Holiday on ice

And again, winter has started at Xmas. After one day of rain (the whole day), it started freezing. The water on the roof and the veranda was turned into a 2 centimeter thick layer of ice. And a real cold wind was blowing. It was hard to find a good warm spot in the sun.

Until yesterday. No wind, no frost. It is at least 10 degrees warmer which is very acceptable now. A good start of the Eid-el-Adha which coincides with New Year this time.

All houses have been cleaned inside and outside and lots of goodies have been bought to receive the many visitors that will come by during the 3 days of the Eid.

Actually, there is no difference with the Eid-el-Fitr. They are both celebrated the same way.

New Year is just a formality and of no meaning in the villages here. It is just another year.

It is hard for the locals to know which day of the week it is, let alone the date and the year. I’m beginning to have the same “problem”. Is it a problem ? It is even hard to know what time it is. And it doesn’t matter, most of the time. When it does, we just pay more attention to it.

The roof is “cemented” on the shower/bathroom facilities of the camping site to be. Just in time, i.e. before the rain.

On Xmas day, we had a beautiful day out in the desert and 2 minutes after having arrived at home, the closet for the bedroom was delivered. In the correct colour. About 3 months after ordering it. It seemed to be a miracle. It felt like receiving a big present.

The rest of the week we have been coping with the cold weather and cleaning the veranda (the wall is finished). A lot of work, as there are many remains of “cimento” to be scraped of the floor.

All together an eventful week.

Camping

A few weeks ago we started building a camping site behind the house. We are doing everything ourselves and the first objectives were to have the showers and bathrooms “roofed” and the roads laid out as designed on paper before the rain.

Yesterday, it was cloudy and in the afternoon it started to rain. We were just laying the last cement bricks. Luckily it was only a few drops and in the evening the same. This morning, was all sunny again. So, today preparations started to have the roof “cemented”. Yes; it is all cimento again.

About 10 days ago 30 trucks of “chalk” has been sprayed all over the place. It is a mixture of sand and rocks in all sizes. We are breaking the biggest rocks and moving them to outline the roads.

The soil is rich clay ground and as soon as a little bit of water is added big lumps are covering the shoes and the tires of the vehicles.

The day before yesterday we realized that it would be better to have all holes for the trees dug, as it would be an impossible job after the first rain until spring. In the meantime 10 trees are waiting to be planted and some more will be purchased.

About ¾ is done.

Last year, the bad weather started around X-mas. We really should make a move on.

The village I’m living in is part of a 100% Muslim region. X-mas has no meaning here. It is countdown to the biggest Feast (Eid) of the year which will be a few days after New Year. Many have left on a pilgrimage and they will start to return gradually in a few weeks time.

Hopefully, we will have reached by then our first milestones in the new project on time.

Taa taa

Again, a week has passed so quickly. Sunny and warm during the day. Cold at night. It is hard to believe that in 2 weeks it will be X-mas.

What will I write about this time ? About Yasmine, the 14 month old baby living across the field behind the house. She is handicapped. Cannot use her left arm. This made it impossible for her to start crawling. Now, she wants to walk, but it seems that her leg is not working well neither. On top of that her backbone is not very strong.

I see 8 month old babies walk over here, but Yasmine cannot and everybody wonders whether she will ever walk. It is not because she doesn’t want to. Often when she tries to stand up and doesn’t succeed, she grabs her leg angrily.

I’m sure she will have no trouble talking. Being the youngest of 4 small children, she has to defend herself many times, as the others like to take such things of her like her bottle of milk. She does it verbally, mumbling full sentences of sounds with a very angry expression on her face. When the others have something she wants, she asks for it the same way when they have no intention of giving it to her. Until she starts crying. Then anybody gives in.

She is very extravert. Contrary to her 3 year old sister, Rehaaf, who does not speak nor move when a stranger is around, Yasmine turns herself to the visitor with a curious expression on her face and puts out her hand to say hello.

The other day, the next door’s nephews came by to play with her brothers Ahmed and Mohamed, but they both went to see their Grandmother who is living in a house up the slope. She immediately informed the boys by pointing her finger in the direction of the house.

The strongest expression she uses is the back kick with her head when she wants to say “no”. It is normal here to raise the eyebrows to say “no”. The back kick with the head is a firm confirmation of the first “no”. Either she is not capable yet of raising her eyebrows this way or it is a mere expression of her strong character which she will need to cope with her handicap.

These days I often go and work in the sun behind the house. This is in full view of Yasmine who when not sleeping is sitting in a baby chair on the veranda. When she sees me, she puts out her hand and says “taa” (come) repeatedly. When I don’t react – it is too far away for me to hear and usually not paying attention – she starts crying. Then I know and go over and pull her out of the chair. Before she liked me walking her around on my arm, but now she always wants to sit on the ground to play with the earth. Her Mother doesn’t want that, but when she is not looking, I put Yasmine down supporting her back. It is a lot of fun for her to move some earth from one side to the other and eat some.

She tries to make the most of being a baby, especially when her Mother is not watching.

No smoking policy

Yesterday, winter started. The temperatures drop until freezing point at night. Still warm and sunny from 11 AM until 3 PM. Last night and this morning there the sky was full of clouds and it seemed like it was going to snow. They tell me that when it snows here, it is at night which is normal because during the day the heat of the sun raises the temperatures . It is the wind coming from the mountains that is cold. There is snow in the mountains, for sure.

As soon as the sun sets, I put on the stove and suddenly the house is too big, because the only place that is used is in front of the stove. When visitors arrive, they immediately take place around the stove and stay there until they leave.

It is hard now to maintain the non smoking policy in the house. Many Syrians smoke a lot (like Turks). And, they consider it not polite to tell a guest not to smoke, but I do. News is travelling fast. I notice that many smokers do not light one anymore.

Most of them accept the arguileh (waterpipe) that is offered. Even when smoked with real tobacco – instead of the apple tobacco – the house is not stinking as it is with 1 Syrian cigarette.

Mohamed’s cousins that are building the wall outside are smoking a lot. The veranda is covered with the remains of their addiction. But it is outside, so I do not mind. The cigarettes and the tea keeps them happy. At noon they ask for “fool”, a kind of soup based on big beans and other stuff. I do not like it. It is their breakfast and they like it because it keeps their stomach quiet until the evening.

They have been working hard, but not every day. 1 more working day and another item can be notched on my list. That should be 1 of the coming days.

I’m also waiting for the second bed to be delivered, so I can move to the other bedroom. The cold wind is blowing on the bedroom’s outside door. The other bedroom is on the other side of the house.

A new closet will be built in the colour that I asked for originally. No big discussion as with the blinds. Do not know when it will be ready.

And 5 trees are waiting to be planted in the garden : lemon, orange and some fruit of which the trees are blossoming now, but I have not understood exactly what it is. We will see in the spring. Still need some more, like peach, mango, olive, fig, etc.