Spring Break...

Hello, all:

Today is our last day of classes before spring break. So, after a day of trying to quell the squirrelly-ness of highschool kids the day before holiday, this evening and tomorrow morning we have parent-teacher conferences. Parents and students receive their report-cards today, so there's always the possibility of some, er, "involved" parent-teacher conversations the day before we break. Hopefully not, though.

Anyhow, we're not travelling this break and hope to rest and relax as much as possible.

B&R

While Cher was moseying up to the camel, a young Kuwaiti guy drove up and invited us to his tent for coffee. Despite some initial hesitation, we decided to accept his invitation. So here we are, sitting in a traditonal Bedouin camel-hair tent, sipping arabic coffee, sampling dates dipped in camel milk, and trying to communicate with sign language and very, very limited Arabic. A very neat experience; thanks for being so bold, Cher!

Cher, being aventurous... lesson learned: camels smell like cattle!

We stopped at our favourite bombed-out village for lunch...

This was the first time we'd been out in the boonies in spring: looks like the desert has green stubble!

This is one of the few places in Kuwait where you really see and feel that there's a war happening next door: these military vehicles are being rotated out for everyday maintenance as well as war-damage. Sobering.

The gas station in the rear is about as close as you can get without actually saying good morning to the border guards. And this spray-painted sign says pretty much what we needed to know anyhow, so this is where we decided to take our brder-pic. Cher seems pretty excited to be where she is, eh?

We didn't know how tight security would be at the border itself, so we stopped early (if you look really closely, you can see the border checkpoint in the background).

We do have one of the nicest McD's ever... right on the Gulf. We took in a little ambience and breakfast before heading north to the Iraq border.

Cher actually arrived at 7am on the 25th... eight hours before we did. So, she made herself at home and welcomed us to ours!

Here the ladies are catching up in our living room.

Heh, couldn't resist taking this one in Damascus airport.

Traditional Damascene breakfast. We received an invitation from our favourite restaurant worker (see pic below) to return for breakast on the morning we flew back to Kuwait. We ate fresh bread--and we mean fresh, i.e. straight from the baker's oven across the street--with various cheeses, olives, jam, and a stuffed aubergine (eggplant).

Souq, Old Damascus.

We had to weave and meander our way through an old, poor neighbourhood built into the slope of the mountain. It was a very neat experience, and a very different one from our Egypt wanderings: in Egypt we faced hordes of abrasive boys and men yelling at us; in Damascus, we faced small, shy bunches of children and adults who gave us some of the best smiles of our travels.

View from the top... after 300-odd steps.

"New" Damascus.

Expose on Damascus construction techniques. Yikes.

Our favourite restaurant in Damascus.

Palmyra is simply amazing. Aside from the sheer scale of the ruins, the place was nearly deserted, and we could wander around relatively unmolested by touts and tour-guides.

Palmyra was constructed from local materials which aren't as hardy as those found elsewhere in this part of the world. As a result, Palmyra looks more weathered than comparable Roman sites elsewhere.

This shot shows a nice example of coopting existing structures by an invading army: what once was Roman becomes Muslim.

Relief sculpture, Palmyra.

We left early for our day trip to Palmyra.

Desert landscape on the way to Palmyra.

St. Paul's Chapel, which marks the spot where the disciples lowered Paul from the city wall to escape the Jews.

Just being in Damascus was an exciting opportunity. However, when a person is able to stand on the street where Paul's sight was retored and he converted to Christianity, that's just amazing. Straight Street, Old Damascus.

"A disciple in Damascus named Ananias also had a vision: "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Ananias performed the deed, Paul's vision was restored, after "something like scales" fell from his eyes, he was baptized, and after eating he regained his strength."

Alley market (souq) off of Straight Street.

Spice-merchant, Old Damascus.

Building detail, Old Damascus.

Where we borrowed Rosalee's Abeya for our mosque tour.

Family frolicking time at the Umayyad Mosque.

Rosalee had to cover up to go into the Umayyad mosque. This is the courtyard outside the main prayer-hall.

Golden-tile mosaic, Umayyad Mosque, Old Damascus. Umayyad Mosque is a converted Byzantine cathedral with some interesting remnants of Christian piety.

Homemade ice-cream, Old Damascus. Check out the pistachios!

Water cart, Old Damascus.

Cement, old-school style: make a lake in a pile of cement mix, pour water in, and scoop from the sides. Hmm. Mashed potatoes anyone?

Rosalee and a bunch of friends from work went out to celebrate hers and Rhonda's (middle seated) birthdays.

We've been hit by a number of dust-storms as of late. This one was taken a few days before our Damascus trip.

First meal in Damascus... fuul, hummous, and tabouleh. This is how the meal started: slapping the flatbread down on a dusty streetside table. Mmmm... grit... despite the beginning, the meal was pretty durn good!

Dust-storm a few days before our break. We've been having quite a few dusty-days as of late... not pleasant.