SANAA, Yemen — The crowds shopping ahead of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday also known as the "Festival of Sacrifice," start from Bab al-Yemen, the main gate of Sanaa's old fortified wall. Here, there is no indication that there is a war, as people chat, inspect the goods for sale and bargain for clothes and sweets. Most Yemenis have just two cheap items on their shopping list: henna, the red paint for hands and feet, and jambiya, a special knife with a curved blade.

With a few days to go until Eid al-Adha (Aug. 11-14), one of the vendors, just concluding a deal with a couple, turned around and asked how much henna I wanted to buy, assuming that I was a customer. He scooped up the henna with an old metal can, showing off its rusty red color.

"Henna is used for festivals, weddings — any occasion really," he said, before negotiating the price with a customer. His own hands were decorated with henna to show that he is proud of the quality of his product.

At this market, people buy henna in huge quantiies as gifts for the women in the family, particularly young girls who look at the ritual as one of the delights of the holiday. The other cheap item on people's list is the jambiya, a desirable gift for young boys. Boys ages 6 and older carry this knife — with its curved blade and decorated hilt — on their belt, showing off that they are on their way to manhood and can carry a knife.