Day 41: October 4

First day back…. Ugh. Woke up at 7:15 to be out the door at 7:30… to the metro by 7:45. To the Bus by 8:00. To Campus by 9.

Sundays are in theory the easiest day in my schedule. All I have is Media, followed by a long break, and then colloquial. Well the Media teacher has decided that we are going to do all our makeup work for the two weeks we missed in one week… on top of our assignments for this week. This is going to be the week from hell. Class was fast paced and everyone felt dazed and confused. Personally I felt like I got socked in the stomach with a stack of homework. Absolutely nuts. Oh, and we have a test/quiz tomorrow…

We all left class feeling badly beaten. Max, Henry and I limped to the food court to grab some food before going to colloquial. Went to Omda, the Egyptian food place on campus. Got some fool sandwiches and ate with Henry and Max.

I’m gonna be completely honest, fool is losing its charm. Beans that are cooked and made into a paste get’s old pretty quickly. Especially when it is done really poorly like it is on campus. Oh well, I gotta eat.. After food Henry and I went to the library to print off the pages of makeup work we have for media. It cost us both 10 pounds to print off all the work we have. I’d estimate somewhere between 20-30 pages worth of media work.

Went to my discussion class for another battle. However, our discussion teacher was much more willing to ease us into school. We just discussed what we did over break and where we went. Very enjoyable after taking a beating earlier.

After class I went to the HUSS( HUSS is the ALI building) quad area for the language exchange program. The language exchange program is a partnership between the Arabic Linguistic Institute and the English Language Institute. In this program students from ELI and ALI are matched up so that they can have conversations and practice their languages together.
I was assigned two beginning level English speakers. Only one of them showed up today. His name is Mina and he is a 16 year old freshman. 16 and in college! His parents are both doctors and he wants to be an engineer. Really smart kid… and completely fluent in English.

I enjoyed the practice, but he didn’t seem all that interested in the program. At the end we exchanged emails so that we could meet up again in a week (we’re supposed to meet once a week however the program is voluntary..). From there I took the bus home and arrived at around 6.

On the way home I called Kevin and we decided to meet up for dinner. I hadn’t seen Kevin in a few weeks and was excited to hear how his adventures were going. I dropped off my bags and walked over to his place. We decided that American food sounded delicious. Don’t get me wrong, schwarma was good, but the fool I had today just put me in the mood for a taste of home.

We ended up in Tahriir where our choices were KFC, Hardeez (Wendy’s), McDonalds, and Pizza Hut. I had heard rumor that the Wendy’s/Hardeez was delicious and decided to try that. We both ordered our burgers and found a spot to talk. I told about Kevin about my travels and then inquired about his life.

Kevin decided to end the relationship he was pursuing with a Muslim girl here in Egypt. He decided that he did not want to become a Muslim himself in order to be with her. On top of this he had quit his job due to the many restrictions and ‘red tape’ associated. At this point and time Kevin feels that there is little keeping him in Cairo and that he will probably leave sometime in November.

It kinda bummed me out to see Kevin so set on leaving. A month before he had been stoked to be in Cairo and now he finds himself disliking many aspect of the city life and just wanting to go home. It’s too bad, I enjoyed having him in Cairo to hang out with.

Anyways, after dinner I hustled back to my apartment and immediately hit the books in preparation for tomorrows test. By the time I went to bed I was feeling pretty confident in the material. I guess we’ll see what tomorrow holds in store.

Day 40: October 3

Woke up a bit before noon. Decided that today I was going to rest, recuperate, and do some catch up work.

Started uploading my pictures from the trip online. I also started to do some review of the material discussed during the first two weeks of class. Basically just spent most of today mentally preparing to go back to school.

Evan wanted to show me around garden city now that Ramadan is over. After Ramadan more shops and restraints are open giving it a livelier atmosphere. I like it better now because it seems more vibrant. We stopped by the Metro so Evan could introduce me to some Egyptian friends he had made….

