The Road to Damascus

What a whirlwind trip! Because Geoff was here such a short time, we decided to see if we could do a quick 2-day trip to Damascus, Syria. The border is only about an hour up the road from Amman and then another hour past to Damascus. Little did we know what an adventure we were getting ourselves into. My friend Jon also came with two friends of his from the States that are visiting. The five of us got along very well so I knew the trip would be no problem. To start the trip, we first had to find a taxi in Abdali (a neighborhood of Amman) that would take us from Amman to Damascus for a good price. Geoff and I found one and then, while we were waiting for Jon, he called us and said they were already on their way. oops!! Miscommunication, so anyway, Geoff and I hop in a taxi with two other guys we don't know and head to the border. The first stop at the border is a check point where an army man walks out in full uniform and takes your passports from the driver of the taxi. He attempted to say everyone's name and got most right except mine. For some reason, my name really messes with people here. Anyway, we then drive on a make a stop where we get out of the car and have to wait in line to pay a departure fee for leaving Jordan, 5 JD. Then get back in the car where we drive to yet another stop and this is the big one. We go inside, fill out a small blue form, and hand it to the guy sitting behind the "foreign arrivals" desk. He takes a look and says that it might take awhile so sit down. Because the US and Syria do not have good relations, it took us 5 hours, yes that's right, 5 hours to get our visas cleared to go into the country for less than 2 days. Luckily, all of us were cleared, along with two other Americans we met that were traveling there.

Once outside the arrivals building, taxi drivers began huddling around us, making different offers in Arabic of prices to Damascus. In Syria, there is not much English spoken but luckily, both of the Americans we met were studying Arabic and held their own in conversation. I was proud because I could understand all the numbers being thrown around. Anyway, we finally decided on a price and split into two groups of three. This is where the story gets interesting. We are on the way out of the border crossing and stop for the car inspection. At least point, more army guys are searching the guys like crazy and then, BAM! They yank out cigarettes from a secret compartment under the dash or in the trunk. Lots of yelling occurs and then our driver had to back out and go back to "get rid of" the stash. When we pulled up out back, all of the taxi drivers were stuffing cigarettes anywhere you could imagine, taping them to the side of their legs under their pants, etc. There is a heavy tax on cigarettes so to buy them at the duty free store and then to smuggle them in is a huge business. Our taxi driver was not too smart as you will see. We pulled up to the car inspection a second time, and MORE cigarettes found. The army guy smashed them on the head of the taxi driver. Once again, back up, fix, and come back. Finally, we made it through the border in one piece and were on the way to Damascus.

As we drove, we could see a beautiful, snow-topped mountain in the distance. We later found out that that is the point where Syria/Lebanon/and Palestine meet. It was quick unexpected but very pretty to see. The rest of the land seemed more fertile then in Jordan, less brown and much more green. The weather about the same, with the nights getting fairly chilly, as it is December 22nd.

Driving into the city, you could feel the different atmosphere. Damascus is such an old city, full of history, and the people just seem to feel that too. I loved the difference between Amman and Damascus, Damascus had that old town character - that stories were there, told and untold. We found a hostel to stay in thanks to our new friends we were traveling with and let me tell you, the hostel was wonderful! It was about $15 a night and we girls had a private bathroom in our room. The layout of the hostel and even parts of the city really reminded me of Italy, maybe Venice with the tiny winding streets.

Because we were in the city literally less than 24 hours, we decided to focus on seeing as much of the Old City as we could. We walked to the "souq" or the market and were just overwhelmed with the amount of shops. It is built in the old train station from the 1920's and it almost gives you the feel of somewhere in Europe. While browsing the shops, we came across the best shawarma that I have had yet. It is this bundle of lamb meat, tomatoes, pickles, fries, and labneh sauce which is to die for. When I leave the Middle East, I will most definitely miss their food!!

From then on, I pushed part of the group to find St. Paul's church, supposedly the site where he was lowered over the Old City wall in a basket to flee his persecutors. Amazing to be there, inside, and take pictures - take in all the beauty around it. Even though the city is amazing, I do have to say it was dirty, not as dirty as Cairo was but pretty dirty. Amman really looks much better than the other two cities I mentioned; however, it makes me laugh that I am used to the pollution here. When I first arrived in August, I thought Amman was such a dirty city, and now, I am calling it the cleanest. Unbelievable how perceptions change over time!

