Renewed Interest?

I was checking the site stats recently and it appears as if there remains a steady interest in this blog, despite the recent lack of activity. I was pleasantly surprised by this, so much so that I have decided to post a little update to cover the last 3+ years.

I returned to Damascus at the start of 2008, and remained there almost continuously until late 2010. During this period I settled into a busy work schedule and social life. In fact, I had the time of my life, meeting some amazingly talented people from all over the world, some of whom I hope to stay friends with for many years to come.

During this period the transformation of my relationship to Syria became complete. No longer was I the wide-eyed tourist of March 2006. Instead, what had been unusual had become banal, the extraodinary was now everyday. Perhaps I was 'going native'. I certainly passed from the point of being an outsider to being an insider. I never did formulate a way to deal with this... However, I did realise that a detached 'been there, done that' attitude wouldn't make for riveting reading.

For the curious here are some highlights you missed:

• totally rocking the crowd at MarMar, one of the city's most famous nightclubs, on the night Michael Jackson died. Not sure they were totally prepared for the sound of Dave Digital, but they were dancing on the tables anyway!
• Ramadan road trip with Mehyar, Muntajab, Sarah and Adeline. We may have failed to get a decent coffee but we certainly found out that Syrians are not going to let a trivial thing like fasting get in the way of their summer holiday fun.
• Having visa problems and literally being barred from leaving Syria - sounded alright to me! (contrary to the rumours, I did not smuggle myself out in a burka!)
• Tom, Matt, Takeshi and I driving up to the far NE of Syria in one mad 14-hr dash, (dinner in Damascus, breakfast on the Tigris) including several run-ins with Syria's finest. On the way back we stayed in the dirtiest hotel in the world (whose location I will keep a secret, just to ensure that some poor Lonely Planet writer will have to endure what we went through, hehe)
• getting to know the 150+ students I taught in my time there, young people from many backgrounds, ethnicities and religious groups. I may have been their teacher but actually, it was I who learned a lot from them and they gave me hope for the future of Syria, and indeed, the wider Middle East.

Finally, and despite all the excuses I've been making, I did actually keep writing. In fact I have literally hundreds of pages of notes waiting for the inspiration and inclination to make them come alive. Combined they might make good material for a book, if there are any publishing house editors out there, GET IN TOUCH! :-) LOL

This year I am intending to return to the region again... Back on the Road to Damascus...
Maybe, once more, I'll invite some readers along for the ride.

Best wishes,

Dave (malik ash-sham!) ;-)