By some apparently he meant the entire metro station. We were literally swarmed by metro workers when we entered the station. It was fun but a bit overwhelming. We eventually left and went to get lunch. For lunch we got some meet sausage, bread, salad, and soup. Afterwards we stopped into a sweet store and bought some small cakes to complete the meal.

Afterwards we came back and hit the books. At around 8 Jesse came over and the three of us went out to grab some dinner. We hit up another shop Evan had found. We got the ‘meat platter’ which consisted of sausage and kibda(Liver). I thought it was pretty good, but then again I’m the only one of the three that really likes kibda. On the way back Evan decided that he was craving Ice Cream. Neither Jesse nor I were against the idea so we chipped in and got a tub of ice cream.

We took the ice cream home and ate it while talking about life. Eventually Evan and Jesse split off and went to spend time together (they are now dating btw). I did some more studying and decided to watch a movie. Watched the original Mad Max. After that I called Sara and went to bed early.

Day 39: October 2

We had originally planned on waking up early today and trying to make it into the countryside. However, both of us woke up and decided that we didn’t want to get out to the countryside and then not get back in time for our flight. We decided that there was still allot of the city left to see and that we would go see that.

While we were making plans we ran into Jordan, John, and Joel; who were also looking for something to do. We decided to check out the Lebanese National Museum. The museum is featured in the Lonely Planet guide and sounded like a good way to start the day. We went down stairs and found a local café to grab brunch. I tried what looked like a pizza… it definitely didn’t taste like a pizza (oh well).

Anyways we decided to take a taxi over and soon arrived at the Lebanese National Museum. We entered and were ushered into a small theater to see a short film on the history of the museum. The film depicted the renovation and refurbishment of the museum. It turns out that the museum was located right on the green line (the dividing line between the two factions during Lebanon’s civil war). During the war the museum suffered heavy damage and some artifacts were destroyed. Following the war the community made a large effort to restore the museum and its artifacts back to prime condition.

After the film we went into the museum. I was amazed to walk in and see so many marble statues arrayed in such a small building. Unlike the Egyptian museum, the Lebanese Museum was well spread out with markers indicating what you were seeing. It was set up as a timeline depicting Lebanon’s rich history. It started in the early ages and spanned the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Hellenistic Period, Roman Period, Byzantine Period, and Mamluk (Arab) Period.

The museum building was not very large, maybe the length and width of a football field with two stories. However, the amount of information and artifacts in there was simply astounding. The amazing part of it was that they were able to display it elegantly without seeming to force it in. Honestly one of my all time favorite museums. I was also impressed by the rich and diverse history in Lebanon. When I think of Lebanon, I don’t associate the Greeks and Romans, but the museum clearly showed their influence on the culture and region.

After a few hours we found ourselves out in front of the museum. (On closer inspection you could see traces of gunfire on the structure… however it is very well covered up). John, Jordan, and Joel wanted to see the downtown region that we had seen the day before, while Mike and I wanted to see Pigeon Rock and the beaches which they had seen the day before. So we split and each went their own way.

We caught a cab to the beaches past the American University of Beirut. We walked along the boardwalk and watched the fisherman. Eventually we made our way to Pigeon Rock. Pigeon Rock is a natural rock formation a hundred yards of shore which has attracted many photographers and onlookers. It is gorgeous, but I’m not sure why it has become such a huge attraction…. We stopped at a café nearby and got some lemonade.

Pigeon Rock we continued down the board walk past the American University and down the harbor. Along the way I stopped to collect some sand from Lebanon, giving me sand from three Middle Eastern Countries (Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan). While walking back we did run into a funny café. The picture on the sign is an exact copy of UCSD’s mascot. I am pretty sure somebody stole our mascot… hehe.

We continued down the boardwalk until we reached the cross street that runs to our hostel. From there we left the beach and went to the hostel. We had earlier discovered that John, Jordan, and Joel are on our flight back to Cairo and had decided to meet there at 5:30. We got there first at around 5:15. The others arrived shortly after 5:30 and we all packed and got ready to go.

