My first day in Antakya

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I woke to rain beating on my windows and out in the hallway and courtyard it smelled of wet plaster and life. I had my first lunch with Barbara and the others in a nice kitchen that was as warm and friendly as it was functional. Barbara has a “room” – several times a day people come to sing songs, read the passages of the mystics and look inward. It is a solid stone room that amplifies the music and the voices. It is a small – holy space. The stone working in this country is extraordinary - We are staying in the old part of the city, right across the river. Less than five minutes away there is a bazaar and a mosque which calls the city to pray – it is a haunting sound. The bazaar was not quite what I expected. It was full of modern things – like shoes, cell phones and cosmetics. Underneath it though was something more. There were shops with dried fruits, spices and nuts. There was also traditional bargaining and men smoking in groups, laughing deeply. I managed to navigate well enough to buy a cell phone, get some traditional incense for the house (as a gift) and make it back to the blue door that opens onto our courtyard – our home for the next month or so.

Tomorrow I begin my real work. There will be museums and archives to find, to mine – to explore. For now though – I am content locked away in my room.

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