Blogs from Syria, Middle East - page 4

******** Update: The day was amazing the people were incredibly nice, the city is safe and I'm off to bed I will try to actually write a real post tomorrow assuming my next hotel has Internet access. ****************** This is going to be a very brief post as I am about to go out for breakfast. Currently there are tens of thousands of pro government protesters fairly close to our hotel. At the moment we feel quite safe as the general vibe is very happy with music, and chanting we can hear in our hotel rooms even with the windows closed. There is a certain excitement in the air and it is contagous. As I type this the corwds seem to be getting louder we will definetly have to be street smart when we go out ... read more

Over the last few afternoons in Aleppo, I've whiled away a couple of hours in a lovely coffeeshop/restaurant called Ahlildar. It has an unbeatable location in an elegant renovated traditional Arabic courtyard house, with an upstairs terrace overlooking the entrance/courtyard/garden of the Great Mosque, and the main street of the Old City leading up to the citadel standing high on hill in the near distance. So I sit there on the terrace in the late afternoon sun, listening to sensuous Arabic pop music playing from the TV (music which my Italian friend but current Beirut resident Tommy dubs 'habibi shawarma music', because 98% of Arabic popular songs feature the word 'habibi' *my love* at least once, if not several times, and because shawarma is the equally ubiquitous fast food of the Middle East, virtually identical to ... read more

It's not often I get those "pinch myself" moments, where I'm engulfed by a sense of pure wonderment and awe at being in a particular place and having met particular people in that very place. But I've already experienced two of such moments in my two weeks spent so far here in Syria. I think my lack of "pure wonderment" moments is because, as a frequent traveller, sometimes I get caught up in the regular traveller/tourist routine of: book onward transport, peruse map to find my way, check into a hotel, see the main recommended sights, take photos, find a place to eat, hopefully try to meet a combo of locals and foreigners to talk to, write an email to Mum, crawl into hotel bed and do it all again. And in doing all these necessary ... read more

Fernando de Aranda González (Madrid 1878 Damasco 1968) fue el hijo del músico Fernando de Aranda, que entre 1886 y 1909 fue músico del Sultan de Turquía Abdül Hamid II. Fernando estudió arquitectura y se estableció en Damasco a principios del siglo XX, siendo también consul honorario de España durante parte de la Primera Guerra Mundial. ENGLISH, Fernando de Aranda (Madrid 1878 Damascus 1968)was the son of the compouser Fernando de Aranda who served at the court of Abdül Hamid II between 1886 and 1909, he settled down in Damascus at the begining of the 20th century and also became homorary consul of Spain during World War 1st. TURKÇE: Fernando de Aranda (Madrid 1878 Sam 1968) 1886'da Istanbula tasindi, babasi Fernando de Aranda, Abdül Hamid'in bestekar oldu, 1909'e kadar. Fernando mimarlik okudu ve yirminci yüzyilinin ilk ... read more

Have I only been here 2 1/2 weeks? It seems longer, probably because every day here is a whole new experience. At the same time, I am frustrated with all that I haven't seen and done. Two years will hardly be long enough to explore Syria alone, never mind the neighboring countries. Here's a few snapshots of my daily life outside of work -- which takes up a considerable amount of my days, unfortunately! Last Saturday I decided it was time to make an appointment at a local hair salon. I knew the success of this venture would be a serious test of my ability to survive in Damascus, so I approached it with some trepidation. Would wearing a head scarf be out of the question if things didn’t work out? I decided the hotel concierge ... read more