We were out of our hostel by 6 in the street trying to find a cab. We found one quickly who insisted that 5 (plus driver) guys with their bags could fit in his car built for four (plus driver). We decided that it was cheaper this way and all squeezed in. Talk about a tight fit. Luckily the drive to the airport was short (approximately 20 minutes).

We arrived at the airport and went through ‘security’. I say this in quotes because I’m pretty sure I could have smuggled anything in my bags with the lack of attention they paid to the passengers and scanners. It worked out decently for me though, because I was carrying three water bottles full of sand through the airport. I don’t know how they would have reacted, but I figure its best to avoid any issues when possible.

After security we checked in and walked to the terminal. We all found our way to the café near our gate and grabbed some sandwiches while we waited. Half an hour later we were boarding the plane and on our way back to Cairo.

The flight took 2 hours but we gained an hour in time zone changes. We landed at 10 pm local time. We left the plane and walked through the health inspection (stifling any thoughts of coughing). After health inspection we had our visas checked, went through customs, and were on to baggage claim. Luckily for me I didn’t have to retrieve any baggage from baggage claim, unluckily for me the four people I was traveling with did.

After getting our bags we waded through the sharks trying to get our warm bodies into their ‘limos’. We finally worked our way outside and tracked down a cab. This however, is not an easy task because cabs are not allowed to circle the terminal. We had to walk to the parking lots and negotiate out there. I decided that I would jump in a taxi with the others and go to Zamalek. It would take a little longer but save me money in the long run.

I got out of the cab with Mike near his apartment in Zamalek. I decided to walk with him to his apartment and split from there. I went upstairs with him and said hi to Jesse. I found out from her that Evan was on his way over and decided to wait for him. This of course turned into me staying at Mike, Jesse, and Ben’s for the next couple of hours. We drank a few beers, told of our adventures and hung out.

At two o’clock I was starting to get tired. I decided I was going to catch a cab back to our place in Garden City. Evan decided he would join me and we were on our way.

Got back to our apartment and unpacked. Called the parentals and Sara. Then went to bed

Day 38: October 1

Woke up at around ten today. Mike and I decided that we wanted to walk around the city and do some exploring. However, it was probably prudent to first get our tickets to return home.

We used the wireless internet at the hostel to check for flights and prepared to book. I filled out all my info and clicked the book button but got back the message ‘insufficient funds’. This confused me because to my knowledge I should have more than enough in my account to buy the tickets.

However, I logged onto Wells Fargo and was shocked to find my account almost empty. Apparently my roommates in San Diego had not deposited my rent checks from a few months ago and decided to do it just now…. So now I am in Beirut with just over 200 dollars. Yikes!

I was, however, able to rearrange my funds in my savings so that I could purchase the tickets… with little to spare. I quickly sent off emails to my broker back home to wire me some funds. Lucky for me I was with Mike who could lend me some money for getting around Beirut.

We decided to put this behind us and enjoy the city. We left the city and walked towards what is called the ‘historical’ part of the city. This however, is kind of a misnomer as the city has been mostly rebuilt following the civil war.

There is a path going through the city which runs past many landmarks and historical sites. We decided that this was the best way to start. We started by walking past the Khatem Al Anbiyaa Mosque. This is perhaps the most famous and gorgeous mosque in Beirut. After this we headed over to the government buildings and the remains of the Roman baths.

From there we passed by a few of the older churches and mosques that are everywhere in the city. It was really weird to see so many Churches in a country I typically associate with Islam. However, I guess there is a large Christian contingent in Lebanon.

We eventually found ourselves in the downtown region, which is surprisingly modern. I mean seriously this could have been any city in the USA. Most of the billboards were even in English! It was really weird walking through this part of town. The look and feel was just so much different than what I had grown accustomed too.

