Saturday, 30 August 2003, Jaramana, Syria
90 degrees, SUNNY

I wake up and feel much better. Stomach cramps gone and I feel thinner also. Ah, the Syrian Diet . . . Naeif and I don our dishdashis and lounge around in the heat of the day. Me typing, Naeif napping, Marlin studying English and Ommee snoring up a storm. I go out in the courtyard for a lounge, turn on the fountain, and if I stay perfectly still, I won't get too hot and start sweating. Little Rebal, worker bee, comes out and starts splashing water all over the courtyard, then gets out the big squeegee and starts cleaning the floor. What a great little guy! Naeif joins him, and waters the plants with the hose, and pretty soon is squirting me until my dishdashi is soaked. It doesn't matter though, in this heat, it's refreshing and dries in about a minute. We have a mid-morning snack, me eyeing all the food warily, and finally I have a hard boiled egg, a piece of cooked potato and some tea.

In "developing countries", I've found that you can't go wrong eating a hard boiled egg that you peel yourself. Likewise with fresh fruit - but you have to peel it yourself after you wash it with a little soap and rinse thoroughly. Soap will pretty much kill any bacteria that can cause you trouble. Last time when I visited, I had NO problems with the food - but that was winter. Now it's summer, the bacteria are rampant, and there have been a few episodes - as you know if you're a faithful reader of my ramblings. When eating in restaurants, it depends on how clean the restaurant looks - if it's more of the "five star" variety, you should be fine eating most anything. It's a good rule of thumb to stay away from anything with ice - often this gets scooped up by hand to place in the glass. Anything cooked fresh is okay. Tea or any drinks made with boiled water is okay. Start your trip being fastidious about drinking bottled water only - that you open yourself - some places may refill the bottles with tap water. Brush your teeth with bottled water at first, and wash your face also with it if you tend to be sensitive. After a few days, or a week, you can gradually "ramp up" the introduction of more "exotic" foods. I spent three weeks in Morocco and was eating snails off the street towards the end of the trip, but of course, your mileage - and your stomach tolerance - may vary. That said, don't be so careful that you miss all of the food - especially in Arab culture, food is SO much a part of the local color, that your trip will lack flavor (literally!).

In Syria, if you do get sick, there are many pharmacies - identify them by a strange logo that looks like a red snake curling around a green champagne glass - and the pharmacists inside usually speak several languages - or at least English - and are quite knowledgeable about digestive ills.

Naeif has a theory that he heard somewhere - probably an old Arab wive's tale - that if you eat an onion when you arrive in a new country you won't get sick. We didn't try it this time - and we got sick! Soo, next trip, bring on the onions!

Around 3 PM, we decide to head out to Damascus - I want to check out the silver souk, and Naeif has a taste for some of Abu Romme's shwarma. Hop in a cab, and we're there in minutes. I find that what Naeif calls the "silver souk" is what I call the "Handicrafts Souk" - and I visited it last time I was there. There's also a crazy military museum, with a bunch of defunct Syrian warplanes up on blocks. Also in this complex is a little snack bar with sodas, and a mosque. My birthday is in a few days, so it's time to look for my birthday gift! What I want is a wide silver cuff bracelet - and there are many to choose from here, as well as silver necklaces, rings - anything you can think of. Tiny pillboxes, gorgeous silver "letter carriers", silver daggers - and all at a fraction of what you'd pay in the States. After I've looked in every single window of every single shop (it's not a large souk - by Hammidiyyah standards), and purchased a pair of leather "jesus sandals" for US $5 I spot a nice bracelet similar to the picture I have in my head and we enter that shop. The shop is packed with daggers, necklaces, rings, jewelry, and several more cuff bracelets - wider ones! I end up buying two - one was exactly what I'd pictured in my head of the type I wanted, and the other was too beautiful to pass up. The first one is about three inches wide, and the other one is two inches wide. Total cost US $130, they're solid silver with the requisite "925" number stamped into it that signifies "yep, they're authentic."

