Lunch in Old Damascus

Lunch menu in Old Damascus was a lot of fun as you can see they tried to put the menu in both Arabic and English, yet something was missing in translation. I was particularly tickled by the "Piece of lump" "Chicken fumigated" and "Fish and sheps"

Here we are walking thru the streets of the Old City.

A day in the Country...

In Syria I was staying with friends and was immediately accepted as one of the family. Since it is so hot in Syria during the summer people are more nocturnal. They sleep in while it is hot and are up at night when it is cool outside. Even business are opened later due to the heat. It feels strange that everyone wakes up at noon and goes to bed at 2-3am.

The family I was staying with had a summer home on the mountain. It is cooler at higher elevations (which you already knew) and there is a much needed breeze. So we packed the van (mini-van) with 15 people and took the 1.5 hour trip to the country. We even drove pass Cane & Abel's burial site. Sorry I did not get a picture.

Above is me in a fig tree at the house.

We played an old Syrian board game, shown here, where shells were used instead of dice.

It's pronounced Barseese. ("Bar" and then "cease").
I think it's just an Arabizised way of saying Parcheesi. Or maybe Parcheesi is an anglizised way of saying Barseese.

So my first full day was great taking it easy learning the ways and customs of the people of Syria. Everyone I was staying with were Muslim, therefore they chose to cover their head and did not want me to cover my head (wear the Hijab) because it is not my custom. Between you and me they would not have either in the heat if they were not so tired to the religious beliefs behind it. Therefore I only wore the Hijab when asked to, (which you will see in later pictures) otherwise they asked me what I was doing if I tried to wear the hajib.

In the Begining...

The Adventure officially began on July 1st at 1pm.

Everything leading up to departure was busy, but I would not have it any other way. Many are still surprised that I am not in the States, over the last 3 weeks of June my job in LA ended and I decided to volunteer in Palestine followed by a short (3 mo) third breast surgery fellowship in France & Germany.

Before I left LA I needed to pack all I owned in LA and put it in storage. God provided a guardian angel with muscles & a truck to help. It was a good thing because I was working 3 jobs to make extra money before volunteering over seas for the next four months.

Visas were also an issue before leaving. I had not realized that in order to vacation in Syria you need a visa, which cost $131 and is only good for 15 days. So my trip began by visiting Syria with friends for vacation and then will proceed to Jordan to visit their Breast Cancer Center, followed by going to Palestine to work with the Palestine Children Relief Fund in a Mission Hospital on the West Bank.

I was most worried about missing my first flight from LAX to Chicago. I did everything I could to miss the flight but still some how made it. Thank God for Sakura, because she made sure I and my bags made the flight.

My flight left LAX at 1pm on Wednesday July 1st and arrived in Damascus, Syria at 11pm Thursday July 2nd. As you can see from the pictures it was a long flight. The first picture is when I left LA and second is when I arrived in Syria. Thankfully I slept the whole way, because I had not gotten much sleep the 3 days and 2 nights before due to moonlighting.

Syria is beautiful, as you can see...

Internet is limited in Syria due to the government, and I learned that facebook is not allowed.

More pictures to come...