We continued to follow the path through downtown to what was called a souq. Apparently the old souq had kept its name but gotten a facelift. It was pretty much a modern mall. Actually it pretty much was a mall. Very different from the souqs in Syria.

From here we decided to walk to the harbor and from there to the American University in Beirut. We passed many more churches and mosques on the way. We also passed many buildings that still showed signs of damage from the civil war. This included bullet holes and explosion damage… apparently these were the buildings that had not yet been rebuilt or fixed.

We made our way down to the harbor and walked along the boardwalk. By this time it was getting near 1pm and neither Mike nor I had eaten yet. We decided to stop at the local McDonalds and grab a burger. We went in and ate a burger… not bad for McDonalds.

With our bellies full we went off continued down the boardwalk and on to the American University. We got there without any difficulty, and were even let in by showing our Cairo ID’s. We spent an hour and a half walking around and exploring the campus. The campus was gorgeous. Older than the Cairo campus but with more vegetation. It had a different charm that AUC. It also had a nice ocean view.

We continued to walk around and check out the buildings. We even spent some time looking through their tiny bookstore. After we had seen all there was to see we exited the campus on the opposite side and started to head back towards the hostel. We decided to take a different route so that we could see more of the city. We even found a Crispy Cream just off campus.

We arrived back at the hostel around 5 and waited for Joel, John, and Jordan to return. They returned at around 5:30 and we all headed down to a shwarma shop they found. It was good, but not quite as good as Syrian Shwarma.

Afterwards we returned to our hostel to hang out a bit before the bars opened. We got a few beers from the hostel and chilled in the lounge with some two Austrians (Philip and Karl) and a French girl. Really fun to talk to them because they all had different backgrounds and travel stories. We chilled for a few hours and at nine decided that it was suitable late to head to the bars.

We walked down the street and onto the main strip where most of the bars and clubs were located. We picked the first one that looked good and went in. It was a four story bar, however it wasn’t very full. Apparently in Lebanon the work week is Monday-Friday not like most other Middle Easter countries who go from Sunday-Thursday. Full or not, we still had a good time.

Most of the group attached themselves to some Lebanese girls on the first floor. I however found two Brits that were living in Beirut and talked with them for an hour. It was fun practicing my Arabic and discussing life in Lebanon. After a few hours at the bar we decided to try and get into the local clubs.

The girls we were hanging out with told us that it would be hard to get in but that they could get us in. We decided it was our best shot and went with them. One had a car and she drove us to Sky Bar, the biggest club in Lebanon. We got there quickly but when we tried to get in we were told it was closing… I’m pretty sure that’s not true, but most clubs don’t let groups of 7 guys in. We decided to try one more club… similar result…. We decided that maybe it was time to get home.

We got a ride back to our hostel. It was near 2am by this point, but we were all starving. There was a hot dog stand a few blocks down from our hostel which we decided to go visit. It wasn’t exactly a New York hot dog but it sure was tasty.

Afterwards the seven of us headed up to our perspective rooms and fell asleep.

Syria in Review:

Syria was simply amazing. Everything about it was exactly the opposite of what I expected. The state department would have you believe that Syria is a country hostile to Americans. As I already mentioned I also expected it to be a much more arid climate.

Both these things proved to be the exact opposite. The people went out of their way to help us and were nothing but nice. And like I said the landscape was composed of lush farmlands.

I really wish I had more time to spend in Damascus. The culture and history here are extremely rich. It was truly enjoyable to spend time in the cities and just interact. In addition to this, he exchange rate was excellent, The food was great, and the city was beautiful. In all honesty I loved everything about Damascus.

Day 37: September 30

Woke up today to the crackling of the loud speakers. However, the call to prayer never came on…. Seems they malfunctioned today. Blessed Silence, how I missed you. We did however, get out of bed at 8 to make it to the Crac De Chevaliers. We went downstairs and wolfed some food before catching a taxi to the bus station.

