Hello! Allow me to introduce myself before peregrinations through Damascus and beyond. I'm Fahimi Alimah (not my real name) a 40something American woman married to an adorable Syrian man.

We're going back to Syria for a month in mid-August, and the BootsnAll guys asked me to write a Blog. "YALLAH!" I said, so here we are.

As this is not my first trip to Syria, already in love with the place, you can read about the last trip on my site - see "erikagreen.com"

We'll start the trip on August 19th, flying from Chicago, via Paris thru Amman to Damascus. Right now, hanging out at home waiting for FedEx to deliver my cute, tiny digital camera and Syrian visa - and a visa for my brother and sister in law, Kadir Ammar and Rayyah Faridah (we've all taken Arabic names), also coming along too.

What you'll be reading is an account of typical Syrian family life, with my husband's family. The four of us will also be taking off on short trips throughout Syria, and hopefully a weekend or two to Lebanon. Join us! The fun starts on August 19th, so bookmark this page and come back often!

salaam alay khuum -

Fahimi Alimah

- and Habibi Hayam (husband), Kadir Ammar (my brother) and Rayyah Faridah (my sisinlaw)!