Category Archives: Travelogue

13/09/08

Day 16

Yesterday I visited a town called Maaloula. It’s about an hour’s bus ride north of Damascus, on the road to Homs. Maaloula is a mainly Christian town, almost hidden within a rock valley. Although there is a mosque centred in the middle, which projects the call to prayer like all the other cities in Syria, the tops of the hills all around the town all covered in crosses and there is even a huge statue of Mary leaning over the ridge with arms open to the people below. Also, it was the first time I had heard the sound of church bells ringing in Syria and they were just as loud as the Muslim call to prayer. I traveled to Maaloula with a man called Jacques, who works at the same hotel where three of my housemates work. His brother also came along. He took me to two very old shrines, which date back to the 4th century AD. The first held the tomb of Saint Taqla. The story behind Taqla is that she was a woman who was very pious and was fleeing her father who was persecuting her for her faith. According to the legend, in order to help her escape her father, God split a rock hill to form a secret path for her to use. We walked down that same path, called “Saint Taqla’s Gap”. The two Arabs I was traveling with had no doubt that this was true. Also, inside the shrine itself, where the body lay, there were a stack of old abandoned crutches and leg supports, as if there had been various miracles of healing that had taken place there. Of course, I was a little sceptical about all of this, but I then again everything is possible with God!

The second shrine was dedicated to Saint Serges and Bacchus, who were Roman soldiers martyred because of their faith. This shrine was even older than the first and was built on top of the ruins of an old temple dedicated to the god Apollo. There I witnessed a short ceremony in which two babies were blessed by the priest on their first visit to this shrine. After that the tour guide gave us a very interesting demonstration. She prayed for us the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic, which is actually a language still in use in Maaloula! The only word I could recognise was “Ubee”, which I think means, “My Father”. They also refer to the language as Assyrian. Perhaps that is the term for modern day Aramaic.

I was then invited back to have dinner at Jacques’ house, where I met his mother, who prepared the meal. She didn’t introduce herself until she had finished the cooking, until then she was hidden in the kitchen, while we watched some Arab soap operas. By the way, soap operas are a huge thing over here – everyone watches them! And not just one but two or three at least. The most popular one in Damascus is called, Bab Al-Hara, which literally means, “The Door of the City Quarter”. It is also the name of my favourite restaurant in Damascus, where the staff know me very well now! I really enjoyed the experience of eating with a Syrian family. The mother was particularly pleased to have the opportunity to welcome me into here home and finally get to meet me after hearing so much about me from Jacques. It was interesting for me to hear how she used a very strong colloquial accent and how she only used the colloquial dialect, as opposed to the more educated “Fus-Hah”, which is used on the news and in the newspapers. The way people speak here and their choice of vocabulary, like other cultures, is a strong indication of education and class. Also, she couldn’t speak much English so would instead use the occasional French word if I didn’t understand her Arabic.

I have noticed that things here in Syria work at a different pace. Things don’t pick up until late in the morning. Most shops don’t open until around 10 o’clock in the morning and sometimes even 11. Many then stay open until around 1 o’clock in the morning or later. You also see people eating in restaurants as late as midnight.

The weather has become noticeably cooler over the last few days, although is still extremely hot in the middle of the day, reaching almost 40 degrees sometimes. The evenings have become a little more pleasant and I don’t need to set my fan at such a high setting during the night anymore.

A couple days ago I had my placement test. It was ridiculously hard, especially since all of the directions were given in Arabic, so half the test was simply understanding what in the world I was supposed to be writing! I did, however, quite enjoy the speaking part of the exam, which was just a 5 minute chat about the weather and why I wanted to learn Arabic …etc. My classes begin Monday, when I shall find out which level of Arabic I am placed in.

09/09/08

Day 12

Just thought I would write a quick email to share something I discovered here. This is mainly for those in Pittsburgh. I discovered that here they also serve sandwiches just like at the famous Primanti Bros. in Pittsburgh! For those who are not familiar with Primanti Bros. sandwiches – they are sandwiches with not just the meat inside, but also some fries and coleslaw. They do the same thing here! So next time someone asks “So what do they eat in Syria anyway?” – you can say, “well, their sandwiches are served Pittsburghese style”!

08/09/08

Day 11

Things are going well. My stomach has finally settled, at least for the time being, and I am feeling really well.

I went to two church services yesterday. First to a catholic church called “Fatima” and then to a protestant church called “Jesus, Light of the World”. It was very interesting to observe the differences between the two and the style of each church.

The catholic church was of course very elaborate with lots of icons and huge artwork on every wall. There was a very strong smell of incense. The service followed a set liturgy, with the priest speaking and the congregation responding. They had communion, the bread was dipped into the wine and then they would eat the bread. There was also a woman at the front sitting with the congregation that would sometimes sing the liturgy as a solo, like the Agnus Dei for example. Her singing was pretty amazing.

