My first sip of beer in five days. Primarily due to two days of what I'll call Assad's revenge, and another few days due to Syria's cultural neglect of the drinking vice... Not too sure my stomach can take it, it's reacting poorly after the first sip.
I'm in Aleppo, Syria's second city and historically a market town bridging the gap between Asia Minor and Asia. The market legacy remains in Aleppo with its 10 miles of souqs (or covered markets) selling everything from fabric, to carpets, to gold, to nasty sheep heads... The souqs are basically tunnels lined with shops built a mere 400 years ago. It's funny to watch the shoppers. The western tourists stare into the shops with exotic spices, hanging meats, and such while the covered woman stare into the shops with mannequins clad in western clothes. The rest stare at the tourists, wave, and drink tea. I have this theory that the Syrian government requires all children under the age of twelve to wave madly, jump up and down, and swarm tourists. Every kid we pass on the road, in the city, or in the country waves and yells the typical "hallo". Today while visiting Aleppo's citadel I was swarmed by hundreds of children on field-trip wanting to shake my hand and ask my name. It was very nice, but very strange.
Syria (outside of Damascus) has been a pleasant surprise. Still the same old ancient ruins similar to Turkey, but something is different. The prices are the same, the people are less accustom to tourists, the government is hard-line, and the current events are compelling. Yesterday we traveled near the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. We walked through the Palestinian section of the town of Hama. The Syrians have strong opinions on the Palestine-Israel situation and they're not afraid to tell you their views or write it on a billboard. It's "Palestine for Palestinians" or " The Jews want peace and all the land, the Arabs won't agree to that". It's difficult not to sympathize with them.
Well, I think I'll switch from my journal to a few postcards. This beer may take a while. The blaring horns of Aleppo should keep me company while I write. My apologies to my avid journal readers, the Internet is pretty censored and locked down here in Syria preventing me from publishing and e-mailing without going through a safeweb site... Nothing like breaking the law in a terrorist supporting, totalitarian country. Hail Assad!
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