Welcome to Syria

Boston Time: 1:22 PM 25 May
Damascus Time: 8:22 PM 25 May

“If you don’t have a past, you’ll never have a future.”

On our first full day in Syria, our guide, Osama, educated us a bit on Syria’s cultural history with a tour of the National Museum. There we saw many old Syrian and Islamic artifacts including carved tablets, Roman statues, iron jewelry and ancient clay cookie cutters, to name a few. One exhibit was a very old synagogue dated from the 2nd century CE. While synagogues and mosques are free of imagery that could be considered idolatry, this synagogue was special and rare because its walls and ceilings were completely covered in frescos of Scriptural scenes. Osama pointed out one wall’s painting of the Jewish woman Esther, whom Osama said is the woman depicted in Starbuck’s logo (due to the companies Zionist leadership.)

We also visited the shrine of Salahuddin at the Umayyad Mosque, the Azem Palace, the Christian section of Old Damascus, and the adjoining market place where you can find the most delicious falafel wrap sandwich you will ever eat. The tiny stand is adorned with lettuce and other fresh vegetation and looks like it belongs in that painting where the man’s face is made of fruits and vegetables. The falafel men behind the window partner the donut shaped falafel with a glorious combination of fresh fruits and veggies including lettuce, tomatoes, sliced lemon, and mint, tied together in a fresh pita. For 25 Syrian Lire, or less than 50 cents, it is the most lovely fast meal you might ever find. For my first one, it simply smelled so amazing and felt so clean and fresh, I didn’t even consider that maybe I should be a bit careful with the vegetables, etc. It was quickly devoured and we returned the next day. Delicious.

Another big deal here in the Middle East, or at least Egypt and Syria is fresh fruit. After our 25 SL meal, I had a fresh squeezed orange juice for 150 SL. Another flavor that cannot be missed is cantaloupe juice! I cannot wait to go to Haymarket after my return home to stack up on the melon and attempt to recreate the refreshing green drink.

Alexandria Holiday

Boston Time: 5:20 AM 16 May
Cairo Time: 12:20 PM 16 May

Thursday afternoon we took a “vacation” to Alexandria and a small group of us returned Friday evening.

Alexandria was not as youthful as Cairo and much more conservative. There were only a handful of non-tourist women without hijab and with their hair exposed. Many more women were wearing the full abeyya complete with the niqab face veil, some even covering their eyes—not the beach attire I am accustomed to.

We got a few rooms at the formerly quaint “bottom of the rung” Hotel Acropole which is located on the 4th floor of a back alley building which also hosts offices and a door-less elevator. While some students decided the accommodations were not to their liking and chose to find an alternative, the rest of us stayed, plotting out the details of our murders in the would-be fantastical horror flick that the Acropole inspired and we all expected. I chose not to participate and only to listen to this discussion which admittedly started to irk me after a few minutes. For some reason, I was chosen as the sole survivor, however I would forever be tormented by mental illness due to the scaring events I had witnessed. We all survived the night—a disappointment to some who were hoping for more excitement at the supposedly 15 LE/night hotel. In the end, it was still only 50 LE each (less than $10) and there were no serious bug bite incidents, even by those few who ventured into their sheets.

The Fish Market, “the most upmarket fish restaurant in Alexandria, with prime views over the Eastern Harbor and flashy silver service,” was in stark contrast to our sleeping arrangements. The fish was fresh on ice and sold by the kilo. After picking out your meal, requesting fried or grilled, you can sit and soak in the clean environment overlooking the harbor. I enjoyed grilled grouper, two giant shrimp and lovely warm, freshly baked brick-oven pita.

The sleep at the Acropole was not dreadful, and we awoke Friday morning for a trip to the beach. To get there, we had to drive through King Farouq’s Palace and pay another entrance fee to use the beach (and another for an umbrella.) When we arrived there were only local young men at the beach, who quickly began showing off and blatantly staring at us. Their peacocking was entertaining as they flexed, posed for pictures, and wrestled in the sand; I tried not to be too obvious watching them, hiding behind my giant hat and sunglasses—if they could look why couldn’t I? Eventually some women came to the beach too, although they certainly were not wearing bathing suits. Most of us girls kept our shirts on at all times, even when swimming, as it offered protection from both the sun and the unwelcome gazes of nearby men.

Emily, Stephanie, Christina, Andrea and I explored down the beach to a lighthouse and interacted with some small boys who were jumping off the stone bridge. Stephanie and Emily had fun with them, taking their pictures as they jumped into the water.

We headed back to the Hotel Acropole to change clothes and find a nice place to have a cheap lunch. Next, we slowly made our way to the Library and had pastries. After stowing our belongings in the van, Emily, Clarice, Christina and I took a taxi to the Citadel/Fort Qaitbey down al-Corniche. Though the merchants there were packing up for the day, Emily and Clarice found some lovely scarves and souvenirs. We attempted to find our way into the Fort but somehow we bought tickets for a tiny diorama museum of underwater scenes and a large whale skeleton.

We strolled leisurely back towards the square where we were to meet the rest of the group to re-disburse into the city for dinner or head back to Cairo on the vans. On the way, we discovered the local Friday evening hangout for families and young couples. Everyone seemed to be eating ice cream, so we dedicated ourselves to finding the dessert’s source. If everyone was enjoying the ice cream, it had to be safe to eat. We did find the small hole-in-the wall stand, their menus completely in Arabic (a promising sign for a genuine Alexandrian treat.) We awkwardly tried to order and it was delicious: milk flavor (essentially vanilla), strawberry, chocolate and cantaloupe! So delicious in fact that we didn’t think twice when told it would be 60 LE for the four of us. Amazingly, after a few more awkward transactions, we realized it was only 6 LE! Our ice cream dinner cost us 27 cents each (thanks, Christina!) There will most definitely be a return trip for more in a few weeks.

Check out my peers’ blogs via the main page “NU in the Middle East” for more insight onto the Alexandrian weekend.