My New Syrian Sister

I have found a flat! After contacting Yalla House on Friday I met with my agent Hani on Saturday and he took me to meet Tony, a local of Bab Touma who seems to know everybody, and is clearly the main man when it comes to finding tenants for local families. He is hilarious in a slightly creepy way, tall and dark with a little beard, he seems to be always dressed in shiny black shoes, black trousers and a black shirt which he unbuttons almost to his waistband, the better to show off his incredibly hairy chest. A gold medallion would not look out of place, and I had quite a struggle to avoid his constant attempts to make me come to his house ‘to see his art’. Poor Abi, one of the SOAS students, got lured back to his house yesterday and was almost in tears when I saw her, after having sat for an hour and a half while he made her eat until long after she was full and she wanted to leave but didn’t know how to. He fed her chicken, and today she had an upset stomach and couldn’t come with us to the university to sit the placement test, so I am very glad I made excuse after excuse to get out of the home visit he clearly expects from every customer.

He took me to see three different flats, of which my favourite was the first one, a ‘suite’ as he called it, in a big Riad just off Straight Street, where a father (who I have yet to meet) lives with his son and daughter. It was actually in a bit of a state, and had clearly been empty for a while, but I fell in love with the roof terrace covered in jasmine and bougainvillea and grape vines with bunches of delicious red grapes, and chairs and tables in the shade where we could sit to eat or study. The family live downstairs, and our rooms are across the courtyard and up a narrow flight of stairs, at the top of which, on the landing, is a sink, a little gas burning hob with three rings, and a fridge/freezer. To the left some stairs lead up and onto the terrace, with views over the rooftops, and to the right there is a door to what was the sitting room, but will now be one of the bedrooms. You have to go through this room to get to the other bedroom and through both to reach the bathroom, so we won’t have as much privacy as we might, but at least we have our own kitchen and bathroom, and our own rooms in which to study and sleep, each with a gas heater for winter and a bed and sofa. I was a bit worried yesterday that I'd agree to pay far too much for what is essentially one bedroom and a living room, and I think by Syrian standards I definitely have. I bargained to price down a little bit, from 23000 SYP to 20000 SYP per month for both of us (around £135 each per month) but I think I am probably still paying way over the odds. However it's still a very low rent by Edinburgh standards, and I know the family needs the money, because they wanted it rented as quickly as possible, so I feel like maybe it's a good thing in the end. I just hope Becka agrees with me! We also had to pay £70 to Yalla House for helping us find somewhere, which seems like a lot considering that Tony showed me the flat, Hani just spent an hour tagging along with me - pretty good rate for an hour's work!

However I think it was worth it: now that Hiba, the lovely daughter, has cleaned all the rooms and made up the beds it is lovely, and although after seeing my friends’ new place yesterday I was unsure about my choice (their house is huge and absolutely beautiful, like a five star hotel) I like the quirkiness of our new home, and I am happy to be living with a family, as none of them speak English, which forces me to speak Arabic and ensures that my speaking, at least, will improve rapidly now that I am here. After I moved my things into the flat this afternoon Hiba invited me to have coffee and smoke a sheesha with her in the courtyard, and we talked for an hour and a half, entirely in Arabic, and she understood nearly everything I said to her, which was exciting, because I learnt that when I have to I can communicate a lot better than I thought, even though I make a lot of mistakes. There are two dogs, Lassie and Poochie, and two doves living in the house, as well as the stray cats who climb down the bougainvillea into the courtyard. The dogs bark like mad when I come to the front door but are lovely and friendly, and after I stroked them a bit they both kept coming and putting their heads on my knees and Hiba laughed and said ‘They love you’ in English! She is absolutely lovely, always smiling, and she told me that she works in a beauty salon, so we talked about the Lebanese film Caramel, and she asked what religion I was. I said I wasn’t religious so she asked if it said Muslim or Christian on my passport (she is a Christian) and I explained that in England we don’t put our religion on our passports, but told her that my family was Christian but didn’t go to church (it seemed easier that way, and we are certainly not Muslim!). She gave me chocolate and told me she’d come to the souq with me whenever I wanted, and then she said I was part of her family now. She is 20 and very friendly, and very patient with my basic Arabic!
We had our placement test this morning, and it was just as hideous as everybody said, if not more so. We had to do a half hour listening exam, which was a challenge as we have never done any listening at the university, and it was multiple choice, so halfway down I gave up and just ticked random boxes, and I did the same for the reading. I think after studying for two years we should in theory go into level 4 (there are 8 levels, 1 being beginners and 8 the best), but I have a feeling I will be in a much lower group, which doesn’t worry me unduly as I would rather learn thoroughly and revise some old material than struggle in a group which is too difficult for me. It’s a bit discouraging that the SOAS students are so much better than us after studying for the same amount of time, but they had 16 hours a week of Arabic tuition in first year, compared to our 5, so it’s not that surprising. Much though I love Edinburgh I’m wondering if I should have gone to SOAS instead, as they certainly seem to get a lot more for their money.

University starts properly on Monday, and Becka arrives late tonight, so we have tomorrow to make the flat homely and settle in before classes start. I hope she likes the flat… I think she’ll like Hiba and enjoy having to speak Arabic, but if she doesn’t like it we can always move after a month - everything is paid on a monthly basis here, which means no long-term obligation, although so far I love the flat and especially my new Syrian sister!

---

---