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Other entries in Damascus

for all you plant lovers

The diversity of flora in the region is wildly entertaining - cacti, palm trees, floating giants that look like weeping willows, sturdy coniferous varieties... I know I'm relaxed when I start contemplating plant species.

dry and brittle

they prostrate to the constant sun

bent in a permanent submission -

others shoot up

like emerald arrows

desperate to reach the sky /

then black ones like feathers position themselves:

noble chess pieces in the clay fields.

Damascus itself is very dry and dusty; there is constant activity on the streets, and the rough soundtrack of car engines is punctuated by the odd bus-horn: a cacophony of major triads. Then there are the church bells, pulled by an eager youngster or an uncoordinated elder - either way loud, obnoxiously arhythmical, yet somehow cheerful and intimate. The deep "bongs" resound in the bones well after the fact.

Today is a day of rest; thank goodness. I was happy to putter around the streets this morning, watching as the shops that were closed for Friday opened today (it is hard to predict which shops will follow the Thursday/Friday weekend, and which ones will follow the Saturday/Sunday weekend). Some people scrubbed clean the sidewalk in front of their shops, pushing the frothy residue into the streets - Street Juice! (We still have to write that tune, bass!). Ambreen and I were invited into a shopkeeper's home for cahwey and crips, so we learned a bit about his large family - mostly abroad now in Germany and Canada. We found that the older generation understand our fus-ha (standard arabic, which to the local ears is understandable but sounds a bit like shakespeare), whereas the youngsters laugh at our funny speech.

We are all slightly reluctant for the week of classes to begin, if only because we are enjoying exploring so much!