The end to our trip was also a bit exciting. We attempted to find the one bus that leaves for Amman at 3 pm on Monday afternoon. Took a taxi to the bus station, where any normal individual would think you catch a bus, and then found out that it was the wrong place. Then, in limited Arabic, we found that we should catch a local bus, #15, that would take us to the place where we could catch the bus. Unfortunately, we were running late and missed the Jett Bus to take us to Amman. When we got to the new station, a few people helped us right away and we ran into another American who we recognized had been staying at the hostel. Orlando from Sacramento. Anyway, he tagged along with us so we split again into three and three. By the time we got through the border AGAIN, we were exhausted, however, we decided for Geoff's last night, we should go to dinner and enjoy. My conductor called and told me about a great place to go for Iraqi food and we agreed! The food was to die for, I can't even describe. All I can say is that the six of us just stopped talking for about 10 minutes while we inhaled the delicious food.

Whew! Quite a trip. I will be off to Bethlehem in just another day so I have to get stuff done! I do have work that I do :o) woohoo. Alright, talk to you soon. Hope that everyone is ready for Christmas, wish I could be there. Love you and miss you, xoxo

on the other side of the world

As it gets closer and closer to Christmas, I am feeling father and farther away from my usual home and family and friends. Don't get me wrong, I have a great support system here that I am so thankful for; however, it's just not the same as being in your home surrounded by family. There is quite a presence of Christmas here in Amman which is nice - Aimee and I have a Christmas tree up in the living room that finally has lights AND ornaments. Tomorrow, I am having a little Christmas party for the kids to make ornaments and give the parents a break for the afternoon :o) Hopefully I will be able to find beads and glitter before the party, so far no luck!

Geoff has been here for a few days and he has been able to see Petra, the Dead Sea, hot springs, the citadel and the Roman theater. Then on Sunday, a group of us are headed to Damascus which should be amazing, can't wait to see a new place and experience the history and culture there. Hopefully we won't have too much trouble getting through the border!! Ahh. In cool news, we went to these hot springs near Madaba, the town near Mt. Nebo, and it was amazing!!! These waterfalls of hot water just pour down on you, you can close your eyes and just relax - that is of course until the pressure strengthens and almost knocks you over! haha. Another friend of the folks downstairs is visiting as well this week so it has been nice for Geoff to have a travel buddy, so glad I went along today though! Watching everyone float in the Dead Sea was great too - I didn't get in this time so I really spent time taking pictures and looking across the sea to the West Bank - really crazy how close everything is here.

I am going to Bethlehem for Christmas which I think I told you and then meeting Mark in Tel Aviv for New Years!! How cool :o) All of these travels are distracting me a bit from the time of year and being far away which is a good and bad thing. I want to make sure I have enough time to really sit and reflect on where I am and the significance of where I am in the world. I will literally be in the place where Jesus was born - in the place where he was crucified. Wowow. I never thought I would see these places in my life, or not at least until I was retired. haha.

Arabic update- I have finally been putting more logical sentences together but I think if I want to be really serious about music therapy in this region, I have to be more focused on getting a solid grasp on the language, even looking into some courses here. I think the combo of the courses and living in the culture could be great. :o) My job is still here as of today - the UNHCR decided to fund music therapy for 2010 but the budget is smaller and much more confined. I am really considering trying to start something on my own. There is so much need here in so so many different populations that I don't think it will be a problem to find clients and be a benefit to them. I see music therapy making a huge difference here and I hope that something good will come out of my crazy ideas.

Anyway, I will talk to you soon. miss you, xoxo.

sorry!

Hello!!! This is the longest I have gone without a post and I apologize. Last week, I was extremely busy with the Nutcracker performances and this week, my good friend Geoff is visiting from the States so I am playing tour guide around the Amman area and Jordan. :o) I promise I will give you plenty of updates soon.

Still having trouble uploading my Egypt pictures- I"ll get there.

miss you lots, xoxoxo

Egypt Day #3

Onto day three of my Egypt trip....again, this week is very busy with rehearsals for the Nutcracker so I have been a bit slow on my updating. Let's see, let's see - Egypt Day Three was our travel day to Alexandria to see the sites. The big site to see is the Bibliotheca, which houses some of the world's oldest manuscripts. Aimee and I of course took the guided tour and then went into the Rare Books and Manuscripts museum :o) Very cool! I wasn't able to take pictures inside the museum but I am got some great shots inside and outside the library. As we drove into Alexandria I got a great look at the Mediterranean Sea and was able to stick my feet in later in the day. It was quite cold!! After seeing the library and the sea, we went to a great seafood restaurant right on the coast.....now, I will show you a picture of the VAST, HUGE amount of food that was served to each of us. I received a plate of fried calamari/shrimp. a plate of grilled fish (2 whole fish), and plates beyond plate of hummus/veggies/pita, etc. So wonderful!!!! I am going to learn how to cook a few Middle Eastern dishes and I"ll try them out next year when I get back.

