Sitting in the Al Patra Hotel listening to the Arabic interpretation of George W. Bush's speech to the U.N. It seems George W. is walking the same line. Given Osama Bin Ladin's latest released tape it sounds like both sides are confident. The talk around the Middle East I imagine is whether or not the bombing will continue over Ramadan... Although very little danger exists or concern seems necessary here in Syria or Turkey where I left, the Islamic holy month, starting next Friday, should be interesting.
I don't have much to discuss, but I thought I might mention a few things I encountered today. I spent the morning walking around the Christian quarter of Damascus' old city. While there wasn't anything spectacular to see, I did bump into a friendly gentleman outside of St. Paul's church. He seemed to be a deacon or some type of care taker for the church. He invited me in and spent the next 45 minutes giving me the stories behind every painting, every statue, every Syrian saint, every Syrian martyr, and every relic contained or documented within the church walls. While I'm not much of a Christian scholar, his tour was exceptional. He was a friendly soul in a city that hasn't yet grown on me. Damascus with its relatively indifferent and busy population and its carbon monoxide atmosphere couldn't really grow on anyone.
Later, after visiting a few more mediocre sites in the Christian and Jewish quarters I headed back to the hotel passing along a long wide street called "Straight Street" (of all things). The street was packed with children dressed military style all piling onto ancient buses decorated excessively with paint, gold, and Arabic calligraphy. Some of these buses looked about 40-60 years old sputtering black smoke and filled to over-capacity. Safety and patience are foreign concepts to the Syrians. Whether it's dangerously crowded buses, speeding-unyielding-horn-honking cars, pollution of all kinds, or the incessant smoking of the entire population, nobody gets out of Damascus without some health impact. For me it's a throat and nose full of disgusting black residue. For others who knows? It's hard to explain how dirty things are in this city. I'm looking forward to escaping the city and seeing the desert environment away from the incessant honking of ramshackle cars, unfinished cement atrocities, and scum that may have permanently stained my lungs.
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