A lot of people back home think Syria is dangerous. Hopefully, I will prove to you in this blog that it is anything but a scary time. In Damascus, I felt at home and comfortable, both being a woman and a foreigner. The only unpleasant time was the fight with a cab driver, but that is so normal here, I just shake it off.
We left right after school on Thursday and caught a cab all the way to the Syrian border. This part of the trip did not thrill me much. Even though a cat from Jordan could quite easily run to the other side of the border (which I saw), I could not. Americans have a pretty hard time getting through quickly. After we handed in our passports, we waited. And waited. Three or four hours later, we had our stamped passports and could cross. The wait passed pretty quickly since we had somewhere to eat and a place to sit, where we talked to one guy who had waited 32 hours to get across.
We got to Damascus around 2am. We arrived at our hotel, where they said we didn't have a reservation (welcome to the Middle East). But instead of shooing us away, he walked us to the nearest hotel. We got in just fine and then he convinced us to come back the next day.
The next day, we woke up and started walking around the Old City. Muhammad the Prophet said he did not want to go to Damascus, because he wanted to go to Paradise only when he died
Description is important, but so are pictures, here are a few:
Old Roman temple remains inside the city gates
One of the main entrances to the Old City
The rest of the day we did some more walking around, talking with various people, eating some delicious ice cream and window shopping. At one point, we arrived by chance upon a little hole in the wall with a man baking bread. He handed us slices. We didn't even speak to him, but we could tell by his smile he enjoyed our presence. We ate dinner at a nice place, where we sat around talking and eating.
The next day Ally and I took a trip to the Omayyad Mosque, one of the main Holy Sites in Islam. We wore long robes with hoods to remain conservative. There are enormous golden mosaics that depict Mohammad's paradise. There are two important burial sites: John the Baptist and Hussein, the grandson of Muhammad. Prophets of the Shiite sect visit this site as part of their religion. It feels almost invasive to see this holy trek, but probably the closest I will get to a pilgrimage.
Getting back to Amman was easier, but took awhile. I am sorry this isn't a more detailed account, but I would like to add a few more entries before I leave (18 days, can you believe it?)
See link at the left for photo albums! And as always, ask questions.
Salam,
Liz
Yay! Finally a post. Damascus looks great. What have you been up to since you went there? How are finals going?
ReplyDeleteI am going to be crazy and take a placement test in Arabic too. My goal is to pass out of at least first semester so I don't have to go through Alif Baa yet again. If you are in Marshfield maybe you can help me study! I will repay you with tea and hugs. But of course, you will get those anyways :-)
I would happily help you study.
ReplyDeleteAfter Damascus, I got a bit sick, wrote my thesis proposal, and haven't traveled a bit. I am a bit tuckered out. So no more huge trips--except maybe to the Dead Sea.
Finals are slow and steady--one tomorrow, one next week, and two the next.