After a lovely meal, we took a driving tour of the rest of the city and then back to Cairo for an evening of touring and belly dancing. Aimee and I attempted to learn to bellydance - I think we looked more like we were wiggling but it works. We bought cloth that fits over the hips and shakes when you shake your hips. We'll see if my skills improve over the year :o)

Now, the fourth and final day of the trip was a quick one. We woke up early and headed over the Opera House and were able to watch a Cairo Symphony rehearsal. It was awesome to see and hear another group rehearse, they are pretty awesome. The bassoon player played with us in the October concert so it was nice to see him again and say hello.

Got home from the trip and for the next four days, was very sick with a stomach bug/bacteria infection. Gotta be careful what you eat in Egypt for sure - it was not a fun experience! Luckily, I am feeling much better now. I better be because we have a 5 hour rehearsal tomorrow night for the dress run of the Nutcracker. I love the little kids dancing in the show- hopefully I'll get my hands on a DVD to show you.

Alright, better go for now but I miss you lots, talk soon. xoxoxo

!!!

I can't believe I forgot to mention these things! These are from the first night in Cairo :o) We went out to eat right on the Nile River (placed called Nile City) and the food was amazing. Guess what I tried?

PIGEON. I'm serious - they served stuffed pigeon which was crazy looking. Aimee took pictures. At least I can say I tried it right?

Then, after the dinner - we took a crazy carriage ride across a bridge over the Nile River, the carriages were quite old and the horses were going fast. Aimee and I were holding onto each other for dear life :o)

To top the evening off, we took a boat ride on the Nile River. How cool is that?! The boat was like one you would see at the beach or something that had music and plenty of seats, we had a great time dancing and looking at the city skylines. At night, you could really see the city pollution which wasn't that appealing but oh well.

Ok, just wanted to make sure I told you those things. :o)

Egypt Day 2

I apologize for the delay in updating; however, besides Egypt being a great place to visit, it also decided to provide me with an intestinal bug for a few days once I got back. Eww.

So, moving on from that topic, let's talk about Egypt Day #2. Aimee and I were hotel buddies (surprise) and we got up on time, got ready, and went down to the restaurant for breakfast. Had a quiet breakfast, everyone was sleepy-eyed, and then waited in the lobby of the hotel for everyone to be ready. Finally, everyone showed up and we piled in our traveling van :o) to head to the pyramids!!!! Driving through Cairo is nuts, cars just fly everywhere. I thought Amman was bad but Cairo has a different breed of bad drivers - they have no shame. And as a pedestrian, you better be on your guard, cars do not stop for you. You'll be road kill before you know it! Some people aren't aware and I wasn't really before I started researching for the trip, that some of the pyramids are literally right in the city. We did not go into the pyramids because we are such a big group - I am not sure if they allow people in them anymore, a few guidebooks say they do but who knows. Anyway, we went to a stable on one of the streets near the pyramids and made a deal to tide horses out to them. While they were getting the horses ready, we watched a demonstration of our papyrus paper was made from the papyrus plant that grows in the Nile. The Egyptians used the plants for paper as well as for small boats, mattresses, and mats. They first take the stem of the plant (which has the shape of a triangle) and they shave off the green outer layer. Then they make strips from the inside and they soak them in water at least 24 hours if not more. The longer they soak, the darker in color they get. Then, to make the paper, they criss-cross the pieces of the stem, then put it through a press, or roll by hand to squeeze out the excess water and gluten. Then, it dries and you have paper! Pretty impressive. This is what I think of when I think of baby Moses in the basket in the reeds. A papyrus basket.

Anyway, after that demonstration, we picked our horses and mounted them, then headed down the street towards the desert. Let me tell you, I haven't ridden a horse in a long time, getting on was quite fun! haha. But I got on and my horse was very gentle, just wanted to get me to the pyramids. I took plenty of pictures on the way of our crazy group getting adjusted to their horses. As went started out into the sand, you couldn't see anything but then, as we climbed over a hill, the pyramids were laid out in the distance. I can't explain to you what a beautiful site it was. It's on of those things I never thought I would see in person. The desert stretched out with the pyramids, the people in front of them look so small - then to the other side, you can look out into the city. I tried to capture all of this on camera but my horse was making me bounce up and down quite a bit. :o) We stopped part of the way to the pyramids to look out and listen to a guide talk a little about them. Another man was riding a donkey and the donkey was carrying drink and food supplies that the man was selling - all of the sudden, the donkey went crazy and the man jumped off, the donkey kept going and knocked all of the bags off of it's back! Quite a funny scene if you can imagine. The sad part is that the animals are not treated very well so the donkey probably got punished when it got caught. :o(

