and Wendy journeyed to Damascus

I'm going to grossly generalize and say that the Middle East is beautiful.

My last days in Amman were relaxed and enjoyable. I climbed tall hills in the strong sun...
...and bought DVDs for 1 dinar each in the vicinity of this mosque (that's not actually the mosque - just a sign pointing to it. I like these mosque signs):
And I visited Iraq.
Iraq el-Amir, that is. The word 'Iraq' essentially means 'beautiful place', and that's what this was. I'm sure it was even more lovely a few thousand years ago before it fell into ruin, but it's still gorgeous, tucked away just outside the city and surrounded by farmland and handicraft centers.
After visiting Iraq el-Amir with my friend Rajai, I said goodbye to Jordan and hopped onto a bus heading toward Damascus. Crossing the border became a trial of patience and good humor; the concept of lining up single-file hasn't really taken root in this part of the world, and it may very well be the one thing I miss about America. Seething masses of people smashed together and sweating in the humid room with little air circulation, yelling yelling yelling - but somehow I did emerge with my Syrian visa stamped (the two hapless Argentines who spoke no English nor Arabic and had bold Israel stamps in their own passports were not so fortunate).

I will be in Damascus for the next month, staying in the monastery of St. Elias Church, working with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate here to assist in some of their Iraqi refugee aid programs as well as to study more Arabic. I am with a group of approx. 15 other like-minded volunteers from the US, Switzerland, New Zealand, and the UK, and we are participating through a Middle East Fellowship program. I will have further stories about the work here in the next few days, but for now, just pictures and a travelogue, eh?

The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and All The East (if you think that's a long title, you should see it in Arabic) has a long history in the region (obviously); it claims to be the sole successor church to the original Christian church established by Peter and Paul. Pull out your Bibles, kids, and open up to Acts Chapter 9: ...and as [Saul] journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? The conversation continued, and then Saul, now blind, went to Damascus, where he met Ananias; the Lord had said to Ananias, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus.

Why am I quoting scripture? The Patriarchate is located on said "Street Called Straight", which runs through the Old City, and it's the street by which I travel to the Patriarchate every day.

Every day that I'm in town, that is. We took off for a weekend away up north in Latakia, a city on the Mediterranean. En route, we visited an old Muslim-turned-Crusader-turned-Mamluk castle originally built in 1062. Pretty sweet:



That's the Mediterranean Sea in the distance. The view, once completely green, is now a view of greenhouses. Rather unsightly, but useful if you're in Syria and want to grow vegetables year-round, as these folks apparently do:
Also stopped at Ugarit. You can pull out your Bibles again, read about the Temple of Baal, and rest easy knowing that it was located here. You should also know that Ugarit is the home of the world's first alphabet (or the earliest alphabet yet discovered, at any rate).
Ugarit is also the name of the second-best imitation Coke around (Pepsi and Coke products weren't allowed in the country until a couple years ago, apparently). When in Ugarit, drink Ugarit cola, I always say.
This was my first venture into the Mediterranean, and it was absolutely lovely. Megan and Ruth are 2 great girls in the program as well. Together, we attempted (and I succeeded!) to climb a giant (blow-up) iceberg adrift at the end of the swimmable sea.



Damascus is a remarkable city, possibly the oldest continually inhabited city in the world (though Sana'a vies for that title as well). I have enjoyed exploring it a bit in my free time. Yesterday, I visited a couple souqs - one huge and beautiful and new-looking...

and another one nearby that seemed a little older and more earthy. Abundant supply of goatheads, if you're into that kind of thing, and plenty of brightly-colored pickled products as well.
We went to a concert at the nearby citadel last night. It's quite something to attend a concert in an ancient fortification with a statue of Salah al-Din right outside the gate. It wound up being free, which was even more excellent. Faudel, a super-famous Algerian, was the performer; I knew some of his music, but I wasn't prepared when midway through the concert he began singing a cover of....'My Way'. You know, Frank Sinatra. Delightful.

And tonight we had a feast. Nearly every meal is a feast here - it's the Syrian way, and it's making me large - but tonight was particularly grand. The selection of appetizers is mesmerizing, and the green drink you see in the corner is bola, a mint lemonade concoction that will "change your life", as Kelly frequently notes.

I have a hard time deciding whether I'm more pleased with the quantities of lamb they serve here...or the quantities of sweets (yes, that is a giant platter of Syrian sweet delights that I'm holding).
I am also delighted with signage that I see around. One favorite was the "Miami Saloon" in Sana'a - a hairstyling saLON that was inadvertently posing as a place o' liquor in a city where liquor is absolutely forbidden - haram, haram! These are a couple random English language delights that I've seen around Syria:

"Keep City Clean: he (the bird?) is enjoying the world". On that lighthearted note, I shall close for now - my watch died last night, so I'm unsure of the time, but I suspect it's quite late. Tomorrow I'll write more about the Iraqi families I visited today and the work of the patriarchate here - Syria is a fascinating, fascinating place.