Days 10-14

So my first week of Arabic classes went well, I haven't learned anything new yet as I already know the grammar that we have been covering. I finally got all my paperwork in for taking the classes after I paid $30 to the US embassy for a sheet of paper. By the way the US embassy is shitty here I don't know who would want to go to the US once the see the embassy lol. The past couple of days has been as hot as hell around 96 and later next week its only going to get hotter, but I now have a fan. Today I spent 30min looking for sour cream for tacos- which I found in a supermarket- to no avail. Last night I went to a park and drank with some other students and Syrians. It's nice being able to buy liquor and beer until 2AM, although I can only by from the Christians since Muslims can't sell alcohol at least Christians have some use? This past week the secret police have been trying to locate all the foreigners and of course me being an American male makes me a person of interest because I have so much spare time to work for the CIA it's not like I'm learning Chinese, Russian and Arabic or something. They asked my landowner if I was good, why I was in Damascus and why I was studying Arabic- which I can't even answer why I am studying it, but oh well not much I can do since they won't actually ask me. This week was my first time on the bus also which is an adventure in itself as its worse than the Loops in State College at 2AM on a Friday night.

Days 7-9

I got nice and cooked at the beach in Beirut. We went to the nearest free beach which happens to be near south Beirut which is where the most conservative Beruitis are along with Hezbollah, but we had no problems. Afterwords I rested up and went with Laura to a beach party, which turned out lame. The was no one there, the singer lip-sung, there was only one free drink with $30 cover and it was tiny. We decided to leave the party around 2AM and went for hookah at some fancy hookah place downtown. We only got to bed around 4:30 AM. The next we got up by noon to go downtown to see all the sights there; the mosque, Beirut clock tower etc. We left Beirut around 6PM and didn't get back to Damascus until 10:30 thanks to the arduous process of crossing the border. Today was my first day of Arabic at the university. Classes are from 9AM-1PM and have three ten minute breaks and a fifteen minute break to try and hold our attention. Tomorrow I get to visit the embassy which should be a fun experience trying to get the paperwork I need and such.

Days 5-6

Yesterday I got my AIDS test done for my classes at the university and was given a clean bill of health and was able to register for my classes today. I got placed into level 4 of Arabic at the university, I don't know if that is good or bad, but I will find out Sunday. Yesterday I just relaxed until night when my Italian housemates and I took their little silver Kia Morning rental car for a spin back up the mountain. Today the same Italians and I drove to Beirut, Lebanon today. It was stressful it took at least an hour and a half to go through the borders, countless fee's, and a threatening to through his shoe at the car unless we gave him money... we won that game of chicken. We got into to Beirut around seven and plan to spend the rest of the night relaxing. We are staying with my friend Laura from Lancaster and Penn State for the weekend-Thursday night to Saturday night. Tomorrow we will hit the beach and sight see and I'm going with Laura to a beach party so that should be interesting. Until later ciao!

Day 4

Last night I went with my housemates to a mountain just outside of downtown, as the rented a car to go to the Golan Heights. The drive was crazy but we could see the entire city from the top of the mountain. Today I took my Arabic placement test it was pretty stupid to say the least. They didn't explain the directs that were in Arabic so it was difficult to understand what they wanted. It consisted of three parts: listening, reading and vocabulary, writing, and an interview. After that I took a cab to the US Embassy, which was worthless cause you need an appointment. So next story is far more interesting... I got in a taxi to go home and the driver started talking to me and such, me figuring he was being nice talked back. Eventually I figured something wasn't right as we weren't on the right road. He then started telling me that it costs 5000 Syrian pounds to get to where I live which in reality is only 50 or a dollar and a nickle. By I was beginning to get pissed and started arguing with him and he refused to take me there for it so I told him to stop where we were and he refused so I started to open the door and prepare for a tuck and roll. He stopped finally and I paid him for his worthless driving around and got another taxi that took me back to my area. So lesson learned don't try and be nice with the taxi driver, if so maybe next time I'll threaten to call the police which should get them to stop quickly. Other than this the day has been pretty uneventful.

Day 3

Today I finally made my way to the university to get all my paperwork so tomorrow I can get all my medical tests and go to the US embassy to get a letter saying that they have no authority of what I do in Syria... I know it's weird but the university wants a letter of no objection by our embassy. I finally have a place to live, I decide on staying in the same place I have been living since I arrived. This weekend I'm going to Beirut with my housemates so that should be a lot of fun. I finally have found an internet cafe with "free wireless" all I have to do is buy a beer or two so I guess I will have to suffer with that ;). But that is all for now ma3 salama!

Days 1-2

So after 30 hours in transit, being awoken by a posse of Hasidic Jews in Heathrow that thought it would be nice to congregate around me, I arrived in Syria. So far everything is great I have had no problems at all immigration was a breeze, all I had to say was that I was going to study Arabic at the university. My first night was okay, but I was awoken and keep getting awoken at 5:30 in the morning because of the call to prayer... it doesn't help that there is a mosque right beside where I'm staying and I swear the loudspeaker is pointed at my room. Much of yesterday I spent lounging around just getting used to the time etc. Today I ventured, with some people who are living in the same house as me, to the bazaars. It was a very interesting experience there are hundreds of shops with many selling the same items. Oh and by the way Damascus is extremely cheap I can live off of $20 a day with food and accommodation no problem. But anyways I'm getting tired, but I feel completely safe more so than I did when some scary Jersey person sat behind me on the train to Newark.

Day Before Departure

May 12th has just about come, so as promised I will be writing a blog about my experiences studying in Syria and traveling to Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. I leave for Damascus, Syria tomorrow at 6:40PM arriving in London at 6:45AM May 13 then catching my flight to Damascus at 4PM arriving there at 11:10PM UTC+7 so thats 4:10PM on the East Coast. That's all really for now since I really need to pack, which I have yet to start.