At the bus station we were swarmed by people trying to get us on their busses. We eventually found the correct bus and boarded. It took us out to a small city in the countryside of Syria. From there we had to catch a minibus to the Crac De Chevaliers. It was amazing driving through the countryside of Syria. My preconceived notion of Syria and the rest of the Middle East was a desert. However, the countryside could have easily been mistaken for California. It was covered with farmland, forests, and meadows. Not at all what I expected.

After three hours of driving (2 in the big bus and 1 in the minibus) we arrived at the Crac De Chevaliers. The Crac de Chevaliers is a Castle that was built by the Crusaders during their attempt to retake the Holy Land. It was held by the Crusader’s until they were driven from the land. It was then held by the Muslims until the 19th Century when gunpowder made Castles obsolete. Now it is considered the best preserved Crusader castle in the Middle East.

Most of our group was very excited to see the castle. Except for Jasmine… who just wanted to shop back in Damascus (honestly she is a nice girl but her attitude is occasionally annoying). Anyways, we payed the entry and went in.

It was amazing to walk through the castle and see where the Crusaders lived and fought for so long. Very impressive and well preserved. I spend most of the time walking around with Jake and Henry. We spent our time walking around the exterior of the castle and then worked our way into the citadel. The citadel was an impressive structure and larger than many I saw when in Ireland. It’s always crazy to think about people making these huge rock structures without modern power tools.

We spent the next three hours walking around enjoying the history. The best part for me was climbing the three towers and looking out over the surrounding countryside. From there you can almost imagine what a lookout would have seen hundreds of years ago. The land just seemed to spread out all around us.

Unfortunately we eventually had to leave to make it back to Damascus. We caught the minibus back to the bus station and again found a public bus back to Damascus. Once back in Damascus we made our way back to the hostel.

Mike and I decided that it was time for us to push onto Lebanon. We made a quick run out to the souqs so Mike could do some last minute shopping. After grabbing a few things we made our way back to the hostel to pack and leave. We grabbed our last Syrian Schwarma on the way and gobbled it down. Half an hour later we were all packed and ready to leave.

We made our way downstairs and caught a taxi to the bus station. We made our way to a small section of the station dedicated to travelers going on to Lebanon. It was kinda sketchy. It was pretty much a poorly lit parking lot with cars and taxi’s willing to drive people across the border. We put our feelers out and found what we thought to be the best cabbie and got in.

We were sharing the cab with three Arabs, ourselves, and the driver. Most of us were quiet on the way to the border, kinda an awkward tension between people that don’t know each other and have a language gap. We got to the border without any issue and paid our exit fee. However, we were running seriously low on Syrian currency and were hoping the entry fee wouldn’t be too high.

We walked into the entry station and went to the foreigner line. We were greeted by a Lebanese army officer who inquired about our stay, etc. He found out we were only going to be in the country for a few days and put us down for a free transit visa… I love this country already. With that taken care of we went back to our awaiting taxi.

The Arabs at first were complaining about how long it took (assuming that we didn’t understand what was being said.) However, they were shocked when I responded and apologized in Arabic. Their jaws literally dropped. Pretty funny. They were really excited to meet a white person that spoke Arabic and were quick to jump on the opportunity to ask me anything and everything that I understood. It made the cab ride allot more interesting, and in my opinion really fun. It was the first time in awhile I had not been surrounded by Americans and it allowed me to practice my Arabic a bit more.

Anyways we arrived in Beirut with no problems. The taxi driver even took us to an exchange to trade my remaining Jordanian Dinar to Lebanese pounds. This is good because I’m not sure I would have been able to pay the driver otherwise.

One of the guys I met in the taxi was a banker from Damascus doing training in Lebanon. He spoke German, English, and Arabic. Really nice to talk to and very helpful. He volunteered to stay with us in the taxi until we were dropped off. This turned out to be really useful because apparently our drivers original thought had been to drop the two Americans at the bus stop and let them fend for themselves. However, with a little coxing from our new friend, the driver took us straight to our hostel (The New Talaal Hostel).

