السندباد - رحلة الأرجوان

Last night we went to this show by Inana Troupe in the old citadel of Damascus, currently renovated and maybe open to public. Some parts of it may still be used as a prison. But anyway, I saw the ad in a news paper a couple of days ago and decided to go. Few of my friends also decided to join me, and so we were five altogether. The plan was to go early to find seats because the invitation was “open to public = الدعوة عامة”, and I didn’t want to end up with no seats as happened in the George Galloway lecture.
As we arrived, the security guards asked us for “the invitation cards”. We told that we don’t have any because the invitation was “open to public”. They said: no, you need an invitation card. For some unknown reason, I had this inspiration and cut off the ad from the newspaper just before I leave (shown in the picture). I presented it to them and said, this is what the newspaper says. They started to argue about the opening being only through private invitation, so I asked to talk with the organizer. No one made a lot of fuss and they let us in, nicely I might add, as an “exception”. And we seated ourselves in good seats too.
The worst thing about the evening was the presenter, who spoke good Arabic and French, but spoke English like a Chinese person newly learning English (with all due respect to the Chinese). Then there was a nicely made short movie about the monuments and silk roads in Syria, followed by a short speech by the minister of tourism.
The show was about the Sinbad travel through regions penetrated by the Silk Road, and dancing performances of Asia, Europe, and Arabia. The site being in the old citadel gave the show an ancient vibe. There were about 90 performers constantly changing roles and clothes, which were rich in color and style. Horses and camels were used and the show lasted just more than an hour. It was a very nice show, well organized and played. The music tried to match each region of concern with an oriental touch of course. All of us were happy with being able to attend it.
After that we took a stroll to a place called Leila’s. we were very hungry, and none of us had anything since lunch (none of us is fasting, and it is Ramadan now), it was already 11 PM. We had some hookahs and the special سحور as our meal, a variety of dishes were scattered on the table so we could satiate our hungry stomachs, I think I ate the most. Overall we were very satisfied with the event and what followed, but some people were missing (like my fiancée).
On Saturday a musical concert is being held as part of the Silk Road festival. I will attempt getting some invitation cards this time through another adventure tomorrow.