Another great thing about the Handcraft Souk is there is no haggling. The price of the thing is what you pay, Arab or foreigner alike. It's somewhat of a relief from the other souks, where negotiation is a sport. And if, unlike me, you don't have your personal handsome Arabic native speaker in tow, it's a real relief! Everything in the souk is authentically Syrian - embroidered dishdashis, pillows, wood inlaid furniture, leather shoes and bags, damask (where Damascus gets it's name!), embroidered tableclothes (these are awesome), scarves, jewelry of every sort, and cool wood backgammon boards! Be sure not to make the mistake I almost made - there is also a mosque tucked into one side of the souk courtyard. I walked towards it, "oh, look, they're selling rugs here . . . oops! it's a mosque!" Naeif just watched me go, grinning, figuring I'd see what was up soon enough. The prices here may be slightly higher, by a few dollars, than the rest of the souk, but the stuff you can buy here is authentic for sure, and you don't have to paw through all the cheap crap and imitations you find in the other souks. This one has some governmental controls to ensure that Syria's handcraft traditions are not lost or crapped up.

If you're familiar with "American Tribal Bellydance" don't come to Syria, especially this souk, for jewelry. You'll certainly go bankrupt. *grin!* There is a lot of old tribal style necklaces, bracelets, big chunky stones and large, ornate choker style necklaces. Beautiful stuff! For me, an Egyptian style cabaret bellydancer - we haven't come to this part yet. Naeif promises we're going to see a dancer that he used to work with in a couple days, at a nightclub where he used to play. Yallah!!

We walk out of there, right across the street to the National Museum of Damascus! I never knew it was here! Makes this location easy to find as well. It will be even easier to find when the new 4 Seasons Hotel across the street is finished. There is a lovely outdoor cafe on the museum grounds - we have to return to the museum itself, as it's closed - with a canopy made entirely of vines - blocks out all the sun. Naeif and have a peach ice tea and I display my goodies.

Now, Naeif wants to powershop. We walk over to al Shalin street - what Naeif calls the "lazy souk" because all the vegetables, fruits, leaves in the shops are cut up and ready to cook. He gets some "shenglish" - which look like labneh (Syrian cream cheese) balls mixed up and rolled in spices - for eating while you drink Arak.

Now it's dark. Have I mentioned that while walking through Damascus at night in the residential neighborhoods, you smell jasmine everywhere? There is a variety called "Night Jasmine" appropriately enough, that blooms at night. Gorgeous.

There are a lot of great clothing stores here - I pop into a Stefanel and get a cool white linen dress - essential for this heat - for US $20 on sale. Then I need to get a couple of light colored underpants (US $2 each) to wear under it. The lingerie here is fantastic - made in France, Germany or Italy - OR locally here in the S.A.R. (Syrian Arab Republic) - and they make nice stuff!

Naeif hits "Lucky Man" - a men's clothing shop with very cool stuff, and buys a sort of stylish light khaki barn jacket, a gorgeous blue Italian casual shirt, and a pair of casual leather loafers - US $60 total. The jacket sleeves are too long - alterations included.

Now we've shopped enough for today, and Iead Naeif down a route that I know well - having prowled all around this shopping district. It's exploded, though, even since I was here last, and it's very busy. We take the stairs down into a tunnel that leads us across the street, and even this tunnel is encrusted with shops. I call this the "chick souk" as it's stuffed with cheap makeup, hair clips, nail polish, cheap jewelry and bags - all kinds of accessories. I select a hair clip, and Naeif decides 50 cents is the "tourist price" when they start trying to speak English to me, so we head out.

There's a park above, and I want to stop and rest, have some of the fresh potato chips that are everywhere and sit on a park bench. Naeif laughs and says I'm becoming typically Syrian - wanting frequent breaks to sit down, and watch people. Hey, it works for me!

One last stop at Abu Rommee's shwarma place so Naeif can get his fix, and I sip an Ayran (yogurt drink) to replace some of the "good" bacteria in my digestive tract. I take a hilarious picture of Naeif here, two fisted shwarma, one chicken and one lamb. We hop in a microbus in Bhab Touma and go home to Jaramana. Walking the couple blocks from the bus, Naeif is the returning hero, running into friend after friend, lots of men kissing men's cheeks going on here. Meanwhile, a small child waving an ice cream cone does a hit and run into the front of my skirt - vanilla everywhere. No worries, I'm washable.

Don't bring any clothing to Syria that cannot withstand dirt, dust or a small child armed with ice cream.