A & E

It must have seemed like a surreal version of "Girls' Night Out," with women clad in dark robes and veils gathering at a home in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.

But when they shed their outwear, Betsy Hiel saw a familiar feminine flair that transcends cultures.

When the Yemeni women "took off the black shields that surrounded them, they were in incredible gowns, stylish long gowns with red crinoline and bows, and hats," says Hiel, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Middle East correspondent. "It was such a stunning reversal from what I saw a couple of minutes ago."

Hiel is one of the contributors to "Encounters with the Middle East: True Stories of People and Culture That Help You Understand the Region" (Solas House, $17.95). She will sign copies of the book at 3 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble Booksellers at South Hills Village.

Hiel's story, "Clothes, Camaraderie and Qat," alternately examines what life is like for a Yemeni woman and dispels Western ideas of what it is like to live in a Middle Eastern country. Life can be dangerous, but more often Hiel found herself warmly greeted by the natives of Yemen, and the other countries she has visited in the Middle East.

In Yemen, especially, the people Hiel met wanted her to like the country.

"They want me to know who they are and that they are proud of their country," she says. "They want to know what I think. They invite me into their homes. I found it very open, despite the fact the fact that it is a very wild country. It's always struck me as a lovely place."

Women, however, are segregated from men in Yemen, even at wedding celebrations. Called "whispering shadows" or BMOs -- black moving objects -- by foreign men, they can transform themselves only in the privacy of their homes.

Nor is the transformation merely in appearance.

The women became, according to Hiel's account, more open, one "hiking up her pants, shaking her hips" to the amusement of the others.

She learned that one woman "always acts as a clown" to make the other guests more comfortable and relaxed. And the qat in the title of her contribution refers to the leaves of a native plant that are chewed, the resulting sensation akin to drinking multiple espressos.

What never varied or lagged is the warmth and friendship Hiel's hosts showed her, no matter where she traveled.

"It's something that's overlooked," Hiel says, "and I think it should be more known."

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