We got there and made our way into the hostel. At this point we were flying by the seat of our pants because we didn’t have a reservation or a backup plan. And wouldn’t you know… there was no room at the inn. However, they decided they could fit us on the balcony. At this point it was near 1 am and we were more than willing to take anything. They showed us out to the balcony. The balcony was actually the size of a big bedroom and more than accommodated the two of us. We also got a nice breeze….

We were both exhausted and decided it was time to head for bed. While getting ready we ran into some other AUC kids outside the bathroom. Some guys we knew decently, John, Jordan, and Paul. An unexpected surprise, but nice to see some familiar faces.

Anyways, finished getting ready and passed out.

Day 36: September 29

Keeping with the tradition of the trip we got the 4:45 wake up call. The nearest mosque was not as close as yesterday but was definitely close enough to wake us up.

We decided that today was going to be our ‘sleep in day’ so we ended up rolling out of bed at 10. We went downstairs and grabbed breakfast and made the game plan for the day. We all decided that we wanted to see the part of the city called Old Damascus. Old Damascus is located near the middle of the city and has many historical mosques as well as the old city walls.

We briefly split ways and decided to meet near the Umayyad Mosque at noon. A good portion of our group decided to go to the internet café and find plane flight from Damascus to Cairo. I decided to get a shower because I was feeling pretty dirty.. Anyways, Mike, Corley, and I were the only ones still at the hostel at 11:30 so we decided to walk over to the Umayyad Mosque together. We arrived shortly before noon and waited for the rest of the group. Jasmine, Jeanna, and Henry rolled up shortly after 12, but the rest of the group was nowhere to be seen. After waiting for 15 minutes we decided we

couldn’t wait any longer and went to buy our entry into the mosque.
After purchasing our tickets the girls got outfitted with cloaks to cover their arms, hair, and legs so that they were considered suitable to enter the mosque. They looked a little ridiculous, but it’s part of the experience. We went to the main entrance, removed our shoes, and went in.

It was absolutely breath-taking. The Mosque is covered in marble, granite, and gold. The inner courtyard was about the size of a football field with the mosque circling around it. At different points along the mosque were three humungous minarets (towers). The architecture was absolutely amazing, and it’s just one of those things you can’t explain with words (check out my pictures).
We spent the next hour and a half walking around the Mosque in awe of its splendor. We spent time checking out the courtyard and minarets (One of which is colloquially known as the ‘Jesus Minaret’ because the local Christians think he will reappear there during the second coming..). After that we went into the Main hall.

The main hall (South Wing) is a hall that runs the length of complex and has a gorgeous vaulted domed ceiling adorned with stained glass. This hall is where the Muslims come to pray and listen to teachings from the Koran. Also inside the main hall is the Shrine of John the Baptist. It is an amazingly elaborate emerald green, stained glass structure, supposedly housing the head of John the Baptist. It was amazing to see the Muslim men and women congregate around this structure to pray and weep over someone I typically associate with Christianity.

We spent the better part of an hour sitting inside the main hall taking in the beauty and majesty of the place. We did however, have one hitch… halfway through we (I) realized the reason no other women were on our side of the mosque… It was because there was a men’s and women’s side of the mosque. Oops. I pointed this out to the girls who for the most part went over without any fuss. Except of course for Jasmine (the fight for your rights African American Woman of the group) who had to point out the sexism in the system… sigh (yes Dorothy we aren’t in Kansas anymore).
After getting our fill of the South Wing, Mike and I went over to check out the North Wing. The North wing was mostly closed due to maintenance on one of the minarets. However, there shrine located on the south side to Ali Ibn Husayn, showing where he used to pray (also contains his prayer rug) was open. It was crazy. The glass case enclosing the area was being swarmed by women and men trying to touch the glass. They were crying and weeping. Truly impressive.

