The Janbiyah is a type of small dagger. It is carried by men on a colorful belt made of either leather or thick fabric. The handle of the Janbiyah represents the social status of the carrier and is usually made from rhino horn or ivory. A person's status, economic power, and family can therefore be inferred by looking at the handle.

 High-level government officials, leaders, or successful businessmen usually carry precious Janbiyahs. In particular, members of the royal family and Sayyids (), who are also known as the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, carry Janbiyahs with ivory handles. The Janbiyahs held by historical leaders are of significant value and trade for millions of dollars in the market.

 Each Janbiyah is a treasure handed down as a family heirloom and has many relevant meanings. When there is a feud between families, the Janbiyah is used to serve justice or intervention. Throwing one away means that one is forsaking their family and identity as a Yemeni. These Janbiyahs are also used in an ornate dance ceremony in celebration of a wedding. Use the link below to see one such dance.

 In Yemen, it is possible for a man to have up to four wives as stated in Islamic law. However, given that the wedding cost and the role of supporting the family is quite high, there are few men that actually have the economic power to do so. A bridegroom pays an amount equal to a year's living expenses to marry a bride. As such, more and more child brides are getting married to support their families as the civil war continues.

 Similar to what we discussed in the previous chapter, again we can see that the biggest victims of the Yemeni Civil War are the children. Boys around ten years old are taken to the frontline for the money that is paid to their families while almost half of the girls get married off to strangers before they have even turned 15. Because of their young age, many of the girls end up bleeding to death while giving birth or even intercourse. News of this has shocked the world resulting in criticism of poor protection of children's rights.

 Yemen does in fact allow for divorce, but this is not common because it would mean that the women must pay back the dowry to their husbands or give some other financial compensation. Even if a wife does manage to escape from an abusive relationship, she cannot return to her parents but may go back to her husband, or a shelter if she is lucky.

 It's not all doom and gloom though. There are, of course, happy couples in Yemen. However, in this conservative Islamic country, the father has the right to choose his daughter's husband and arranged marriage is very common.

 While travelling in Yemen, you will often see people chewing green leaves. These leaves are called khat and grow on the Arabian Peninsula. They contain cathinone, which acts as a stimulant to make you feel excited, reduce your appetite, and give you pleasure. There is a vast amount of the plant growing in Yemen, so you can often buy a big sack full of khat for around two dollars.

 Yemenis chew the leaves after lunch through to 2pm (women in the house, men in any public place). It is something of a ritual that they do every day. First, they take some of the leaves and chew them until the juice runs out. Then, they keep stuffing the leaves until one cheek puffs out, and continue to chew. If there is no more space to fit more leaves, they spit out the ball of chewed leaves and repeat for hours.

 It is said that chewing the leaves gives a feeling of having drunk a few espressos in a row. Khat is known to cause heart palpitations and dazedness while also making you feel better and even talkative. There are side effects, such as insomnia and constipation, but while chewing khat, they can forget about the economic and social woes caused by the civil war.

 Khat is actually illegal in some western countries, including Canada, Germany, and the U.S., but it is commonly produced in places such as Yemen, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Chewing khat is part of the culture that has continued for thousands of years and as such, it is not unusual to see Yemeni people having a conversation while chewing the leaves, even at important events such as wedding ceremonies!

 Here's something perhaps you didn't know. The etymology of the words caffè mocha is actually related to Yemen. The word mocha has nothing to do with the chocolate syrup, but is instead a type of coffee bean that is produced in Yemen. You may also be surprised to hear that Yemen, along with Ethiopia, is producing Coffea arabica, which accounts for 70% of worldwide coffee production.

 A record indicates that coffee beans have been grown in Yemen even since the 12th century, which demonstrates the importance of the coffee industry in the country. Mocha beans are harvested from Coffea arabica and have been traded in the port city Mocha since the 17th century. They were originally roasted before being traded to prevent others from growing them in their regions. Just so you know though, even though the beans carry the name of the city, they are not grown in Mocha.

 As Mocha beans spread around the world, other new species began to emerge, for example, Mocha Java, which is a 50:50 mix of Mocha and Indonesian Java coffee beans, and Arehalli Koffee, which originates from the unroasted Mocha beans grown in Arehalli, a city in southern India.

 Southeast of Yemen, there is an island named Socotra. Here can be found many unusual plants that resemble those seen in the movie Avatar. The temperature here is a constant 26 degrees Celsius throughout the year and there are approximately 307 species of plants found only on this island. In 2008, this island was designated as a world natural heritage by UNESCO.

 Socotra hasn't seen many visitors as it is about 380km away from Yemen. As such, it has been able to conserve the beauty of its natural landscape. In particular, the dragon blood tree and Adenium, shown above, are representative plants of Socotra. The dragon blood tree gets its name from its red resin, which resembles the blood of dragons, and can survive even when the annual precipitation is 10 mm. The Adenium has a thick stem in which it stores water. Its nickname, desert rose, originates from its pink flower, which resembles the color of a rose.

 The island has approximately 60,000 residents who speak their own Soqotri language and they have a unique culture distinguished from Arab or African culture. For your information, the name Socotra in Arabic actually means blood dragon market and most likely stems from the trees growing on the island.

 I can still remember how worried and thrilled I was when I published my first column. One year has now passed since then, and this is now my last column. It has made me look back upon the year with a lot of emotion. Despite not being a good writer, I have tried my best to prepare this column every other month and as such, I have been fortunate enough to learn many things and improve my skills as I introduced Kazakhstan, South Africa, and now Yemen in my column. I would consider my work a success if you are able to remember even some of the details of these countries.

 In closing, I would like to wish you all a happy year-end and I look forward to reading many columns with new interesting topics in 2018. Thank you for reading my humble work this year!