My First Day

I woke up at 7:30 AM. I slept only for 5 hours, on a firm mattress, well I might add. Unpacking was quite easy. After that the coffee marathon began. Here in Syria, coffee is more important than bread. After I had the first cup I was invited, with my folks to the new place around the corner called "Steed". Well it is not new, but new to me. This was a long waited visit to this place because everyone from here and in USA who ever been to Syria talks about Steed. The location is great, one minute away from home and strategically located for people watching. I had a breakfast. In fact I was forced to have it. It was ordered for me, and I don’t even know what the menu is like. It was good though. And I drank the second cup of coffee.

Afterwards, I went with my dad, godfather and a colleague of my dad (she invited us) to drive in town to run some errands. I forgot what driving in Damascus is like, (I didn't drive yet as my license had expired). I remember it being bad but this is really worse. There are a lot of new cars in town, some I haven’t even known they existed. Small ones usually, and they function as taxis. I will get some pics of these in the future. It is as hot as hell; I wonder whether it was right to complain about Cleveland's weather. Moving forward is very slow in certain areas in the city. There are lots of new constructions. I will take some photos of these too.

Needless to say, I was called by every single one I know or don't to congratulate me on my return. It ain't funny. The conversation will be something like this, universally:
"Hi" (This is me)
"…" (And this is what others might be saying. You can fill in the blanks with appropriate questions)
"Allah ysallmak/ek"
"…"
"I missed you too"
"…"
"I am doing good thanks"
"…"
"The flight was rough, but I eventually arrived"
"…"
"My health is OK"
"…"
"Nothing much, just finished training and I am here for a while, then will see what happens"
"…"
"Maybe next week, after I rest a little bit"
"…"
"Sure, I am looking forward to it"
Hang.
I could record that and play it with ease.

Of course the first thing I did (or rather my dad), after breakfast is buying a cellular phone line. That is more important than eating and drinking. I got a new number hooked to my old cellphone. But the seller somewhat stupidly erased all the contacts I had saved from before. Luckily enough I have recently saved them to my computer and had to re-download. Not to mention that in spite of that I lost some recently entered data. I will try to get them.
My new phone number is: ......
Did you think I will publish it? Email me if you are interested.

The afternoon was dull and spent practicing the conversation mentioned above.

By the way, you can send comments or questions and such. Ghunwa did one already. It is a great way of keeping in touch.