Back in the city, nevertheless

After a lot of thought I decided anyway to have my homebase in the city. Since 4 days now I moved in with Serwat and Khaled. They are living in a house in the Old City near Bab Antakia.

I've got my own room there which I have been cleaning and furnishing up until now. It is an old house which needs a lot of reparations, but at the same time it has a lot of charm. On the courtyard is a big orange tree (actually, mandarins) of which I harvest some fruits every morning to begin each day with a good dose of vitamin C.

We will need a lot of vitamin C to get through the winter.

Serwat is 8 months pregnant and beginning to be both impatient and anxious about the birth. She needs the company.

She has given me some furniture to put in my room which is so big that up until now I cannot cover the whole floor with the carpets that I have collected from friends. The mixture of colours of the carpets, blankets, furniture and curtains are unacceptable according to the European standard of aesthetics, but is normal in the Arabic world.

Up until now the weather is sunny, so I do not really have to bother about heating, but they tell me the weather is unusually sunny for the time of the year and that soon it will be cold and rainy. We will see when the rain comes how to solve that issue...

Am living near the souk(s) where all kinds of vegetables and fruit along with all other necessities are available. And... near the station where I can take the bus to the village.

I also bought myself a Syrian phonecard for my mobile phone. This makes it easy to keep in touch with the locals.

Other than that I have been traveling a few days this week in the mountains near the coast. Next to the magnificent views, I have seen the Mediterranean Sea and citadels. I am still amazed about the richness and variety of historic places in this country and will probably continue to do so.