ITP - 007: Teaching in Yemen

Greg: Welcome to the International Teacher Podcast with your host Greg, the single guy, and Matt, the family guy. We’re recording episodes from around the globe to tell you about the best-kept secret in education. That’s right, it’s teaching overseas. We’re glad to have you.

Greg: Welcome to the episode. I have a special guest who spent three years teaching in the States starting in 2005. After three years, he moved with his wife to Yemen and taught at a QSI school there for three years. Then he went back home for another three years, returned to his district, and taught again in the States. After that, he went back overseas to the Middle East again.

Greg: We’re not going to focus as much on his current Middle East position. I’m really interested in hearing about teaching in Yemen. My guest is Kent. We’ll just go with Kent—no last name. How are you doing today, Kent?

Kent: Doing great. Thanks for having me, Greg.

Greg: Welcome to the show. I really want to focus on Yemen, but before we get into that, let me ask how you ended up overseas in the first place. You were teaching in the States—what were you teaching?

Kent: I was teaching fifth grade. At that point, I had a friend who talked about teaching in Kuwait. I thought that sounded amazing and asked him what it was like. He told me he was in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion, and his teaching career there ended because of the war. He talked about all the complications—getting his money out, getting his family out, everything.

Kent: I asked him, after all that, would you do it again? He said in a heartbeat. He loved it more than anything and couldn’t wait to go back one day.

Greg: So he came back to the States after the invasion and was teaching again?

Kent: That’s right.

Greg: And you knew him from a previous job?

Kent: Yes, we weren’t at the same school at the time, but we were friends.

Greg: So that got you thinking about international teaching.

Kent: Exactly. I started looking into it. I was living near Seattle, teaching just north of the city. I signed up to go to an international job fair because he had really sold me on the idea.

Greg: And you were married at the time?

Kent: Yes. My wife’s name is Carla. She wasn’t a teacher. She always said she was along for the ride.

Greg: Did you end up going to the job fair?

Kent: Actually, no. I got a job before the fair even happened.

Greg: So how did that happen?

Kent: I had signed up, made connections, and had emails going back and forth with schools. Then I learned there was an international school in Yemen. I was studying Arabic at the time, and my tutor was from Yemen. He mentioned there might be a school there. That night I went home and searched for it, found it, and emailed them.

Kent: They wrote back and said they had just filled a position but asked if I’d be willing to fly to Idaho to meet them. They were holding their own smaller job fair.

Greg: That’s QSI, right? Quality Schools International?

Kent: That’s right. They have schools all over the world and run their own job fairs as well as attending the bigger ones.

Greg: I’ve heard a lot about QSI. Some good, some mixed, but overall pretty positive.

Kent: My experience with them was very positive.

Greg: So they flew you to Idaho?

Kent: Yes. I flew from Seattle to Idaho the next day, met the recruiter, and we had a long one-on-one interview. At the end of the day, they said they were really interested in hiring me, and that was the beginning of my international teaching career.

Greg: When I first heard the word Yemen back in the States, I pictured something very different. There’s so much negative news about the Middle East. Yemen, to me, was just this small country south of Saudi Arabia.

Kent: It is smaller than Saudi Arabia, but it has thousands of miles of beautiful coastline. It borders the Red Sea to the west and the Indian Ocean to the south. It’s really stunning.

Greg: So you accepted the job, packed up, and moved?

Kent: Yes. We didn’t own a house, so we sold everything. We took a couple of suitcases and our cat.

Greg: Just like that?

Kent: Just like that.

Greg: What was it like arriving?

Kent: Usually when you arrive in the Middle East, it’s in the middle of the night because of the heat. You land and everything is dark, so you don’t even see the country right away. Someone from the school meets you, helps you through customs, gets you into a car, and takes you to your housing.

Kent: For us, it was incredible. The drive from the airport felt like being a kid on a field trip, just looking out the window at everything new. For international teachers, that first arrival is unforgettable.

Greg: Not every school does that though.

Kent: That’s true, but in our case, they did a great job. I really enjoyed Yemen. For me, it was a great experience.

Kent: I will say that public life there is more geared toward men. My wife Carla struggled a bit with that because she likes being out, meeting people, and being active in the community. So we had slightly different experiences.

Kent: That said, we both loved the weather. Sana’a is at a high elevation, so it’s not just desert heat. It’s actually beautiful, with greenery, hills, and a climate that feels like California.

Greg: That’s hard to picture. Is that cultural or religious?

Kent: More cultural. In many places, men occupy more of the public sphere and women more of the private sphere. That’s just how things have developed.

Greg: Did she end up working at the school?

Kent: Yes. QSI brought her in part-time to work in the library, and later she taught kindergarten. In our final year, we were both working full-time.

Greg: How big was the school?

Kent: It was small. At its peak, around 230 to 240 students K–12. Sometimes less. About half expats and half local students.

Greg: Tell me a story.

Kent: One of my favorite things was just walking around the city. On weekends, we would walk from our house through neighborhoods, back alleys, past embassies and schools, and end up at the fish market. The seafood came in daily from both the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Kent: Bargaining is a big part of the culture. I was terrible at it, so I probably overpaid for everything. But the food was incredible.

Greg: What surprised you most?

Kent: A lot of things. Some good, some challenging. The power would go out for hours each day. One time we came home and a neighbor met us at the door with candles and guided us inside.

Kent: People were incredibly friendly. Taxi drivers wanted you to sit in the front and talk. But there were also challenges, like checkpoints where you had to negotiate your way through.

Greg: Did you ever deal with bribes?

Kent: Not really. The experienced teachers told us not to start that. A cheap bribe becomes an expensive one. A smile and respect worked better.

Greg: Do you need Arabic to live there?

Kent: Not required, but helpful. Even a few words go a long way. We used “tomom” for everything. It means okay, great, no problem.

Kent: You don’t need to be fluent, but learning some language improves your experience.

Greg: What about travel?

Kent: Kamaran Island on the Red Sea had incredible coral reefs. Aden on the Indian Ocean had beautiful beaches. We traveled through Mocha and smaller towns.

Kent: The best place was Socotra Island. It’s closer to Africa, and about 75 percent of its plant and animal life is unique. Truly incredible.

Greg: Sounds amazing, but Yemen isn’t exactly easy to visit now.

Kent: That’s true. Even when we left, there were tensions. But people were always friendly to us. I’d love to go back someday.

Greg: Would you recommend QSI?

Kent: Absolutely. They take chances on newer teachers and families. It’s a great entry point into international teaching.

Greg: I’ve seen that too. Sometimes the best experiences come from places you never expected.

Kent: I completely agree.

Greg: Final thoughts?

Kent: Take the chance. We left Seattle and never looked back. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.

Greg: All right, listeners, this has been the episode with Kent sharing his experience teaching in Yemen. Thanks for joining us.

Kent: Thanks for having me.

Greg: This is Greg, the single guy, signing off. Matt isn’t here today, but Kent did a great job stepping in.

Kent: Thanks everyone. Hope you enjoyed it.