Goede avond, Na de rondleiding op de universiteit waar Hanan werkt ging het per taxi naar de oude stad. Nog voor we onze bestemming bereikt hadden vertelde Hanan me over het gebouw dat vlak voor ons lag. Het bleek het oudste stationsgebouw in het Midden-Oosten te zijn. Natuurlijk wou ik dat even van dichtbij zien dus eindigde onze taxi rit daar en gingen we van daaruit verder te voet. Ik had mijn camera nog maar boven gehaald of er bood zich iemand aan die Engels sprak en die ons een rondleiding wou geven. Ik vroeg hem of hij voor de syrische [View Full Entry]

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Marhaba - Hallo Joepie, ik ben er geraakt, ik zit gewoon in Syrië :-) Mijn vliegtuig vertrok gisteren in Brussel om dan via Istanbul verder door te vliegen naar Damascus. Toen we in Damascus landden rond 16u30 begon het al te schemeren en een half uurtje later was het alsof het nacht was, zo vlug, dat is toch een beetje wennen vind ik. Hanan stond me op te wachten aan de luchthaven. Wie was Hanan ook al weer? Ewel, enkele jaren geleden, toen ik nog Roeland taalkampen deed in Engeland (Sutton Valence) was er eens een leerkracht uit Syrië die in [View Full Entry]

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Hi Everyone. No Interent WiFi access so I cant transfer Image and notes frommy PC. This is just a quicktext note to give you a short update. We are in Damascus for 1 more night and then we drive to Palmyra tosee the Roman Ruins and complex,we will camp somewhere near Palmyra. Following that we have 2 nights in Allepoand hopefully I will be able to updatethe Blog then. Cheers and Kisses from David T [View Full Entry]

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Since getting back from Jordan three weeks ago I have been too busy to blog, which presents a dilemma, because it of course means that I have an awful lot to blog about, so will have to try and resist the unnecessary level of detail I usually feel the need to include, and go for a lovely brief overview. We arrived back in Damascus after our week in Jordan on Saturday night and on Monday evening our friend Ali, a lovely half-Arab, half-Pakistani guy from SOAS, who is in the same class as Becka and I, invited us to go with [View Full Entry]

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Hmmm... bit lost for words, maybe because its before dinner time and i know i shouldnt blog before dinner as all im thinking about is shish towuk and garlic and fatoush.... YYYUUUMMMM I hate to say it, but Damascus didn't impress me all that much. I dont know where these travellers get the idea that Syrians are so welcoming and that Syria is a fantastic place to visit. Perhaps its luck of the pot and who you met and what mood your in (i think i was extremely tired in Syria, must have been the walks in Palmyra) But Damascus was [View Full Entry]

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A Long weekend away Damascus and Palmyra? Why not we thought! What a blast, great fun and can really recommend it to anyone fancying something a little different... If your going to go, you must stay in the four seasons though. Location not bad, facilities great! [View Full Entry]

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Cuando volví de las vacacione descubrí que una tórtola había puesto su nido en el patio de mi casa. tatilde döndükten sonra gördüm, evde bir kumru yuva koydu. When I came back from my summer holidays I found a Trutle dove nest at home. [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday Becka, Emlyn, Everitte, another Edinburgh student from Nashville, and I all went to Bosra for the day to see the old city and the Roman amphitheatre, which is apparently one of the best preserved in the world. The Lonely Planet called it ‘an easy day trip’, but as always it didn’t turn out quite as planned, and we ended up having a bit of an adventure both ways. On the way out, instead of catching the bus for 60 SYP and booking a return bus at the same time we got bundled onto a bus we were told was going [View Full Entry]

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Classes at the University of Damascus started yesterday… and I have certainly learned at least one valuable lesson already. Children, listen closely. Do not make jokes about how funny it would be if you guessed all the right answers on a test and got put in a very advanced class, and certainly do not follow that up by saying you don’t mind what level you are in as long as you’re not the only one. On the bus ride into the university yesterday morning various Edinburgh students were rehashing the test, and of all the question they mentioned I hadn’t got [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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