From Interlaken I took off for Bern where I walked around for a few hours. After that I hopped back on the train and was off to Geneva. I got to Geneva mid-afternoon and was able to walk around the city and see all the major sites before sundown. The next day I was off to Lyon and then to Nice. I got to Nice in the evening and took a walk on the boardwalk and watched the other people doing the same thing. The next day I spent wandering around the city in the morning. In the afternoon I went [View Full Entry]

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From when I last left it I was in Austria, Vienna. From there I went to Budapest, Hungary. I spent a day in Budapest seeing all the sights quickly and so fourth. The city is unique and beautiful but there is one problem, at least it became a problem for me, not manz speak English. So, from Budapest I was planning on taking an overnight train to Prague which was supposed to go through Slovakia to the Czech Republic. I went and told the lady at the ticket office where I wanted to go and when and she gave me a [View Full Entry]

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From Istanbul, where I last wrote, I flew to Athens. My flight was delayed nearly half the day but I did finally get there. In Athens I saw all the major sights in and around the Acropolis, etc. Not much to say about it really. The city is very dirty but still amazing to think of the ancient people walking the same places as I was. I was there for 2 nights before taking a train to Patra on the west coast of Greece. The train ride there was beautiful, right between the water and the mountains. From Patra it was [View Full Entry]

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I wanted to write an entry to let everyone know that I'm safe and still having a blast. Some times have been hectic and crazy but I'm making the best of every opportunity and keeping and optimistic attitude (someone even commented to me that I'm the "always smiling American"). Some here's an overview of the last weekish: On Wednesday the 26th I left Syria in the evening and headed for Amman by taxi. The border crossing was a little crazy but not a very big deal and went almost as smoothly as I would have hoped. On Thursday I took buses [View Full Entry]

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Thursday afternoon after school was over 11 of us set out for Beirut. The trip didn't get very far because when we got to the bus station Erin had forgotten to switch her passport when she changed bags right before she left. So, Erin and Ashanti stayed behind and got the passport and came a little later. The trip hit another snagp at the border Dragana was not allowed into Lebanon because of her Bosnian passport. She had to get in a cab and head back to Damascus while the rest of us continued on. After another little hang up of [View Full Entry]

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After I found out the trip to Lebanon is next weekend, I decided to go to Aleppo this weekend. A couple of people said they might go but then backed out so I decided to go alone anyway. I headed out on Friday around 11am. It was a little later than I had wanted to but what's a guy to do. I got a taxi to the bus station and got a ticket for 100 Lira, or about $2 for the 5 hour trip. When I got on the bus it was hot, cramped, and uncomfortable. :( Anyway, after a long [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was a very, very long but very, very fun day. My morning started at 5:30am when I got up and packed for the long day ahead. I headed out the door at about 6am and met some friends and we took a cab to the university. The bus pulled out of the parking lot at about 7am and headed for Sedeyna. Sedeyna is a town outside of Damascus with a beautiufl church and I forget the story but there was a miracle that happened there. I believe. After that we headed for nearby Ma'alula. Ma'alula is one of the only [View Full Entry]

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I have a little bit of time waiting for friends so I decided to write a quick entry. I've had classes for about a week now and I must say they are very difficult. Some stuff is easy but even when I know most of the things it is still challenging. There is no English spoken unless we are just thoroughly confused. I think this is the best way to learn a language but when your vocabulary is as limited as ours it can sometimes lead to guessing what a word means and guessing wrong. Hasn't been a real problem so [View Full Entry]

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I did more exploring the past few days. Thursday evening I went to the Citadel and the Ummayed Mosque around sunset. I got some good pics, some of which I'll post. The Citadel isn't all that impressive but the Mosque is just awe-inspiring. It is enormous and so beautiful. Words really cannot explain is and pictures don't really do it justice either. But, for those of you who can't make the trip to see it on your own I took lots to show you. Thursday night we also had a small get together and had some fun listening to music and [View Full Entry]

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It's about 3pm now but I figured I might as well make an entry since I might not get back to a computer tonight. This morning I went to orientation at the university and met my teachers. They seemed nice but we didn't really get to talk to them. School starts tomorrow and is 9-1 and then usually several hours of homework. After orientation was done Erin, Joe (Yusif), and myself went for a walk to the souks. We walked for a couple of hours through some but not even all of the souks. The two I know we went in [View Full Entry]

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