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Christel's Diary

Google

26 December 2007

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.

Google

17 December 2007

Wee-de-weed

Today was the first sunny and hot day since ages, it seems. It must have been raining for a month. I’ve never seen that here. Tonight is a clear sky full of bright stars.

Although the olive trees need a lot of water, I really hope we have a sunny winter break from the rain for a few months now.

I’ve spent the night talking Dutch with a couple of campers that are on their way to Asia coming from the South. That was nice. I don’t have a lot of opportunity to talk my own language. Leave alone, have an intelligent conversation. When will my Arabic get better, I wonder sometimes?

The problem is that I don’t practice enough. Or better, I don’t have time to practice enough.

I should have broccoli one of these days, because other ones start coming out. These things like water. The garlic and some flowers started coming out and the chickens are leaving it alone. That’s good.

The “chobbès” (weed, cooked like spinach), is equally coming out in great numbers. Last year’s big plant has left many seeds on the same spot. Equally left alone. I am surprised.

Most trees are losing their leaves and some have become bald.

Many birds are coming to the garden. There is a new one that sings very beautiful. It is not very big, has got a black head with feathers standing upright, like if it had an electrical shock, a grey body and a tail that is as long as its body. The basis of its singing is “wee-de-weed” with many variations and singing in between. What is it?

In a few days, live will stand still because of the Eid el Adha (Feast of the Offering of the Lamb), another occasion for everybody to put on new cloths, visit extensively and eat a lot of sweets, the beginning of the new year for the Muslims.

Happy X-mas and all my best wishes for the New Year

Google

06 December 2007

Travel agency

Yes, winter has definitely started.

Some plants and trees are dropping their leaves. It is too cold for them. Other plants and trees are taking advantage of the humidity and growing. So is the “mish mish” tree (apricots).

I’ve put in 2 tiny olive trees and the jasmine plant is not complaining now that it’s got out of its pot into the soil. I want it to climb up against the wall of the camping showers and toilets.

The roses are much more beautiful in winter. In the summer the flowers immediately open up and lose their leaves after 1 or 2 days.

And I’ve got 1 broccoli. Should I leave it to get the seeds for next year or should I eat it. I’m not quite sure yet what to do. It would be better to have the seeds, as it might be the only one this season.

Although winter has started, travellers are coming over here. It seems like Syria is back on the tourist map. The last days it felt like running a travel agency, establishing itineraries, giving hotel information, booking rooms and finding chauffeurs.

The tourists coming in by plane visit many places in a very short time. They get up early in the morning to be able to finish the program of the day while campers sleep late, take a lot of time for breakfast.

Some tourists want to travel through Syria in 5 days and see everything. That is not possible. It is better to make choices and enjoy the visits.

Today, I’ll be taking care of the olives put aside to turn them into “atun” (black rimpled salty olives in olive oil). They have been water for 5 days (did change the water after 2 days). Today I’ll take them out of the water and prick each one of them with a needle 3 to 4 times. Then put them in a bag with a heavy brick on it and leave them like that to get the water and bad stuff out of it.

In the meantime, we are eating the big green ones of which there were not many this year.

That’s why I put in a few olive trees in the garden. Will add a few more. They will get water regularly and provide nice olives to eat at breakfast.

Google