Modern age

While Zakaria’s attempts to walk alone start succeeding (3 to 4 steps each time), Ramadan’s first week is almost over and the temperatures are slowly getting lower.

Now it is time for the flowers and the trees to start growing again. When the heat is at its worst, they have to be prevented from dying. The only way of doing that is to water them a often, the result being plants and trees hanging in there until it will get cooler.

The house looks better again, after a few weeks of de-dusting and re-organising. I told Mohamed : the dust settles quickly everywhere, but afterwards it is a big job to get rid of it. He probably found that remark a bit ungrateful after the efforts he made during my stay in Belgium to have some improvements done in the house, but it had to be said, because the work was done without removing or covering up the furniture.

I guess that’s typically male all over the world and especially here in this macho region where the “tough” work is still done by the men and the “easy” work by the women.

I mustn’t complain. Mohamed loves cooking. I don’t.

Mohamed also loves to eat traditionally, while I love to experiment with ingredients and spices. That’s why he does most of the cooking here in the house. I usually prepare most the ingredients, clean up the kitchen afterwards and do the dishes.

The only meal I am allowed to prepare for Mohamed is spaghetti. For some reason that is the only dish he never manages to cook well himself.

Yesterday, I heard an ad on the radio for already prepared sauce and ingredients for spaghetti. Last week, Mohamed came home and told me about this giant supermarket in Aleppo that he went to with Italian tourists. The world is changing…