Season's greetings

n'sYes, this is the time of the year to send everybody all the best wishes for the New Year.

I spent Xmas alone, as Mohamed is travelling with a Canadian family. No problem. We had a wonderful time at the Eid el Adha which started about a week before Xmas and lasted 4 days. During 3 days we have been visiting and have been visited. The 4th day we spent in Bedouin country.

We ended up in a family compound (I guess that’s how you call a group of houses in which members of the same family live) where all buildings are made out of clay and where they still don’t have electricity.

They have a big strong dog who doesn’t “talk” to anybody, they told me, because his mother died when he was only 4 days old. He just wanders around and lies in the sun.

They do have fabulously looking chicken.

It is freezing cold since the rain has gone. It must be some 20°C difference at night. The best way to keep warm during the day is to sit on the veranda or in the garden.

At night the 2 hot water bottles I brought from Belgium are indispensable. Although they are “Made in China” and this is a country were it can be very cold, hot water bottles or something alike are not known. It’s amazing, isn’t it?

Tomorrow I’ll be travelling with the Canadians from Hama to Aleppo with a few visits on the way. A nice change during these winter days which are kind of boring, as I don’t feel like working in the garden.

That probably is because I sleep easily until 9 AM in winter and once the lazy breakfast is done (on the sunny veranda) with a bit of cleaning up in the house afterwards, the afternoon has set in. At 16 o’clock the sun sets. Not much time left to undertake any big jobs in the garden.

When I do start something, Rahaaf comes along to “help” me or Ahmed drops in to tell me “how things should be done”. They do mean well and have a good heart, but somehow the work doesn’t get done.

I hope you all spent a nice Xmas and do wish you all the best for the New Year.
Good health to you and your loved ones.
May all your wishes become true.