Syria!

Leaving the house the next morning after breakfast I felt like I had walked onto a movie set. The old city of Aleppo is a world heratige site, and it definetly deserves the title. The neighborhood they live in is all courtyard style houses which open inward, so walking down the streets is a bit like a maze. All the walls are made of the same whiteish stone, and periodically there are doors, but there are no real windows on the first floor and the only breaks in the walls are for other streets. One has no idea of what lies behind the door. Leaving the neighborhood, we came out into an open space that is dominated by a hill, on top of which sits the citadel. We tried to go inside, but the enterance was mobbed by turks, all wanting tickets at the same time, and unwilling to form any sort of orderly line. So we decided to wait.

We first visited a shop called Sebastians, owned by Muhammed and his brother, andwhere Samer works. This is the store where mom and William bought my Syrian textile. It's a beautiful shop, with jewlery, textiles, lamps and more. On the wall hangs a poster of Oscar Wilde quotes. Samer is one of the people William has spent the most time with in Syria, and he is a really nice guy. Of course we had to drink some tea. It's different from Turkish tea though - made with only one pot instead of two, and as I discovered later, often already sweetened before they offer to put even more sugar in it for you.

That day we also visited Muhammed Salah, who has another store selling much the same things that Sebastians does. The store is in another amazingly redone Arab house, this one with a spectacularly huge bathroom with the biggest showerhead I have ever seen. We walked in the souks (market) - William tells me that Syria has the longest souks in the arab world. The souks were completely full of Turks though. I have to say, that first day I heard way more Turkish than I did Arabic. We walked by the fruit and vegetable market area and though the dead things souk, where you can find the entire inards of a sheep still conected. It is a great anatomy lesson.

That night we had the most amazing dinner. We went to a place called Sisi, in the christian quarter, a very nice resturant. First we had mezze - real baba ganouj, another eggplant salad, Kibbi, hummus, and olive salad. Then, mom and I shared some kebab Halep - the special kofte that they make in Halep (aleppo). And William had wine and it came out to less than 8 dollars a person. If only eating out in Istanbul could be that cheap. Unfortunatly, I got the cold that I had been trying to keep away to weeks. Everyone at my school has been sick, and not sleeping on the bus did me in.

Sunday we took the bus an hour to the town of Idlib. Some friends of the family that used to live in Salsbury, NC (but who are from Syria) live in Idlib. Nabeg and Rema have a large number of olive trees. William and mom had already been to see Nabeg's new olive press in action, and so now we went to see the olive harvest. They had had to delay for a while because of rain. The fields were still pretty muddy. We watched a number of mostly teenage boys and girls stripping the olives off the trees onto blankets. I decided I needed to try a raw olive - I wouldn't suggest it to anyone. After watching the harvest and collecting an enourmous amount of mud on our shoes, we visited their summer house and the horses and puppies and then went to their flat in town. They have four children, whose names I have now forgotten. We had a huge and amazing lunch, although Nabeg kept saying that Rima hadn't really cooked. And then, trying not to burst, we took the bus back to Halep.

The next day we got inside the Citadel. It's amazing! There is a walkway up to the top, and then the gate makes a few turns to make it even harder to storm. Inside the walls it is like a small city. I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings or Kingdom of Heaven. The citadel is made of the same white stone as the old city and the new city. Inside there are two mosques, a hamam, and numerous other buidings. Half of it has been excavated and half is still being excavated. There is also a large amiptheater where they have concerts in the summer. Wow

After the citadel, Mom and I went to meet Hala, her Arabic teacher. Hala is a small woman with a large presence. She is christian and lives in the christian quarter, and wears only black in memory of her father who died last year. She was there to go shopping with us. For christmas mom had decided that she was buying me clothes as they are so much cheaper in Syria than in Turkey. Our shopping took place in the christian quarter, where the clothes are all western style, and there are women working in the stores. It was a very sucessful shopping trip I would have to say. We also got half a kilo of william's favorite cookies (mmm) and some Sahlep - a hot thick milky drink that reminds me vaguely of oatmeal. After shopping we got our hair cut. Apparently last time, the women working had blown mom's hair straight. I saw the picture and I have to say it looks better curly. So this time they didn't blow it dry. It's interesting - one guy does all the hair cuts, and then there are a number of women who decend upon you afterward to blow dry your hair and do other things. Another good haircut with a language barier. Funny how two out of my three haircuts with a language barrier have been really good.