Thursday, 21 August 2003 Jaramana, Syria
90 degrees, SUNNY!

A lazy day chez Rafeh, getting rid of remaining jet lag and giving Naeif some much needed "family time".

I wake up uncharacteristically early at 8AM and join Naeif and his parents in the courtyard for some breakfast. We bust out the Boudin coffeemaker and some Dunkin' Donuts coffee. I fail miserably at making coffee with it, and it tastes terrible. Oh well, bring on the tea.

Naeif's mother spreads out an impossible breakfast. I eat my usual one hardboiled egg and tea and watch them consume enough food for three people. And Naeif wonders why everyone has gained so much weight.

After breakfast, I insist on a walk thru Jaramana to Kabra computer to see my darling friend Ahmad. We get showered and are off, thru a town that seems to have exploded since only one year away. Naeif is even more amazed, having been gone five years now. It's really hot, the sun is relentless. I'm too happy to duck into Kabra, and - it's completely different! What was once a bare, somewhat shabby little office with a couple computers is now twice the size, with shelves of brand new gear everywhere. Ahmad is not there, and Ossama no longer works there. We'll come back later.

After, we struggle thru the hot streets of Jaramana, people and cars and dust everywhere. It's too hot to do anything, so we retreat to the coolness of the Rafeh house and some chilled Barada beer. We hang out for awhile in the salon, and a few people visit - cousins of Naeif's. After two or three beers and a lot of Arabic speaking with me glazing over only understanding a word or two here and there, I take a three hour nap, since activity is impossible in this heat.

Naeif cranks the fan, and joins me in my nap. After that, we adjourn to the courtyard, it's time to eat. Cousha, which is a small zucchini stuffed with rice and lamb, swimming in a tomato broth. Also mlukhiaer (muu-khleer) a dish that is a green vegetable, much like spinach, with chicken mixed in. Now that it's cool out, a walk in Jaramana will be much more pleasant. A visit to Hassan, Naeif's friend who now owns a large barber salon by the same name - it's a great place, huge and clean. Naeif meets many more friends as we meander in the streets, me desperately trying to avoid pitching off the gutter, the sidewalks are always very uneven.

We get back to Kabra computer, and Ahmad is busy teaching an internet class, so Naeif and I enjoy some tea. It's so great to see Ahmad again, he's about to be married on August 29th - we're going, yallah! We spend about 45 minutes hanging out with Ahmed, I missed my friend too much. We'll come back tomrrow when he's not so busy, and he will set me up so I can upload these journals.

After that, a quick raspberry smoothie on the street and back home for some Arak and nargila with Ghazwan, my coolest brother in law. Now this is pleasant. The evening is nice and cool now, and people come and go as me, Naeif, Ommee, Ghazwan, Masana, Marlin, Firaz and Amal and a lot of kids (yes, check the FAQ) drink Arak and smoke nargila long into the night. Latenight, Thuraiya joins us as does Naeif's friends Issam and Wesaam, visiting from Lebanon. Now, I bust out my cool tea light candles and some incense and finally go to sleep around 2 AM. Naeif stays up until 3. When it's so damn hot out during the day, what can you do but take advantage of the night being so cool.

It's somewhat frustrating to me, of course, not being able to speak Arabic better. Last time I was here, I studied intently, but did not make enough progress to be able to hold much of a conversation. Where I excel is food conversations, or "cab driver" conversations. Short, simple interactions where many politeness words suffice.