Bedouin drama

Winter is over. Tomorrow it will be 20° and sunny. The birds are singing and looking for a place to nest. Foxes and dogs are looking for a mate at night.

Beginning of the week, we were driving to Tareb (biggest village around here) to do some shopping and two foxes crossed the road some 100 meters from the house.

Every day, more flowers are popping up amidst the hashish (grass) of which there is no shortage anymore. Cows and sheep are happily strolling along the roads eating their favourite food.

And not only that made this week Last. Thursday I got an email from Marjon that she was taking the plain on Fridays to come to Syria. She would stay in Damascus the weekend and spend the rest of her time here travelling around the country with a few friends.

On Monday she phoned before stepping on the bus in Damascus and on Tuesday we picked them up and immediately took off to Saint Simeon with a picnic on the way. In Rifada, actually, one of the hundreds of Byzantine dead cities.

The next day we drove through Bedouin country towards the Euphrates and after a light lunch on the river border we visited Qalaat Nejem (Star Citadel). The key to the Castle is kept by Dzjazem who always has a big smile on his face. He not only opens the gate, but tells proudly about the history of the place in simple Arabic with a lot of English words.

This time, I noticed that he was often looking nervously around him and not at all at ease.

Afterwards, Mohamed told me that Dzjazem’s 15 year old brother had killed another boy in a fight. Killed him with a knife in a dispute over a girl during a wedding celebration.

The family paid a lot of money to the victim’s family and a lawyer is working on the case. Dzjazem and his brothers are running around with weapons because they fear the revenge of the other family. In such cases, it is Bedouin custom that the victim’s family go after the men of the other family, but many believe that the they have settled by accepting the money.

Let’s hope so, because Dzjazem doesn’t deserve such an end. He is one of the kindest men I’ve ever met.

Rain, rain, rain

Not a very productive week. Therefore, not much to tell.

It has been raining. The locals are very happy. They have been praying for rain for months now. They are very happy.

It is now “spaat”, one of the four parts of winter. It is the third or the fourth part. I think the last one. To me it seems to be spring, sometimes summer. This is compared to the Belgian climate.

When it is raining, you better keep inside here. There’s mud everywhere and the wind is very cold. Together with the humidity, it doesn’t feel very comfortable.

But I shouldn’t complain. This is only the second week of rain since the summer. The trees need water.

And the good news is that some trees in the backyard are starting to show blossoms.

That means we are eating and selling our own fruits this year already.