i havent updated in a really long time...this is going to be a hodge-podge.
my trip to iran was thwarted by the worst case of dysentary ive ever had. i was in bed for days, unable to move or function, which really sucked. the worst part about the whole thing is that now i have an iranian visa, which makes getting back in the states difficult (think, little room with 2 "buddies" from the NSA) and i dont have anything to show for it. hopefully sometime in the future...
my mom arrived in damascus last week, and weve had a great time together seeing sights, eating good food and shopping for at least 4 hours a day. i have some incredible pictures that ill need to post when i get home. having here here has been amazing, im so glad shes gotten to experience syria not as a packaged tourist, but as someone who gets thrown in to the thick of things--staying with my "family", riding micros, bartering at the souqs, eating street food...
the point of this entry, however, is how incredibly sad i am to leave this wonderful place. i love the sights, the sounds, the smells...
my 12 weeks in damascus have been truly amazing. aside from my immense improvements in language, i really feel that i am much more independent and more goal oriented.
in fact, ive decided to apply for a FULLBRIGHT!!! in yemen for the following year, studying the somailian diaspora in the gulf.
on another note, i feel increadibly confident that i represented my country in a positive and respectful way. there arent many americans in syria, which leaves media to set the stereotypical tone, one that makes it more difficult to seperate our public from our government. however, i cant recall a single case (in syria) where i wasnt treated with UTMOST respect, hospitality and curiosity when i told people i was an american. theres nothing i want more than for our government to lift our current economic sanctions and embargos on syria. but thats a whole different story...
i know ill miss my firends, teachers and um nader, my landlord. ill miss hearing the sounds of the horse and carrige that deliver fresh watermelon to my house every day, the smell of the spice souq that i walk through every day on my way home from class, the taste of blackberry juice that stains my teeth purple. ill miss going to ibrahims village and hearding goats, drinking on sunday afternoons with my friends at UNDOF, watching the stars come out from the courtyard--and dancing to nancy. ill miss riding teh blue and yellow bus to school, having adventures on micros, and syrian friends insisting on holding my hand when i cross the street. ill miss hearinf the call to prayer from the umayyed mosque, playing football with teh kids from the neighborhood orphanage, taking cold showeres and having no electricity in the afternoon. most of all ill miss the incredible sense of accomplishment i get when returning home after a long hot day in the laberenthine, exausting, crowded city that i now call home.
as wonderfull as syria has been, i cant help finding myself comparing this experience to my salaam summer in egypt. i would find myself smoking nargilla/shisha and missing holly. fighting with cab drivers and thinking of trent. going to the beach and wishing i was swimming with luli!! walking trough the souqs and wishing i could hear erics commentary. eating street food and thinking of shady. having translational mishaps and knowing that only kait could find the siuation to be hillarious. trying to go to the bathroom in the desert and wishing kasia was there for moral support. and finally, learning to swer in dialect is only fun with rudy and scott.
making a long point short, THANK YOU!!! to all the people ive met through salaam for givgin me the motivation to keep learning, questioning and experiencing...you will never know how much you all mean to me. you have made impossible standards to which the people i meet for the rest of my life will be measured. and for that, i am truly thankful.
and with that, im packing up, and travelling 37 hours to atlanta to knock back some cold ones with scott...
thank you for letting me share this experience with me.
ill-ah li-qah sham...i know ill be back.
