Syria

Melanie and I just returned from an awesome week in Syria. We were showered with generous hospitality from Derar’s friends Luay and Lubna in Damascus and from his family in Aleppo. They made us feel very welcome and showed us a bunch of cool sights. We had heard that it could take up to eight hours to get a visa at the Syrian border, but it only took us three, alhamdulilah (thank God).

We paired up with two American girls who we met at the border and began searching for a ride to Damascus. I flagged down a taxi and he said he could take me to Damascus for $60 and I politely told him to take a hike. We saw a bus that was stopped at the border, but were told that it was not going to leave for another hour – ugh. Then a taxi pulled over and the passenger got out and to our surprise, spoke great English. He negotiated with the driver and persuaded him to give us a ride to Damascus for only $4 each. So the four of us crammed into the back seat of the taxi and headed for Damascus.

We arrived at our hotel, just steps away from the Old City and called Luay. He and his wife picked us up about twenty minutes later and gave us a great tour of Damascus. First we walked into Souk Al-Hamidiyah, which is a covered market that stretches for 600 meters. It contains all sorts of cool shops, selling everything from clothes to antiques to spices. After you exit the souk you immediately see the stunning Umayyad Mosque. It was originally a Roman temple, which was then turned into a church dedicated to John the Baptist. Eventually it was expanded upon and turned into a mosque between 706 and 715AD. Inside the mosque is a large shrine said to contain the head of John the Baptist. As a student of history, I thoroughly enjoyed walking through it, looking around, and taking it all in. After that we walked around the rest of the Old City and then ate a delicious dinner. I discovered another great dish consisting of cooked, green wheat and lamb chunks. It’s called frekeh – yummy. After that we walked around some more and then drove to the top of one of the mountains just outside of the city. We pulled over just in front of a vendor selling hot drinks on the side of the road and enjoyed a beautiful view of Damascus at night while we enjoyed coffee and tea.

The next morning Luay and Lubna picked us up and drove us through the Syrian countryside on our way to see some Christian sights outside of Damascus. We saw a couple of churches high in the mountains of Saydnayya and a couple of other religious sights in Maalula, including the places where Cain killed Able and then buried him. Seeing the sights was very cool, but I enjoyed driving through the lush, rural, mountain terrain even more. We even had to stop and ask a shepherd for directions at one point to give you an idea of how rural it was. After that we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the top of a mountain overlooking Damascus and then dessert and great conversation with our hosts at a French café.

On our third day in Damascus, Melanie and I walked around the Old City and bought her a scarf and an inlaid jewelry box. That evening we enjoyed a delicious meal inside the court yard of an Ottoman era home that had been converted into the dining room of a restaurant. We had a great time in Damascus and enjoyed spending time with our new friends, but now it was off to Aleppo.

We woke up early the next morning and took a cab to the station to catch our 7AM train to Aleppo. We paid a mere $5 each for first class tickets and enjoyed the scenic, five hour trip. We were both surprised at how green Syria was as Jordan is quite arid and we expected neighboring Syria to have similar terrain. We were met at the Aleppo train station by Yaman, Derar’s brother and taken to the family home where we were greeted with warm hospitality by his parents, sister, and fiancée. We were showered with sweets, tea, and coffee and spoke in a mix of English and Arabic as we got to know the family of our great friend. They made us feel very welcome and comfortable and after chatting for a couple of hours we sat down to a delicious, home cooked meal. It was easily the best meal we had eaten during our time in Syria. I tried not to eat too much, but after finishing my first plate was urged to eat more so I happily obliged. During the meal Zaid and Layla, the adorable children of Hala arrived. It took a little time for them to warm up to us, but it wasn’t long before we were holding and hugging them. Yes, we have baby fever, but we’ll have to wait a little while before we start our own family, insha allah (God willing). Sorry, but you can’t talk about the future here without saying that or you’ll be corrected so it has become habit.

