It is growing on me

No, I am not talking about the pounds on my hips and belly. *Grins*

Although I could be, since I am ravenous all the time. Breast-feeding makes so hungry. It is not like the first month anymore though, when I went to bed with a stash of health bars or biscuits for midnight snacks. I used to eat those whilst nursing Beatrice, careful not to crumble in the bed. Or on her.

Somehow it seems much harder to keep up the healthy eating now than during my pregnancy. Chocolate, cookies or bread are the fast option for some quick pick-me-up energy. I also seem to have less time to cook and prepare healthy snacks... *Makes mental note to drink more water and snack on fruit again because need to loose those stubborn last two kilos of baby weight*

I digress. I actually mean that Damascus is growing on me.

I came here with no real expectations. I had no idea that Syria has in fact more inhabitants than the Netherlands (roughly 18 million) and that Damascus has over four million inhabitants or that it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Nor that 85% of the population is Muslim and 15% Christian. Or that it twins with Rio de Janeiro. No, I was way too busy being pregnant, giving birth and looking after a new-born. In that order.

We live in East-Mezzeh. Or Mazzeh. Or Mezze. It's a transcription thing. Kafersosa is where the super market is. I call it Kaiser Sose. *Jonny rolls with his eyes*

The Autostrada intersects East and West Mezzeh. It has officially five lanes. During rush hour people turn it into seven. Or eight. I took this picture when it was quiet.

You never need to wonder how long it takes for the light to go green again. There is a little countdown display next to the light. When the display is down to five seconds people start beeping their horns impatiently. At three seconds they go.

This is our street. A street with a name. Which is really not that common here. There are lots of streets with no name *thinks of inserting pun referring to the U2 song* or even street numbers. People are used to using landmarks for reference. We live close to the LG shop.

The door you can actually see in this picture is the door to the basement apartment. The door entering the building is on the right hand side under the canopy. Jonny had a look at the downstairs apartment too, although it has a big garden, it is quite dark. Apparently lots of downstairs apartments are.

And they don't get the nice view over the cactus plantation. This picture was taken from the living room. Our next door neighbour told me that the fields are gorgeous when in bloom. And they are in bloom for a good five months of the year. We just missed it this year.

Our kitchen. I am really glad that my kitchen utensils arrived in the air freight. It is not easy cooking with only a knife and three frying pans. I also happy to have my herbs and spices back. I was lost without cumin. As you are. ;-)

Grand mart. The super market opened a couple of years ago and was one of the first of Syria. There are now at least two. The selection is really quite good, better I dare say than most Dutch super markets. The imported things are quite expensive though, but food and food shopping really deserves a post of its own.

They do some clever recycling there. I have no idea what was actually in the waffles packaging. Or how it got there. It looks like potpourri, but it was next to the herb counter. Weird.

And yet, despite getting used to the city, slowly settling into our new life, I have heaps of moments where I find it difficult too. I miss my family and friends (and phone calls abroad are so expensive that I think twice about calling somebody). I miss knowing my way around, it being easy to quickly pop Beatrice in the sling and walk to the shops. I miss my life being easy.

But mostly I consider myself really fortunate. Had we still been in the Netherlands, then I would be back at work by now and Beatrice in day care. And she is still so very tiny. I am really enjoying spending time with her and getting to know her. Slowly I am learning what the different cries mean, what makes her sad and what makes her happy. That makes me happy!