It seems that the state-run University of Sana'a currently has various job vacancies in their foreign language departments. The job description sounds quite good:

- Full professors have a weekly teaching load of 10 classes, lower ranking faculty up to 16.
- Monthly salary is between 1400 - 1800 USD, depending on Faculty Status (Lecturer, Assistant or Full professor).
- You are offered a free flat on campus but have to pay for utilities.
- The university will reimburse your flights home once a year.

Now, do not run into the trap when reading such an offer.

There are a number of questions to ask yourself:

- With Yemen being one of the poorest nations in the Arab world, how can a public uni pay such a generous salary? Mostly, such public unmis are poorly funded by a poor government that does not have too many funds available. So, is then there a foreign sponsoring body involved, and if so, who and why? What does this mean for your own employment?

- In general, it is reasonable to assume that (not only) public institutions in the Arab world are pretty slow in processing your salary due to you for your hard and honest work, and especially at the beginning of your employment you cannot really rely on receiving your salary in full and on time. Depending on where you are, it may sometimes take up to between 3 - 4 months, sometimes even longer, before you have any refund for travelling expenses or your salary in your hands. Can majke you feel sick if you do not have any sufficient funds on your own with you to survive until you will get what is due to you.

- Yemen is unstable politically in some respects:

a) There are local Al Qaida organisations training terrorists who may be ready for an attack inside Yemen, and if you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, there is more than only a safety risk for foreign employees and tourists. Things like that can happen any time, at any place, in the capital and among crowds of people.

b) In some parts of Yemen, there are tribal conflicts, and especially foreigners may face the situation of being kidnapped for a ransom by blackmailing the various governments in the West. Some of these Western "guests" invited (kidnapped by force) have lost their lives or have returned home sick after the ransom sum had been paid by the Western government.

c) Yemen is situated in an area known for piracy on sea. Somali mafia groups known for kidnapping entire vessels are also operating near the Yemen coast, so you would better refrain from doing any private sailing there.

d) Various Western governments strongly advise their citizens to refrain from travelling to Yemen for the current security issues described in part above.

If you ever woild consider any employment for teaching in that area, you need to be very careful indeed and ask a lot of questions before signing up for the job. You also may need to be a relatively mature person to understand that in a conservative Islamic environment like that of Yemen, there are certain DONTs:

- Do not drink alcoholic stuff in public!
- Do not run around "naked" or "half-naked" in the streets as this may offend many people in this environment. Stick to conservative and ordinary patterns of dress.
- Ladies would do best to cover themselves as most Yemeni women would do.

There are some other things but this list should suffice to make you really think before accepting any employment there.