Souks

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It's about 3pm now but I figured I might as well make an entry since I might not get back to a computer tonight. This morning I went to orientation at the university and met my teachers. They seemed nice but we didn't really get to talk to them. School starts tomorrow and is 9-1 and then usually several hours of homework. After orientation was done Erin, Joe (Yusif), and myself went for a walk to the souks. We walked for a couple of hours through some but not even all of the souks. The two I know we went in were the Textile Souk, where you can buy just about any clothes you would ever want, and the Hamidia (sp?) Souk which is the enormous one that you can get anything in. We had some ice cream for about a quarter and it was plenty to eat.

It's interesting to compare prices between local and foreigner prices that are quoted. We went into a shop looking for a scarf for Erin and were quoted 150 Lira ($3) which was about how much many before us had said. Negotiating didn't work in any of the shops. While walking out of one of the shops I overheard a local girl get quoted as 25 Lira ($0.50) for virtually the same one. It's a little frustrating being overcharged; we even offered 50 Lira, 200% of what they make of the locals but they wouldn't even negotiate. After all that walking around in the near heat of the day we were somewhat hot and tired so we came to rest in the internet cafe.

Still not sure about this weekend but I've heard rumors about a possible trip to Aleppo this weekend. Aleppo is about 4 hours by car to the north, almost to Turkey. There's a lot I wanted to see up near there so I definitely think it's an option. We'll see though.

P.S. I need addresses if you want to get any postcards (except you Mom and Dad, I know that one).

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