My first 10 days in Damascus

Blog from Damascus. Sunday 11th November.

I've now been in Damascus for 10 days and today I am finally sorted and ready to start my course on Tuesday. I've jumped through all of the bureaucratic loops needed to sign up for the course and have also found somewhere to stay! I've ended up taking a room that became available in Matt's house. The room is far too large for me and my rucksack (2 empty beds) and too expensive for my rapidly depleting wallet but I just HAD to stay in this house!! It's easily the nicest house I have seen here yet with a beautiful light courtyard, a fountain, spacious and airy rooms and a fully functional and clean toilet and shower!!

Also, I'm having a great time getting to know all the people here! Obviously, in sharing a room about 2.5X2 meters for the best part of a week, Matt and I have got to know each other very well. I can't emphasize how grateful I am to him and to couchsurfing in general for helping me to acclimatize to Syrian life. I think without Matt and the web site, my time in Syria would have been a far lonelier and more confusing affair!

Also living in the house are a Swiss couple, two girls of no known nationality, the landlord, Edmund (it is also a name in Syria!) and his girlfriend and a Norwegian family; mum, dad and 5 month old baby! This house, so full of cultures, ages and approaches to life, seems to be a serene and pleasant place to live - somewhere conducive to studying I hope!!

When I first came to stay the house was rather more full with three Italian girls living in the room which is now mine. It was the night of their leaving when everyone got together for a house meal which really made me feel at home and allowed me to get to know everyone a bit better. This was a great welcome to Damascus!

The city itself is absolutely great! I'm gradually getting used to where things are but I don't think even after a month I'll fully understand the labyrinth of differing souks, the interconnected neighborhoods and quarters separated by religion and character or the technique to crossing the road without following someone far more experienced in this intrepid adventure than I!

I have discovered Abu Shaker, the best juice bar in Damascus (if not the world) where for under a pound you can get the most sizeable and delicious smoothies which can contain pretty much anything you want! There is an international film festival on at the moment which has provided an escape from the hustle bustle of the streets a few times already this week (tonight is "Mongol" inshallah) and I've even found a bar with a "local" feel to it in the Christian quarter, though it isn't quite local enough! One night we went out for an Indian in, apparently, "One of Damascus' finest restaurants" and also for traditional Syrian food in the old town.


A few days ago I visited the Umayyad Mosque which is reported to be one of the most important Mosques in the world for Muslims behind only the sites at Mecca and Medina. The site has been used for religious worship for over 3000 years and it has been exclusively used by Muslims since around 700ad. As with much in Damascus, it's difficult to tell exactly what in the building dates back so far but despite a sacking by the dreaded Mongols and natural disruption caused by earthquakes and fire, the Mosque continues to hold a level of grandeur only mildly short of that requested by its creator; that it should be 'a mosque, the equal of which was never designed by anyone before me or anyone after me'.

I was allowed to wander through in between people praying and listening to sermons. I felt a bit rude and as though I shouldn't loiter for too long though so I exited and proceeded to blissfully loose myself in the meandering streets of Damascus for a couple of hours, reflecting on this magnificent city.

To add to the hilarity of the 'what is your role' question (see last blog) I was asked a few days ago by and old damascene man whether I was the man who lead the call to prayer!! The sheer bizarreness of the question has lead to much fantasizing about whether I have a doppelganger, whether I could have a go at it, and, in turn whether I was not charged for entering the Umayyad mosque due to my uncanny resemblance to this undisputed master of the P.A (tourists usually pay). I've become totally used to the call to prayer now. Our local one isn't as good as some of the ones in the distance though, which is a shame!

Yesterday had to be one of my favorite days so far in Damascus. It was started of in traditional Damascene fashion with a trip with Matt, Anders (Norwegian dad) and John (Norwegian bro in law to be who is staying for a week) to our local Hammam. Incredibly, our local hammam happens to be 800 years old - one of the oldest in Damascus!

What an experience! First of all we were handed our sheets (I'm sure they have a proper name but I'm referring to the things you put round your waist) and we headed to the steam room. From there you go out to the washing chamber where you rinse off with hot water and wash your hair. This sequence is repeated a few times before you go for a scrub and a massage. This was when things got really interesting! The masseuse got out a black mitten which was then rubbed with great vigour against all (none private) areas of skin. The dirt that this removed was quite shocking! There were piles of black "sausages" of dirt that literally poured off me. I'm not a minger honestly - that's normal for people like us who have never got to this level of clean before. Indeed, the experience made me think about our own concept of the term "clean"!! I remember at school being appauled when I was told the first round of Elizabethans tended to bath only once a year or so. I could not understand how they dealt with being so dirty (and, I guess, smelly). But, perhaps in the future people will look back in their sterilised computer books at pictures of us and think "how on earth did they cope with all that dirt on them" as they prepare to get a scrub from a mechanised man with a black mitten. I digress. With the removal of the mitten, the scrub became a massage, but this was no less vigorous!! I felt my muscles and bones bent into shapes they had never achieved before and one stretch was surely at some point in time used as a torture device. But, none the less, as I excited the chamber I felt invigorated and refreshed! After another (possibly excessive) steam and wash, we all trooped back into the expansive sitting area where we were wrapped in towels and were provided with delicious, sweet tea. We sat there for half an hour as I entered a level of relaxation that made the stresses of traveling and acclimatizing to Syria seem a distant memory!

All this cost less than a fiver and I will certainly do it again next week when I get back from my trip to Lebanon (inshallah!)

So, Damascus has treated my very kindly over the past 10 days! I thought yesterday as I walked through the city alone returning from watching the film "Casino" how lucky I was to be in a place where I actually felt safer than I do on the streets of London, where people are so friendly any trial or tribulation is minimised by their assistance and where (nearly) everything costs less than it should and comes with a smile and a friendly 'salam elaykum'.

I'll leave this blog with a quote from Mark Twain in 1869: "no recorded event has occurred in the world but Damascus was in existence to receive news of it. Go back as far as you will into the vague past and there was always a Damascus... She has looked upon the dry bones of a thousand empires and will see the tombs of a thousand more before she dies". I expect this prophecy to be realised, and, I kind of hope it is too

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