Of Lorries “Shok!” the cry goes out, and I amateurishly duck, trying to flatten myself against the roof of the truck-cum-bus. The thick branch bristling with two-inch thorn is too low, so I make a stupid face and stick out my arm to shield my face. It’s a good thing we’re moving so slowly, or this would be very dangerous, rather than adventurous. The branch knocks off the turban from my head. I’m just happy to be alive, but luckily the people in the truck following us retrieve my turban from the tree. In fact we’re traveling in a [View Full Entry]

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Aswan. Luxor. Sa’aid. Upper Egypt. Gradually increasing “African features”, and changing landscape, colors (even of clothing and houses) as we move steadily south. Even the trip from Cairo to Luxor covered more ground on the map than places that took me more than a month to travel in the fertile northern countries. Yes, in the Syrian desert I wondered at the fact that apart from the narrow fertile strip of the Euphrates it was completely empty with no human habitation and likely no potential for it either. Here in Egypt the same is true on a much larger sca [View Full Entry]

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I had a clever and witty blog, all typed up on my friend's computer that I was planning on uploading, but ... something got messed up somewhere along the way with the file format and all (how I hate windows), and the file is corrupt (due to "long lines"), and so I can't upload it... I'm heading out to Sudan in a few minutes, and will be there for about a month... don't expect to receive any emails or updates from me, since it is a real 3rd world country, and I've heard reports of an hour of internet costing $15. [View Full Entry]

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"Yellow man" is (as described to me by an Israeli soldier guarding settlements in the Gaza strip) is a desultory term applied to those incapale of going beyond official doctrine and/or direct orders. He used the term in relation to paratrooper units (of the IDF), but I think Yellow Men lie at the root of the current problems in the region formerly known as Palestine. Since my last blog I've spent about 10 days in Eastern (now Jordan), and 3 weeks in Western Palestine. As the majority of the population of Jordan is comprised of refugees, I have had occassion to [View Full Entry]

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I really wanted to use the string "Back in the SAR" as a subject, but it didn't work out. Syria is a very cheap and friendly country. Don't let people (or your government) tell you otherwise. It's also one of the safest countries I've been to so far, way safer than Turkey and about the same as Iran. I haven't seen or heard of any crimes (petty or otherwise) during my 1-month stay here. Surprisingly, there isn't much of a police presence either. DO check out Tartus, it's pretty cool. Also the people in Deir Ez-Zur are pretty hospitable and friendly [View Full Entry]

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Ever thrilled to be back in Syria, I spent my first couple days wandering through the old city and the various souqs and talking to the many people who all want to know where I'm from and whether or not I'm a muslim. I'm beginning to get worried that I'll miss the attention once I go somewhere not-quite-so-friendly. One set of people I met in the fruit-and-vegetable souq sat me down and spoke for hours, asking what I thought about George W. Bush, and explaining how superior Islam is to other religions. One of them described Cat Stevens' conversion, but apparently [View Full Entry]

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Apparently Che used to summarize the past month in his diary, so I'll try to do the same about my 2 weeks in Lebanon. This should serve to go some ways towards satisfying those who have requested "a bulleted summary" of where I've been and what I've done. Lebanon is a beautiful country, with mountains seemingly rising right out of the sea, a gorgeous coastline, and great hiking. The people in Beirut are cosmopolitan and indeed one feels like in someplace like America rather than the middle east while in Beirut -- that is, until you notice the bullet holes in [View Full Entry]

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Last tuesday I stumbled across a farmers' market in Beirut, and a girl (Aurelia) at one of the stalls explained what was going on and then gave me her phone number and said she would be happy to show me around Jounieh if I was interested. A couple nights later I called her up; she had just arrived at Beirut and was going to hang out with some of her friends, and invited me to come along. So I went (she picked me up) and had an awesome night: it's been ages since I had full (interesting) conversations with cool people [View Full Entry]

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I head out to Sabra and Shatila in the pouring rain this morning. I figured I need to see the conditions they live in if I'm going to claim to "support the cause", especially since it's so close. I took an excruciaingly slow bus out to the general area named "Shatila" where I assumed the camp would be located. The lady at the tourist information center had given me a cold "I don't know where that is" when I asked about how to get there... I think people are trying to forget about its existence. A guy in the vicinity offered [View Full Entry]

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Christmas in Lattakia was a bit of a letdown, and I wanted to see Beirut at its absolute worst (most decadent), so I figured new years would be the time. I also figured there wouldn't be much happening in Hama, which apparently has a reputation for being one of the most religious places in Syria. Before leaving I visited the Ismaili town of Musyaf, home to the ancient castle of the "Hashashins" who would get high before undertaking an assassination, and from whose name the english word "assassin" is derived. Fascinating. The castle was in its final stages of being restored [View Full Entry]

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