"Yemen? Where's that? Somewhere in the Middle East? Do they have camels there? Do you need a license to drive one?"

These are the kinds of questions 17-year-old Yemeni exchange student Nazek Mohammed gets when she tells people where she's from. (Yes, Yemen has camels and no, you don't need a license to drive one. But why would you ride a camel when there are so many cars around?)

Nazek doesn't live in the desert anyway - though in Yemen the desert is never far away. Her home is closer to the sea, actually, in the port city of Aden, just across the Gulf of Yemen from Somalia. Since August of last year, she's been in Seattle, as an exchange student with the Youth Exchange and Study program (www.yesprograms.org). Soon, she'll be finishing her junior year at Garfield High and will return home with a new perspective on the world.

I recently talked with Nazek and her host parents, Karen Farnsworth and Steve Bomkamp, at their Arbor Heights home, where Nazek told me about her American journey so far.

"Originally I thought I was going to a small town," she said. "I was so happy when I found out I was coming to Seattle and saw the photographs of the tall buildings. I thought it was too good to be true."

"I really like the 24-hour public transportation system here, too," she said. "I take the bus everywhere. In Aden, after 10 p.m., there's nothing going on; just cats walking around and dogs barking."

When I mentioned some of the interesting people you meet on Seattle buses, she laughed.

"A woman on the bus said to me, 'It's not a real bus ride unless there's at least one crazy person on the bus.'"

Nazek studied English in Yemen but hadn't done much research on American culture before coming here. Most of the information Yemenis get about America comes from TV shows, she told me, which portray America as a homogeneous, middle-class society. I asked if she was surprised by the variety of people in Seattle.

"Yes. The first day I got here I was surprised to see Somali women wearing veils - the same kind of clothes we have in Yemen."

She was also surprised to see her host dad, Steve, cooking for the family.

"That would never happen in Yemen," she said, smiling.

I asked if Nazek missed any foods from back home.

"Yeah. I really miss zorbayan. It's a spicy dish made with rice with meat. Very tasty! We have it on special occasions. My cousin in Yemen said, 'When you come back I'll give you a zorbayan party.'"

Karen had told me earlier that American food isn't spicy enough for Nazek, so she has her own hot sauce that she brings to every meal.

"Since I've been here my host parents have been cooking spicier foods, though," Nazek said, appreciatively.

Does she like any American food?

"I like pizza! And lasagna!"

"Pizza and lasagna are Italian," Steve pointed out.

"Yeah, but America is a melting pot!" she replied. Touch