That night we went to enjoy tea and coffee in front of the gigantic citadel. The next morning we returned and toured the huge fortress which was built by Salah al-Deen to defend the territory from the Crusaders during the 12th century. It was huge, easily 8 times the size of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine and built atop a man made hill, which was surrounded by a moat that was 60 feet deep and 90 feet wide. Pretty darn, awe inspiring! After that we walked through Souk Al Madina where we bought Melanie another scarf. During our stay in Aleppo, Yaman and Nour showed us around the city and took us to Azizea, one of the modern shopping districts that was decorated with Christmas lights and huge, 30 foot Christmas trees in some of the city squares. Seeing the Christmas decorations was a welcome sight for Mel and I, as it has been difficult being away from home this time of year. Thanks Nour and Yaman and thank goodness for Skype!

There were some cool sights to see in Aleppo to be sure, but what I enjoyed most was spending time with Yaman and his family and Nour. I can’t say enough about their hospitality and the cooking and kindness of his mother. I can’t wait to make a return trip to Syria in the summer, insha allah.

Pencils Down

I took my final exam yesterday and it went very well. I feel that I've learned a great deal of Arabic this term, but my brain has been reduced to mush and I am very happy to be at the beginning of a three week break. We just moved into a new apartment yesterday and we are slowly unpacking and settling into our new home. The last place was great. The apartment itself was very nice and the handyman was very friendly and helpful. I really can't say enough about how great he was. The main issue was noise. Waking up from a dead sleep to loud, unexplicable banging sounds was not a regular occurrence, but happened frequently enough to be quite annoying.

The area we have moved to is called Jebel Al-Webdeh. Amman was originally built on seven hills and Jebel Al-Webdeh is one of them. The surrounding hills are a bit higher and shelter us from some of the cold winds, making it a few degrees warmer than our last place. Our new neighborhood is older and quieter, which is nice for someone who enjoys studying and sleeping. It is only a twenty minute walk to downtown. Downtown or the Balad as it's known here is super busy, but a great place to buy just about anything and is also home to a number of good restaurants, cafes, and the post office. It's also a great place to people watch!

We are planning to take a week long trip to Syria beginning Thursday morning. Our great friend Derar has put us in touch with one of his friends who will be helping us while we are in Damascus and his family will be able to help us out while we are in Aleppo. We feel very lucky to have such a great friend who can help us out like this. I am very excited and curious to see what Syria is like and looking forward to meeting and speaking with new people. Hopefully they will be as kind and patient as the people here in Jordan.

We plan to come back in time to spend Christmas here and explore our new neighborhood. We look forward to speaking with loved ones via Skype on Christmas.

There's a Man in My Room!

One of the clear signs that you are no longer in the United States and are in a Muslim country is the call to prayer. There are speakers pointing in multiple directions from the minarettes of the mosques that broadcast the call to prayer five times a day, summoning the Muslim faithful to prayer. It is hard to describe it, but it is almost like a song that last about three minutes. Naturally they pick a guy with a nice voice to do it so it's a pleasant sound even if it is waking you from a dead sleep. Oh, I forgot to mention that the first call to prayer is at dawn, which was about 5:30AM when we first arrived and is now 4:30AM due to daylight savings time. Depending on how far away you live from the nearest mosque, it can be a distant sound or quite loud and bear in mind that there are no competing sounds at dawn.

One of our friends from class thought there was a man in her room everytime she awoke to the dawn call to prayer during her first couple of weeks here. I cracked up when I heard her say that, but I could totally believe it. I sleep through it sometimes and sometimes it wakes me up. When it wakes me up, I just try to remember that I have just been blessed with another day of life and then I roll over and go back to sleep for another two hours.

Do you remember the episode of Seinfeld when Kramer said he could tell time without a watch, by using the sun? The funny thing is that I kind of do that now. I still wear a watch, but I know that the first call to prayer will be at dawn, which means I have a couple of hours before I have to wake up. The next one is approximately noon so I know it's time for lunch and then a nap. The third is mid afternoon, usually 2:30ish, time for my second lunch. The fourth call to prayer is at sunset, around 4:40 and the last one is between 5:30 and 6, dinner time. All kidding aside, the call to prayer is one of those unique things about living here that I know I will miss when I leave. Luckily, I still have another nine months to enjoy it.