Arlish

Syria is a country you can drive through (on your own) without any problem. You just have to adapt to the Syrian way of driving which is very chaotic and aggressive.

The roadsigns are usually in Arabic and English. Most of the publicity boards are only in English.

I always ask myself why, because most Syrians do not know any English. Is it meant for the foreigners ? They are a very small minority.

Most road signs show errors in English.

The names of the towns are often spelt wrong and not always the same. Sometimes one is directed to Edlib and sometimes to Idlib, while the travel guides mention Edlib.

And... Aleppo thankes your visit. They are very polite people here.

My favourite road sign I read often in small villages. It says : Do not cross before being free. So, every time I ask myself : Am I free ? The answer until now is "yes" which means I can cross without any problem. Until now, it works.

Furthermore, one eats here in a resturant and goes to an internet coffee. In Damascus, one of these resturants has its menu in Arabic and French. The "salop" is one of their suggestions. For those who don't know french very well, this is a bad name for a woman of wrong behaviour. I've never ordered one, but whenever I do I'm sure I will get an escalope. Or not ?

Getting confused ? I sometimes am... especially when someone promises me to do something for tomorrow (bokra) and it is not yet done 1 week later.

Actually, I learnt that "bokra" is translated into "tomorrow", but it does not mean "the day after today". It means "I will do it for sure whenever I feel like doing it". And that can be the day after tomorrow. It can also be next month.

Wedding season

The wedding season has started.
Especially in the weekend, a lot of gatherings are noticed during the day and in the evening there is often music in the village or nearby.

I myself, I find weddings very boring, so I don't attend. But, for people who like to dance, it is a feast.

A lot of Syrians like to dance and sing. But not all of them do.

Rehaaf, the 3-year old, who's lightening up my life every day by saying she loves me and keeping me company as much as she can is very shy and timid, but when music is played she immediately starts to shake head shoulders and hips.

In the village, the music at weddings is still traditional and live. That I can appreciate very much. You don't have to be at the wedding though to appreciate the music.

In the meantime, the finalization of the house is going slowly. This week, we've started to receive visitors. The weather is very hot and with the view the visitors don't mind to have their coffee or tea on the roof.

It will not be long now before I move in.

Water

After 4 very hot days, the weather got cooler again, i.e. during the day it is very warm - especially from 10 AM to 5 PM - but in the evening a cool wind makes the temperatures drop until the morning. Rain is out of the question until the end of the year.

Although each year the climate is getting dryer in Syria, people tend to waste a lot of water. The house is cleaned each day with a hose. At each good restaurant, there are some people to clean the car. The water is running the whole time. They do not even bother to close the tap, not even when waiting for the next customer. And so on...

Fortunately, we are living near the Euphrates river. Aleppo is supplied with water from the Euphrates. In the villages water is available at sources and wells. To have your own water supply you have to dig about 150 meters deep. And, an authorization is needed from the government. I hope to have my own well in the garden by next year.

This week, we've been using a lot of energy to get the people working in the house. It is starting to feel like a house. Yesterday, doors and windows were ordered after heavy discussions on the best price for both parties. The floor tiles have been delivered and the tiles on the walls of the kitchen and bathroom are finished.

The people working on the facade decided on Thursday at 11 AM to go to the seaside. They were due back on Saturday. Yesterday they phoned to say they were staying 1 more day and this morning we have been told they are all ill. Now, they promised to finish by tomorrow and they will be reminded of it when they show up.

But, this is how a lot of Syrians live and work. They work a little bit, they sleep a lot, they like to have fun... It is not the case for everybody though. The guy placing the tiles shows up at 8 AM and hardly stops working until 6 PM.

He will be paid immediately. The others will have to wait to get paid and it will be in installments. This is the way to take revenge ;-)

Tartous

It's hot and suddenly the work in the house is going very slow. We are waiting for the electricity and water to be finished. That takes a long time. Too much time...

To keep calm, I traveled a few days with Mohamed and some Italian customers of his. They had chosen a wonderful 2-days trip along the main castles. There was just 1 minor point in their program : they absolutely wanted to visit Tartous, stay the night there and have a swim in the sea.

Tartous is a small town at the Mediterranean coast, but it has nothing else to offer than a museum - which is worth visiting, if you are passing by - and the Medina (Old City) which is almost completely destroyed, as the people living in it are replacing the original features by modern ones. The border at the sea which should be the beach is one big workplace full of machines to dig holes and to heap up sand, so no place to swim.

After the customers had finished the visit of the Merkab Castle, we told them that we would be spending the night in a hotel with a view on Krak de Chevaliers and that they had the choice : either staying in Tartous, where there are no good middle class hotels, or coming with us.

Big discussion, because they wanted a swim after a long hot day. And, as the Syrians are always telling everybody who wants to hear that Tartous is a paradise, we asked them to wait for a decision until after the visit of Tartous. They just had to tell us. If they really wanted to stay, we would go back to Tartous the next morning to pick them up and to bring them to the Krak.
So, on we went. After 40 km, we arrived in Tartous. It took them 5 minutes to decide to come with us. Unanimously....

Really, there are many treasures to see in Syria, but Tartous is definitely not 1 of them. Never forget this, if ever you come to Syria. It's a waste of time and money.