Car trouble

On Sunday, we decided to leave the village by making an excursion to the Saladin Castle near the coast. It's the remains of a big citadel situated in the mountains.

All went well the first day... we had dinner in a restaurant with a view on the Castle and a nice and comfortable hotel which for me these days is a real treat as I'm lodging in a house with the real basic comfort. And I mean, really basic.

The next morning, after a big breakfast, we left the hotel to take a road into the mountains towards Hama and then back home. After a few kilometers, the car was stopped, because of a noise coming from under the chairs were the motor is located. This was the noise of boiling water and the motor not being happy... What to do next ? No "Touring Secours". After a prayer by Mohamed, we filled up all the empty bottles with water and continued slowly towards the first big village pouring water on the engine and stopping every five minutes to fill the water reservoir.

It seemed like forever, but we arrived after about half an hour in a big touristic village. After asking around, there seems to be no car technician in that village. So, we filled all the bottles again and continued our journey. This time, I sat in the back, so water could be poured on the motor during driving. Of course, it got worse and worse. And being on a mountainous road didn't help a lot.

After 35 km and a lot of water consumption, we arrived in another village with a resident car technician. He was sleeping. After waking up and having heard what seemed to be the trouble, he called his sons - about half a dozen - and they started working on the car. But not before providing me with the best chair they could find and having served some tea.

It took an hour before we could continue our journey. After a few kilometers, the temperature of the motor was rising again. What to do ? Going back or continuing the journey. As it now seemed to be only a matter of high temperature, we continued slowly towards home where a befriended car technician would take over.

We arrived home late in the afternoon. The car was almost completely dismantled and lots of cleaning went on until 10 o'clock at night.

The next morning... motor getting hot again after a few kilometers. Another friend engineer had a look at it and discovered it was a minor problem that still wasn't fixed yet. So, back to the garage, where finally the problem got solved.

After these few days, my conclusion is that a good car technician is hard to find in any country. And, that it is good to have a lot of friends.

It is all "cimento"

Building a house here in Syria is very different from the Belgian way of constructing somewhere to live.

In Belgium, we do it the modern way. Meaning that we do not have time ourselves to run the project, so we spend a lot of money for others to do it for us.

Fortunately, I have a lot of time here. So, after having carefully thought about the design of the apartments taking into account some constraints like wind, sunrise, sunset, etc..., and a rough planning, we started contacting people ourselves to have each done their own specialty.

Yesterday, 2 men started "cementing" the walls on the inside. And soon, the guy doing the heating and the water will start whilst someone else will start working on the outside doors and windows. And then there is the guy doing the electricity. He can work at the same time.

Up until now, they were all good workers. Actually, as long as they are foreseen of tea - with lots of sugar - and some food from time to time, they are very happy workers.

In between, I have been working myself to have the garbage and the "cement" remains cleaned up from the 1st stage of the building, i.e. "cement" brick walls and "cement" roof.

Yes, everything is in cement here. It gets in your cloths, hair, everywhere. It's worse than sand. But, I'm not complaining. I guess I will move in in about 2 weeks.

In the meantime, nature is still fascinating me. Last week we found 3 turtles on the road. Not together... As they were endangering their lives by trying to cross a very busy road, we've put them in the car and they are now safe in a big garden, living together with 4 other turtles.

And, the day before yesterday, a swarm of bees arrived next to the apartment where they formed a nest in the bushes for 2 days and then they went.

Yesterday, a big black snake was spotted in a garden in the village. It was killed with a stone. I did not see it myself. Hope never to spot one myself.

Storks

The sun is shining ;-)
A clear blue sky with a little wind. It's perfect.

I cannot believe I am back in Syria since only a week. During a few days of travel, I have seen how nature is changing. When I left, there were flowers everywhere and the dominant color was green. Now, the harvesting season has started and the wheat has turned yellow.

Every morning and evening, the families are working on the land. They are making "frike". It is hard work : first the wheat is cut by hand and then burnt.

I was also surprised to see many storks. Actually, there are a lot of birds here, beautifully coloured and plain.Swallows everywhere...

The most colourful birds, we've seen when going on a hunting trip a few days ago. It was actually still to early, so too hot and we did not find anything to hunt. It was a good walk, though, and fine bird spotting occasion. When we finally sat down amidst the blossoming olive trees to have some tee and to smoke the arguileh, a silver streaked grey fox came searching for food in the same area of the field. We decided not to do it any harm, as we presumed it was a female with small ones. Next time, we will bring some food.

In the meantime, my apartment has got a roof. We are spraying water on it 4 to 5 times a day. After 5 days we can continue... Today is the 3rd day...

Rain and Norias

And yes... am back in Syria since yesterday. It is raining... Fortunately, it is also warm and sometimes the sun is shining.

The plain landed half an hour earlier than foreseen and the border police provided a stamp in my passport without much interrogation. In 2 weeks, we will go to the immigration police. Hopefully to get my residency card. Applied for it 2 months ago.

The first thing I ordered was hummus with (flat) bread. It was accompanied by cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions and paprika. And as a starter we had lentil soup. After the mezze, a speciality of the restaurant : chicken, rice, pistachios, bread mixed together with a lot of spices. Did I mention this food was consumed on the terrace of the restaurant with a splendid view on the Norias of Hama.

The Norias are big wooden wheels that scoop water from the Orontes into an ancient aquaduct. A gift from the Romans when they were in town.

Today, we are driving through the mountains to Krak de Chevaliers and will be staying in a friend's hotel with view on the Krak.

By the way, if you want to see some pictures, just click on the link on the right side of this page.

Tomorrow, back to reality. Meaning that at arrival in the village, I will check the progress of the building project and put some pressure on the locals by giving some instructions. Although, it is quite possible that tomorrow afternoon, when we will arrive, the rest of the day will be spent on saying hello to everyone and visiting some people.