After exiting the South Wing we all met up in the courtyard and exited together. We actually ran into the rest of the group just outside the Mosque. Apparently getting tickets had taken them allot of time and effort. We huddled together and decided that we wanted to check out the surrounding area and meet up again near the hostel at 5:30 to see the sunset.

Henry, Carter, Mike, Same, Jake, Jeanna, and I decided we wanted to walk the perimeter of the wall and see the Christian/Jewish quarters in Old Damascus. We walked around for some time just taking in the sights and feel of the city. All the people we met were helpful and friendly. We eventually stopped to get some schwarma from a local stand. Just as good as the night before!

While looking around we found another large mosque in back streets of Old Damascus. We went in and found ourselves in a crowd of pilgrims going to pay tribute to one of Mohamed relatives. Apparently housed in the Mosque was a mausoleum devoted to this relative. I thought the crowds trying to see Ali Ibn Husayn’s shrine were frantic…. This was ten times as crazy. We stayed long enough to check out the mosque and shrine, but not much longer.

Eventually we found our way into the Jewish quarter. It was interesting to walk around there for a little while. Kinda sad too... the area was covered in graffiti and swastikas. From there we continued to walk through the city. At one point we were swarmed by a group of school children yelling that we were spies… because we wouldn’t play soccer with them. We walked around the city for awhile longer, following the walls to the old entrance gates. It was really cool to see the old gates to the city.
After walking around for awhile longer, we found ourselves near the mosque again. Those that hadn’t seen the mosque went to go check it out while Henry, Mike, and I decided to look around the small shops. We eventually ended up back in the hand crafted section looking at all the cool stuff. We walked around for awhile and somehow Mike got separated from me and Henry. Henry and I decided to stop in a café and get some tea.

It was nice to sit and chat after walking around all day. It was also the first time I really got to talk to Henry one on one. He is from LA and attends UCLA, so we had a fair amount of common ground. Turns out he knows Jake Walker from Valley. He also is involved heavily in Campus Crusade at UCLA. It was nice to be able to talk about religion and similar issues with someone that had similar viewpoints as me. So far this trip I had felt like a large minority with my more conservative views. Henry and I decided that we would hold a Bible study together on campus to keep ourselves grounded while abroad. I’ll be honest I am truly looking forward to this.

After we were done with our tea we went back out into the street. From there we browsed a bit longer. I did some Christmas shopping for mom, dad, and Sara. I also decided on what I’m getting Andrew. After I was done with that I went to one of the art shops and bought myself some black and white paintings. It was really fun to talk and haggle with the store owners.

We were running late for our rendezvous back at the hostel so Henry and I booked it back. We arrived just in time to jump in the taxi with our group and head up the mountain side. We ended up on the side of the mountain looking down over the city. From there we watched the sun set over Damascus. It was gorgeous. The city was sprawled out before us interlaced with the forests on the east. The city was beautiful during sunset, but in my opinion it was more impressive after dark. Every mosque in Damascus is adorned with green lights (the color of Islam). You could see green lights everywhere, dotting the city.

We eventually headed back into the city and from there we went to the souqs. We decided to walk around the souqs and old Damascus at night. It is amazing to see all the old structures lit up with lights. We decided to change it up and get falafel tonight. Good, but the schwarma was better. After awhile we all walked back and found ourselves reading and hanging out at the hostel.
Jeanna, Henry, and I decided we would rather be out in Damascus than sitting inside. We went to an old café near the Umayad Mosque. It is renowned as the only one that still has a storyteller. We got there and ordered some tea. We sat and talked for an hour and a half until they closed. I really enjoyed talking with the two of them because I got to know them better.

Unfortunately no storyteller showed up. Either they don’t do it anymore or the times were posted incorrectly. Kinda bummed out but I enjoyed just talking. We eventually headed back (after stopping for ice cream) to our hostel. From there we went to sleep.