Mother's Day

On Tuesday it was March 21st. Not only the first day of Spring, but Mother's Day in Syria.

The first day of Spring is an important day for the Kurds. There are 2 Kurdish areas in the North of Aleppo.
Mother's Day is a national holiday. No school, banks and shops closed.

I didn't know about the Kurdish celebrations on the first day of Spring, but Helen told me.

Helen, the Australian living in Italy, is back after 7 weeks of absence. She is staying for 2 months to continue reading about Syria's ancient history and to visit more of the archaeological remains.

The first day she was back we had 20 hours of heavy rain on end and she was not happy about it. We kept ensuring her that it had been marvelous weather for a month already and that this was only temporarily. She was not convinced until the next evening.

She left on Thursday for Antakia which is now Turkish territory, but it was Syrian until not long ago. Dzjidde regularly went to Antakia by horse to trade.

We had a picnic with him on Wednesday and once again proved he was in good condition again. He asked one of his grandsons to push his wheelchair for about 1 kilometer to eat and sit with us until 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

Will see him regularly over the next weeks, as I'm moving to the village.

Culture

I confirmed a return date with Syrianair and will be back in Belgium on April 12th. I wanted to return earlier, but will wait a few weeks longer, hoping that the Belgian weather will get better by mid April.

This means I can benefit from all the cultural activities going on the next weeks. Yesterday evening, the "Islamic culture" festivities started with traditional music and dance and fireworks after. The music and dance, we followed by satellite on the television, although it was only a 10 minutes walk from the house. The crowd was too big. They all wanted to see the President. The fireworks, we saw from the terrace in the house.

The French Institute is also organizing some events and tonight we are invited to one of those, but I do not know what it will be. I like surprises, anyway.

End of March, I'm leaving the house in the Old City. Do not know exactly in which house I will stay, but do know it will be in 1 of the 3 villages : Kafaramme, Ebzimo or Orem.

I've been staying in Orem this week. In the house of 1 of Mohamed's sisters, Fahima. She and her husband have 12 children. The youngest is about 2 years old. The eldest daughters are married.

My stay at their place started the night before we all drove to Homs to visit Hassan, the eldest son who is in the army now. The small boys (3)were very exited and took a shower without complaining. My favourite one is Mohamed (there are many Mohamed's here). He's likes cuddling and joking around. He claims to have seen the Sea which he told his big brother at arrival in Homs after a big cuddle.
He also likes tea a lot, like many children here. With a lot of sugar.

Nobody understands here why I drink tea without sugar. It is one of the subjects they like talking about. The stranger who drinks tea without sugar...

Local snacks

There are flowers everywhere - yellow, red, orange, purple, white - and the trees are in blossom. And the birds are making nests. I have to collect the little twigs every day on the courtyard of the house I'm living in.
The warmer weather also allows me to sleep with open windows. The disadvantage of the warmer weather is that the mosquitoes are active and very annoying at night.

Yesterday, I visited Dzjidde. He recovered very well of his illness and is again like before. He was sitting in the garden of his eldest son with one of his daughters and a few of his grandchildren (he has got many, about 80 or 90, I believe). He told a few stories and did not hesitate to ask for food or a drink every half hour.

The garden, like all gardens, is covered with flowers and weed. Well, I always thought of it as weed, but it is not all weed. Some of it is edible and served as a snack.

Syrian villagers are still used to live with nature and recycle as much as possible, i.e. plastic bottles, cans, cardboard, etc... are re-used. No need to buy containers. When a bottle of coca cola is empty, you've got one. And everything else is burnt. Another example of recycling is that when clothing is too used (there are too many holes in it), the remaining tissue is cut into pieces which serve as handkerchiefs or mattress filling.

I'm sure all this will be forgotten after a few generations.

Ahlan wa Sahlan

While it is snowing in Europe, spring is continuing here. The Syrians say it is exceptionally dry this year - we've had almost no rain - and they hope that the coming months will be very wet. The olive trees need water.

I've asked my employer to extend my sabbatical year and he agreed. When I will be back in Belgium next month, we will do the necessary administration. This is good news and it allows more time over here without too much hassle.

Because the big news this week is that we have started building a house. I've been told it takes 20 days to build a house. That's quick...
It is actually an apartment consisting of 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, separate toilet, living room and lots of terrace space on each side of the house. All electricity cables and water/heating pipes are requested to be built in into the walls.
I'm looking forward to living there, because it is not in the city, but in the village with a splendid view over the surrounding area.

It will be so much easier to stay in contact with family and friends too, because I will have Internet at home. For this, I am inquiring about the prices of computers over here. I haven't found a shop yet that sells portable PCs. Maybe I will have to buy one in Belgium.

And, I will be living close to my Syrian family. Will not have to use their house any more as a hotel and it will be easier for them to drop by.

And, I will have a place for my family and friends to stay, because I hope they will visit me and want to discover this interesting and beautiful country. Not at all the way it perceived to be ! Ahlan wa Sahlan (Welcome).