»A movie not yet made.

Published in Planet Online comes this tit-bit:

"It would have been more likely that the two blond-haired, blue-eyed
surfers who got off a plane in Sana, the capital of Yemen, about eight
months ago had their flight to Bali rerouted. But Californians Charlie
Smith and Jay Winters, both in their mid-20s, were actually in Yemen to
catch some waves. Far from a surf destination, Yemen is on the U.S. State
Department list of terrorist nations and is fraught with warring tribes
and radical Islamic fundamentalism. So Smith and Winters, both with
degrees in Middle Eastern studies and fluent in Arabic, were either
diplomats on surfboards or just out of their minds. Traveling with a
bodyguard, a photographer, loaded guns, food, medical supplies, and
surfboards, they spent two months tracing the coast of the Indian Ocean.
Sometimes an entire village formed on the shores or cliffs to watch the
first surfers ever seen. Out of the water, they explored a culture whose
architecture, dress and cuisine blend Indian, African and Indonesian
influences.

"They encountered people who spoke openly about American policy without
disdaining Americans. Trouble at frequent armed checkpoints and
machine-gun toting tribesmen . there are more guns per capita in Yemen
than anywhere else in the world . were often quelled by the Americans'
ability to speak Arabic. Whatever metaphors on diplomacy and peace can be
drawn from their surfing, Smith and Winters did trigger a dialogue in
Yemen and now back at home on how misunderstood cultures can communicate
with one another. This month, the pair is surfing the winter swells in
Southern Lebanon with Hezbollah, considered by the US to be one of the
most dangerous anti-Israeli terrorist groups. "It's about taking one more
off-limits or unknown place and making it real and available," says
Winters. "Danger is only a matter of perception." "