Monday, 1 September 2003, Jaramana, Syria
90 degrees, SUNNY

We wake up surprisingly early around 9:30, and I decide it's finally time to go check in at the Safira Amerikee (American Embassy) since I've been here almost two weeks, and it's also about time for me to check in with Syrian immigration too. We get in a cab in Jaramana, and take the most circuitous route to the Embassy I've ever been on. We go thru Bhab Touma, then around on a highway - at which point I ask Naeif "the driver knows where the embassy is, right?" and Naeif gives me an exasperated look and has a few words in Arabic with the driver. I mean, I'm an arrajnabe and I know he's off on the wrong route. Finally, a 10 minute ride that has taken us almost a half hour, we get to the Embassy. I chat with the same guy who I saw last year, and he remembers me!

Unfortunately, the embassy only takes registrations before 11 AM, so I'll bring the card back with my information when Jeremy and Diana get here. We leave, and head towards the Goethe Institute, one of my main hangouts when I was here last. In the garden, the same bald guy is working, he remembers me and now I have Naeif to translate. We have breakfast, and a kahwa (coffee) and are on the move again - it's getting hot out. We get a cab back to Jaramana to hide from the sun.

At home, it's time for a nap in the courtyard. I alternate between dozing, and reading my book "Glamourama" by Bret Eason Ellis - the perfect antidote to the chaos here - a book about a different kind of chaos.

When I wake up, Naeif is chatting with his friend Fourat, a violin player. Soon, we're off to Fourat's parents house for dinner at their home in Mezzeh - a very nice neighborhood in Damascus. We spend an enjoyable couple of hours there, chatting, drinking whisky and eating sandwiches and salads. Fourat is a great guy - he also speaks English, which is a welcome relief for me, to have someone to talk to. He studied music in Russia for 11 years, so also speaks fluent Russian. On the bookshelves are books in English, Russian and Arabic - this seems utterly erudite to me!

Back home in Jaramana, there is no water to wash, drink or use the toilet. Ghazwan is on the job, but I opt to go to a neighbor's with Marlin to use their hammam, then go shopping for a bit. We go to the neighbor's house, a 40ish woman living alone (a rarity!) because her parents go to Arneh for the summer. She's an uncommon Syrian woman, never married (not for lack of proposals), works and is happily alone. We use her hammam, have a cup of coffee and she joins us for the shopping trip.

The three of us head off into Jaramana and almost immediately must visit a shoe shop. We need to escape the heat anyway. I spot a cool pair of blue shoes with a silver chain for $10. Sold! Then, we go to a Syrian dollar store (nothing over 100 S.L.!) and I get six Mate spoon/straws, some crazy Syrian deodorant, a Monopoly game in Arabic and a tiny nargilah - all for 200 S.L. (about US $4). We visit other stores, one has such great music, I bust out dancing which causes quite a commotion. Seems anything only slightly out of the ordinary causes tremendous turmoil.

We go home, I show Naeif my purchases, and we head off to the neighbors house for a hafla! Me, Marlin, Thuraiya and the neighbor sit around in our dishdashis and eat fruit, smoke nargilah and drink whisky and take turns dancing to the static-filled Syrian radio. At midnight, it's my birthday, so we light candles and sing - yay! Soon after, home for sleep.