When we reached the pyramids, the size was really hard to believe. I got off my horse and I literally walked right up to the pyramid and touched it, people were sitting on parts of it. Crazy!! As we were riding away, I got some more pictures and then one of the horses in the group just decided to sit down! Luckily, no one was hurt but it was strange - then a second horse sat down! They were tired from the heat and the long walk I'm sure.

After getting off the horses and back into the van, we set out for the Egyptian National Museum. It was FILLED with ancient artifacts that were just sitting there, out in the open. No glass cases around them. There were glass cases around the mummies and tombs but still! That would never happen in the States. I saw the exhibit of King Tut, pretty amazing :o) I was not able to take pictures in the museum which was a bummer but I will be able to tell you all about it when I get home, don't worry.

Finally, when the museum adventure was over, we were able to eat lunch. My symphony conductor's brother lives in Cairo and he and his family prepared traditional Iraqi food for us to eat for lunch. We went to a beautiful park and enjoyed the food. I am unsure of all the names but there was wonderful rice, stuffed grape leaves, stuffed kousa, and tomatoes, YUMMY!

Enjoyed some relaxation time at the hotel and then took a ride out to a game/sports lounge. There was an important football (soccer) match on (Barcelona and Madrid) so people were watching that, enjoying argeela and food, and Aimee and I were playing ping pong :o) fun fun!

Alright, that basically sums up the second full day. I don't know if I mentioned in my first update that on our first night, we were able to visit one of the main mosques. They have a women's and men's section so the girls from the trip covered up and went into the women's section. My friend Christina got some pictures of us there and I took two pictures of the inside. It was quite beautiful to say the least. A great experience.

Ok, more more to come, talk to you soon! miss you and sending good thoughts. xoxoxo

back from Egypt

WOWOWOWOWOWOW. That is my reaction to Egypt and to the Pyramids and to the Nile River and to Alexandria. It was so amazing to be there and to experience those places I never thought I would visit. I am going to have to take you through the trip one day at a time and it will probably take more than one blog post. We got home late last night so I have not had time to put my pictures on the computer yet, that will take a few days. Even though I don't have sessions this month, work is really busy with trying to find funding.

Alright, let's start with Saturday. Aimee and I woke up on time! Woohoo and we were already packed (shared a suitcase, very good at saving space this trip) and we met up with everyone outside, headed down the hill, and were picked up by a totally Middle Eastern looking bus. It's the Toyota Autobus, kind of like a big fan with the curtains in the windows. I believe I took a picture of it for you. We made it to the airport, no problems with anyone's passports except for our friend Solarios. He's from Columbia and gets hassled no matter where he goes, grr. The flight between Amman and Cairo is only an hour and 25 minutes; however, they gave us a full lunch with tea and cake. In the States, that would never happen on a short flight. You don't even get peanuts anymore on some flights!

Landed at the Cairo International Airport and began our drive to the hotel in yet another great van/bus. Hehehe, plenty of pictures of that one. Driving into the city was crazy - there were estreet venders with animals skins hanging, slaughtered animals, kids running around trying to sell things. And the pollution was unbelievable, you can see it in the pictures. Aimee and I had a hard time breathing most of the trip, eww. Cairo is busy busy but has a great atmosphere of life. There is a lot of poverty but people seem happy.... We went shopping the first night there in the Old City. Got to haggle for bargains and the prices were sooo cheap. It was almost crazy but I bought a few gifts for people at home. I also purchased a belly dancing sash. It ties over your outfit on your hips and has dangly bells so it make noise when you dance. Pretty hilarious! But we had fun testing them out that night. The hotel we stayed in was called the Om Kalthoum Hotel as it was named after a famous Egyptian singer. It was originally her home so throughout the hotel were pictures and items that used to be hers. As we were told about Cairo, the quality of the hotel wasn't fabulous but I have stayed in much worse (aka -Econo Lodge, Illinois) so it worked out as our place to stay for a few days. I learned how to ask for my room key in arabic which was very helpful as we had to turn it in each morning before we went out.

Alright, phase one over for the Egypt update. Next, I will give you the Sunday itinerary. Talk to you soon!! miss you, xoxo