The protestant service was of course very different. The church was very simply decorated, without any pictures or icons, just a large cross above the pulpit. There was no lectern. Instead the pulpit, which was centred in the front, served as both the pulpit and lectern. There was not even an altar and there was no communion. I don’t know if it was just that week, or if they never have it at all. The service was relatively contemporary in style. It began with a reading from the Bible, then a prayer by a layman who was sitting with the congregation. He stood up and prayed something, with both his hands in the air, while the preacher said “Amin” from time to time. The preacher said something next, not quite sure what, but he finished by asking “Amin?” then the congregation said “Amin”, but he said it again louder, “Amin!?” and the congregation responded louder the second time, “Amin!”. It reminded me of the stereotypical African American Baptist Church, where the preacher is constantly saying “Amen!” Then we sang three consecutive hymns, all contemporary in style. I really enjoyed singing along – I thought it was great practice for my Arabic, especially since there was so much catchy repetition. Next was the sermon, about 40 minutes long, delivered by a layman. Next were the prayers delivered by the pastor. They actually call them pastor in Arabic – pronounced “Bastor”.

I noticed a difference in etiquette between the two churches. Even though you would expect the catholic service to be more conservative, it was actually the protestant church where you saw the women covering their hair and it was also the protestant church where the women sat on the left side of the church and the men on the right (unless a woman was sitting with her husband, in which case she would sit with him on the right hand side of the congregation). At the end of the catholic service the congregation left the church virtually silently and simply went home. At the protestant church they had tea and coffee afterwards downstairs – it was like being back home at a Lutheran church!

Speaking of Lutheran churches, I asked and the closest seem to be somewhere in Jordan, but none in Syria. I have been amazed by how many people have heard of the Lutheran church over here. It is almost as if more people know who Lutherans are here in Damascus than England! The pastor at the protestant church had heard of the Lutheran Hour ministry in Beirut as well, which I hope to visit at some point in the future.

I hope to revisit the church again, but this time go to the later service, at 7 in the evening, because I have been told that this when most of the youth my age go. I was also told that for the later service they have simultaneous interpreting into English. The pastor said that one day I may be able to help with that. Simultaneous interpreting, however, is the most difficult of all interpreting, so it may be a while before I do anything like that!

By the way, I discovered the phrase that sounds like Naumann. I am not sure exactly how it translates, but I know the context in which it’s used. For example, after you have had a haircut, someone will say to you “Nai-man!”, which means something like “you are blessed!” The response is then, “Allah ya-naim alayk”, which means something like “God bless you”.

One of the other students from my course has just arrived in Damascus, and so I showed him about the place yesterday. I quite enjoyed being a tour guide for the day!

05/09/08

Day 8

Day 8 and things are going well. With each day I find myself getting more and more settled in and things are slowly becoming easier. I imagine, however, that things will get a lot more difficult once my classes start on the 15th and I become even busier than I am now with everything.

This is my second day now at my flat. There have been significant improvements made since I moved in. At first there was no water and most of the lights did not turn on and some glass in my window was missing. Fortunately all of that has been fixed now. There is still, however, quite a big bug problem in the house, no so much in my room, but in the rest of the house and particularly the bathroom (they are attracted to water) – which is not very pleasant to say the least! Today my flatmate is going to be using some highly toxic pesticide to combat it, which will require everyone to vacate the flat for at least 3 hours it is so strong. Hopefully that will be the end of it. On the whole it’s not a bad arrangement for how much I am paying. I could easily live in a cleaner, more furnished place, but then I wouldn’t have the benefit of having 4 Arabs teaching me Arabic and taking care of various things for me. They have been extremely helpful. If I need to buy something, like my mattress for example, I usually go with one of them and they make sure for me that I get the normal price rather than the tourist price. They also know all the best places for everything.

Last night I decided to sample the Damascus nightlife at the most popular nightclub in the Old City, a bar called Mar Mar. It wasn’t cheap, but it was a lot of fun with really great clubbing music. It was really crowded since Thursday nights are the busiest. I was surprised to discover that a significant number of people there were actually Muslim and so Thursday night (as opposed to Friday night) is the most busy because Friday the Muslims are at home in the evening during their holy day. Very strange! I wasn’t expecting that.

Soon some of my classmates will be arriving in Damascus. They are asking me all kinds of questions that I was asking when I first arrived. It is funny to be on the other side this time, giving advice to them about how to get settled in.

As you know, this month is the month of Ramadan. It is very interesting to observe how this affects the society here and the daily routine. The most obvious difference is the lack of food and drinks being sold during the day. Most vending machines are also locked with a sign saying closed for Ramadan. In the Christian quarter, however, things are pretty much as normal and you see people eating a drinking in the streets. Shop opening and closing times change during Ramadan too. Basically they close at around 6 or 7pm (as opposed to 1am normally) because at 6:47pm each day, after an announcement from the loudspeakers on the various Minarets around the city, there is the breaking of the fast. You then see families everywhere eating together, either outside their shops or in restaurants that are packed full of people. I decided to eat one night at a restaurant, not really gathering that the breaking of the fast had just begun and had to wait an hour to be served, while I watched all of the Muslims having first priority on their orders.

