Goodbye Damas

I am writing this post as I have just a few hours left in this city on the edge of the desert that has come to be my home. I have had often confused feelings about this place, I guess like a love affair. Aside from big and complex issues, such as the continuing constraints on political and sexual freedom, I see many bad points and nuisances - for example, the shebab who drive the foreign girls crazy with their stares, harassment and even, in a few cases, assault. Then there is the oppressive heat. It hasn't dipped below 30C since April, and this week saw the first rain in four months. The Barada river has dried to a black trickle whose terrible stink has acquired such potency that it now has a physical force that hits you.

Nevertheless, this most ancient of all cities definitely has something, a mysterious feling which remains elusive and hard to define. Maybe I remain wedded to an Orientalist love of the exotic - certainly some of the appeal of Syria lies in it's 'otherness' related to the UK (though, paradoxically, much also feels familiar). But, I think, it is something greater than that. My best guess is that life is somehow warmer here - both climatically but also emotionally. Here I shed the breathless rush of London life, slowed down and savoured life - the smile of a stranger offering a glass of tea and the chat, the taste of a falafel sandwich or the apple-flavoured smoke from a nagileh, the ripe orange glow of the sunset behind the silhouette of the city and the plump bright moon suspended in the indigo sky.

Damascus, I'll miss you, but do not fret - I shall return!

Shout Outs to:
The Bab Saghir Posse: Brett, Dan, Jan, Manaf, Matteo & Laure, Rory, Somi, Munir & Paul ("nobody expects the BFLL")
Abdullah Ar-Rabie, Abudeh, Al Jazeera International Crew ("does it go up and down?"), Ali Mu'allim, Amelie, Amin, Andy and Bastian, Arbi, David, Fabian, Faisal, Felix, Frank, Hadi, Jackson, Jan (Lux), Joe, Jonas, Josef, Leah, Martina, Mayad and the Star-Crossed Lovers crew, Mohammed(s), Mohanned, the MSF Peeps (especially for those crazy moves on the Cave de Baal dancefloor), Naaz, Omar, Raf and Zaid.

Big hugs to Bencestan: Alina, Bence "El Presidente" & Queen Hermina, Dan, Ilaria, Ingrid & Eirin, Menno, Paul & Anna, Yasar and Claudia.

In the meantime I have more to add in the coming days, charting some of my last days in Damascus. Beyond that I think I will keep the blog going in anticipation of my return.