Star Citadel

The heat brings a warm wind with it. Yesterday the sky was full of sand. Today clear.

Last week, it has been about 5° C less. It was so much more comfortable than before. At night, it was even cold. No sleeping on the veranda. The temperature is going up again since yesterday.

A visit to Qalaat Nejem (Star Citadel) revealed that Dzjazem’s grandmother still has a real goat hair tent. Never used. We are negotiating on the price. It is difficult to find the real ones, as they are not made anymore. The wool is woven by hand. There doesn’t seem to exist a machine that can copy the handcraft.

The dog living with the family has a litter of six. They are tiny still and too small to be separated from their mother. We have asked Dzjazem’s little brother to take care of 1 until our next visit. It will earn him 100 SYP (less than 1,5 Euro). He was very keen to accept the deal.

It seems that Dzjazem is having a black period in his life. With his 15 year old brother in prison for murder, he lost his 2-year old daughter last month. She fell of the veranda. His 2 smallest children have to be taken to hospital each week to have their blood renewed. If I understood well, they are suffering from hepatitis.

But… the big smile is still there.

He and his other brothers have a lot of work and earn good money, as restoration is going on in the Citadel.

The Euphrates river is blue/greenish and just the right temperature for swimming :-)