It is interesting to note that the town I live in, Jaramana, is home to many Iraqi refugees. Quite often you see them come into the internet cafe to have their Iraqi passport photocopied. It is also possible to hear the Iraqi dialect from time to time, which is a bit more of a harsh sounding Arabic, using the ‘ch’ sound (like in church), which is considered a rather ugly sound to many Arabs in Syria.

Well, I am pretty hungry now, so I think I shall get some food. Hopefully it doesn’t make my stomach any worse than it already is!

02/09/08

Day 5

Day 5 and I am feeling a lot better now. Today was quite productive. I found a place to stay for at least the next few months in the Christian district just Southeast of the Old City, in a town called Jaramana. The arrangement I have with the Arab students I am sharing the house with is quite interesting to say the least. There are only two bedrooms in the house. I shall be staying in one, the larger of the two, while the other four will be sharing the other, because they cannot afford to share my room. It creates what feels like quite a class difference, as if I am the lord of the house and they are my servants. They have even offered to cook for me. So like I said, a pretty interesting situation. But they are more than happy to have me and have actually told me that this place is much better than their last. The rent comes to 90 GBP a month, including water, electricity, satellite TV with over 200 channels, a fridge, bed, wardrobe and fans. It also seems very safe, as I will have both a key to the apartment and a separate key to my room and then lockable storage space, although I really have no reason to be concerned about theft in Damascus because, from my experience so far, it is one of the safest places in the world.

I had another interesting experience today. Just for fun I decided to visit a small school in the Christian District that teaches English and I sat in on one of their classes. The whole class was taught in English – no one spoke a single word of Arabic. It was taught in an American accent because the teacher had studied at the American University in Kuwait. I asked the head teacher what he thought of this and he said he preferred the British accent, because it is a little easier to understand. The class included some examples of radio and television commercials and also a couple pop songs and actually reminded me a lot of my classes on the Egyptian dialect in Durham. I left them my details and they said they would contact me if they needed any help – so one day I might teach a bit of English while I am here – we’ll see! In any case, I said I would come back to say hello and see how the students are progressing.

I went to the Souk again yesterday and came across some very interesting finds. A few shops are selling what appear to be genuine American half-dollars from various dates ranging from 1859 all the way back to 1795! For those who don’t know, these are worth a lot of money and sometimes go for thousands of dollars on Ebay. So I shall see what kind of a bargain I can fetch and maybe make a little profit. I discovered the reason why there are so few Arabs selling items on Ebay. It is because it is much harder over here for the average Arab to get a credit card of some kind, which will be accepted by Ebay. Hence the lack of competition and the high prices of Arabic goods online. I also stumbled across another interesting item. This time a sheathed WWI bayonet, probably American, with the date 1907 inscribed on the blade. That was selling for 20 GBP at the most (without some haggling) and so I am going to research just how much that would sell for. Looking around for these hidden treasures is a lot of fun – I shall keep you updated on my discoveries!

Nothing much else to report for the time being. I shall write again soon, in shah allah.

01/09/08

Day 4

29/08/08

Day 1

I am now in Damascus, my new home away from home! So far everything has gone very well and there have been no problems. In fact, I ran in to some luck at the airport when just by chance I overheard someone say they were going to the ‘Damascus Hostel’, where I am staying at the moment. It was a guy from Sweden, here to work at the Swedish embassy. So we shared a taxi to the city and then a room at the hostel, splitting the cost of both in the process.

The weather here has been really hot, which isn’t too surprising since I am in the Middle East! Today I think it was 40 degrees C and right now in the cool of the evening it is down to 36. I have been looking around for some sun cream as I think I will be needing a lot!

I took a walk down the Souk (market place) but there was hardly anything going on because it is a Friday. The same will be for tomorrow, then things will start up again on Sunday. Most of the shops that are open today are run by Christians.

This is only my first day and I have already started to make some friends. Making friends here is much like a snowball effect, because you meet one person and then they introduce you to another who introduces you to another …etc. One man, who I bought my phone from, called Majid, has agreed to help me find a family to stay with. I think I would prefer that, even though it restricts your independence a little, because it is supposed to be better for your Arabic and would also be a great way to learn more about how a typical family lives in Damascus.

In the meantime, I shall be staying for a week at the Damascus Hostel, which is the same place I stayed last time I was here over the Easter holidays. They are extremely friendly there and speak fluent English, which has helped in getting settled in without too much hassle. The room I am staying in this time is air-conditioned, which really makes a huge difference. They have made a lot of improvements since last I stayed there. The hostel is also in the Christian district, where I hope to find a place, so it is a good base of operations, so to speak, for finding a more permanent location to live.

Because it’s the weekend, I can’t get any kind of paperwork done with the University or British embassy, so the next couple of days I shall just be relaxing and enjoying the peaceful Damascene lifestyle. I sampled some more Syrian food today at a restaurant called ‘Narcissus Palace’.

Sign at the entrance to the restaurant "Narcissus Palace"

The most interesting experience I had there was when, all of sudden, two small pigeons flew onto my table and one of them decided to sit on my plate of mixed nuts and help himself to some!

A pigeon on my table!

The most remarkable thing was how this was taken for granted and none of the staff made any effort to get rid of the birds even though they kept coming back for more food!