This was one of those events that, in my ignorance, I would never have dreamed I would find in Damascus. I mean its not "typical" Syria (whatever that means) - it was an obviously middle class audience - but it is still part of this place's make-up and a far cry from the kind of distorted image that even we "interested" people have about this place.
The weather here is starting to really heat up - April was very changeable, but its now sunny and warm every day - and everyone tells us its just gonna get hotter. Strewth! Thankfully my factor 15 is preventing me burning too much, though I'm not changing colour too much - a nice tan for once in my life would be nice :-) (though maybe I'm getting one - just too slow and subtle for me to notice..?)
In this weather its nice to go to one of the many parks that you can find, especially in the western (more affluent) part of central Damascus (below, Tishreen park, now full of cherry blossom).
Speaking of relaxation, on Monday night I went to a hammam (a public bath) - a lad's only excursion, which C-lo was a little disappointed about (some hammams have women-only hours during the day but never at night). It was a great experience - I steamed the dust from my pores before having a scrub and a massage to put my back back in order after 5 weeks sleeping on a rubbishy mattress. So good! To cap off all the relaxation, whilst sitting swathed in towels (like a mummy!) drying off, we had tea and a nargileh (water pipe). When I came home my skin was so soft and I smelled beautiful.
Tuesday we went to check out some live music in a bar in central Damascus, near the posh hotels. It was a swish place, kinda reminded me of the stylish bars in London that I never go to
. The crowd was a little thin and a contrasting mix of rich Arabs (some old man with young girl dynamics going on, plus small groups of young Syrians from wealthy families) and European students there to see their mates play some "Latin" music. It was nice to hear some blues and some Latin (the Arabic pop can be too much sometimes - overproduced and a little sickening y'know), and, though it wasn't the kinda place I'd choose to go to back home, it felt comforting to sit and have a couple of beers in a bar for once.
Oh yeah, and we've been studying hard - I'm getting pretty good at writing simple sentences, but I'm still unable to speak anything but the most rudimentary sentence. Slowly, slowly...
