston Virginia teaching Saudis English.  (She already had this
job in part 1).
	6:00: Naim rides Protagon about housekeeping, haircuts,
slovenliness, etc.
	7:30: Protagon says to Naim, 'We've been together for over two
years'
	7:50: A trailer for 'Rollover'
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollover_(film) released 1981
December 11, nearly a year before the time of this story), which
depicts stereotypical sinister Saudis, and violence, angers her.
	8:50: Naim's visa runs out.  She wants to marry.
	9:50: Protagon's brother marries (Protagon was an only child
in part 1).  He doesn't want to take Naim to the wedding.
	10:50: Naim decides to return to North Yemen.
	12:20: 'Last year she'd been asked to dance at the Georgetown
University auditorium at a multicultural night and she'd choreographed
a performance in honor of the Palestinians who died in Sabra and
Shatila.'  (Since Sabra & Shatila happened 1982 September 16-18, the
year must be at least 1983.)
	14:20: Naim's unhappy with the conditions in North Yemen and
her job.
	15:00: Protagon dates Sheila, a Jewish woman he met at B'nai
B'rith.
	17:20: Protagon mails Naim a birthday card and cassettes in
March; they don't arrive.
	18:00: In March Naim writes, will be in DC and the end of May
for 2 months.  Protagon drops Sheila, just after their first episode
of love-making.
	18:40: Protagon meets Naim at the airport.
	19:50: Sheila calls, has missed a period.  Protagon is
unsympathetic.
	20:20: Naim gives Protagon a traditional Yemeni sword and
headdress, is disappointed by his unenthusiastic reaction.
	20:50: Naim wants him to buy a nearby apartment; he doesn't;
they fight.  She wants to get married, he doesn't.
	23:40: They vacation in Jamaica, which is unpleasant.  Because
their airline, Air Florida, goes bankrupt while they are there, they
have to arrange another flight back.  (Air Florida went bankrupt 1984
June 3.)
	32:50: Naim's mother visits; he moves out during her visit.
	33:30: They see John Guare's 'Gardenia', a play about a failed
attempt at a utopian community after the Civil War, in which Naim sees
the failure of her life, her relationship with Protagon.  They argue.
	36:50: 'She alluded to a time years ago when he suggested that
they both become photographers together and travel around the world.'
(years ago?  It's 1984, they didn't meet before 1981.)
	38:20: 'she was going to be turning 35' 'he was turning 29'
(They were 30 and 25 when they met.)
	38:50: He leaves B'nai B'rith, takes a job at some friends'
recording studio.
	40:20: He flies to North Yemen.
	45:40: Protagon runs in the 'Hash'
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers), an eccentric
cross-country run started by British soldiers.  (This is a real thing,
at least elsewhere; Yemeni Redditors have no memory of it and the
Wikipedia page doesn't list Yemen as a site.)
	48:30: Next weekend, Protagon chews khat.
	53:00: Protagon meets Ali, Naim's lover before Protagon, at
the Peacock cafe.  Instead of his PhD program at Harvard he's in North
Yemen because, 'I could be more useful here.'  (?  Ali's Algerian, not
Yemeni.)  Ali gives Protagon a short summary of North Yemen's history,
1962-then.  (A Yemeni Redditor wrote that it's basically correct.)
	56:00: An old man tries to sell a watch (probably stolen) to
customers at the cafe.
	56:30: A boy tells an old woman that he went to a Hallowe'en
party as evil.  He tells the old woman that evil is power.

	https://jfwiki.org/index.php?title=Another_Country_(Part_2)

russell bell