A Typical Weekend

You know you're an expat when you have the luxury problem of deciding which club you're going to join this summer. This weekend we visited a place a colleague of mine told me about called the Yafour Hotel and Resort. It appeals because, unlike a lot of places here in Syria, you can use the pool during the winter as they erect a glass house over it and continue to heat it.

Even better is that you don't have to actually join the place to use the pool but can pay per session and so Flo asked if we could come along the following day with Beatrice, to which the response was "of course". So, we arrived this morning only to find that a full on event with children racing in lanes and enthusiastic adults cheering them on was taking place and we had to disappoint Beatrice by telling her we wouldn't be swimming today. It sounds a bit petty, but it's little things like this that can make expat life a bit frustrating sometimes.

Fortunately, we're still members of the Hacienda Country Club, so Beatrice still got to play outside in the fresh air.

Completely unrelated, I took some pictures of Ottilie this morning, including this one of her cute little hands...

Beatrice's first haircut

Beatrice's first haircut
Originally uploaded by jonnycorcutt

It's been a while since we posted anything... everything is fine other than us not getting access to our blog here in Syria since Blogger is blocked. However, seems I can post from Flickr, so here we are.

As you can see, Beatrice is growing fast! She's now on to three word sentences (but her favourite expression is "zelf doen" meaning she wants to do everything herself) and is well on her way to being potty trained, pretty much going without nappies during the day now.

But the big news is... Flo's pregnant again! We're now mid term with the due date around 9th September. After years of trying to get pregnant back in Holland, we went for ICSI treatment here in Damascus (we were advised by our GP that they didn't even do ICSI treatment here) and we got lucky first time with only a single egg! So moving to Damascus has been proven very worth while.

We found a specialist here in Damascus who used to be a professor at Nottingham University in the UK. We found out about him through Flo's friendship with a European lady living over here who's married to a Syrian; her daughter had been treated by the specialist and she kindly passed on his details. The hospital is very basic and the bedside manner and general care is poor, but we're prepared to overlook all that given the outcome!

The view from the car this morning

All the rain we had over the weekend was snow up in the mountains. This was on the way when I dropped Jonny off at work this morning. Pretty amazing!

Interview with Beatrice

This weekend I took the opportunity to record a brief interview with Beatrice.

Trip to Bloudan

This morning we made a trip to Bloudan to catch the last of the snow. We drove as far as we could up the mountain, passing a few comical exploits from the locals attempting to drive their cars up the icy track and slipping and sliding and generally falling over one another as they tried to push the cars up the mountain. With our four wheel drives it was relatively easy until we encountered a turn on the crest of an hill.

We managed to get reasonably far up the track where we introduced Beatrice to her first proper snow.

Trip to Bloudan

Back home

Sorry for the lack of updating our blog... So much has happened since we got here four months ago. Where have the months gone? I have been meaning to write about my (not so new anymore) job, our nanny (that sounds soooo expat-ty and decadent), our trip to Bosra where we had a look at the Roman theatre or how we just so very slowly starting to settle a bit. I might do that later.


We just got back from our trip home (erm, home is where the heart is, right?) We stayed with my parents for five lovely days, just long enough to touch base, see all my family, eat as much stamppot as we could possibly muster and work our way through a shopping list as long as my arm. Unfortunately too short to catch up with friends, update Facebook or eat enough paprika chips to see me through the next few months.

My family threw me a birthday party on the night we arrived and Beatrice helped me with unwrapping the presents. She also saw snow for the first time, rode in a buggy for the first time (an experience neither of us enjoyed very much. So out with the borrowed buggy and back into the sling) and we went baby swimming.


Which she really enjoyed. Of course also because she got a chance to show off her pink bikini.

And now we are back in Syria. With the crazy traffic, the bureaucracy, even the custom officer at the airport smoking and with all Blogspot pages blocked (so sorry Nina, Irène, Alle, Joeltje, Elke and Kami for not being able to check up on you! Would you mind sending an email of every post you write? :-)). But also with 17 degrees and sun today. Not long before we will be able to take Beatrice to the outdoor pool at the [insert Jonny's work name] club. We'll just have to do the walking around in circles and singing lullabies ourselves, for the lack of a baby swimming instructor. Or not. :-)


I meant to exclusively breast-feed Beatrice for six months, but at five months and a few weeks and after weeks of scrutinising our plates, she decided herself it was time to start on solids. We are doing something called baby led weaning, meaning we don't puree any food, but give stick sized foods instead for her to play with. So far she has tried potato, carrot, apple, banana, rice cakes, bread, pumpkin, red pepper, avocado, mango, cucumber, butter beans and courgette.


It is supposed to help hand eye coordination and make the baby enjoy food. She certainly seems to enjoy it. Although Jonny and I have both been weaned on mashed foods, we don't have any problems with our coordination. So I think it is more because I am too lazy to blend everything for her...

Happy new year to everyone!

Just a few pictures, taken by Jonny's parents over the Christmas holidays. They brought over a new sling (Beatrice was getting to heavy for the other sling) and we used it when we went to Seydnaya and Malula. It was a cold day (7 degrees), but Beatrice was nice and warm against me. She looked around for a while and then fell asleep.


There are various ways you can wrap the sling (also on your back), but we started with the belly position. It was like having a bump again!

Does three hours count as sleeping through the night?

"Physically she should now be able to sleep 5 hours in a row" the peadiatrician informed us. That was almost two months ago. Instead our little girl chooses to still feed roughly every three to four hours. Day and night. Which is most likely against all 'expert advice' and the routine she is undoubtedly supposed to have by now. I don't really care, since she is gaining weight steadily, seems content after every feed and is a very happy baby in general. And I believe my sister meant it when she said that the bags under my eyes were really not that bad considering.

It might have been the video quality on Skype or maybe I have my new best friend Touche Eclat from Yves Saint Laurent to thank for that. Anyhow, although I am secretly a little bit jealous of babies that sleep 13 hours in a row, I have actually no idea how often she feeds at night. The first thing I re-packed was the alarm clock. After staring at it during one night (with my thoughts going something like this: "Oh no, only 1:30, I have only slept for two hours. What? Four o'clock, that's not even three hours she has slept! Six o'clock? I hope I can sleep some more before Jonny needs to get up"- you get the idea), I decided that I didn't want to know. I realise I still have the luxury to be able to have a nap during the afternoon most days and I also know that it will get better. Until then I relish the night time moments Beatrice and I have together.

We are well on our way with establishing a night time routine: bath time with Jonny (I hear lots of singing, giggling and water splashing whilst I am busy doing something in the kitchen), then a book, a feed and then bed. Our perseverence paid off and by night three she was okay to fall sleep in her own cot. As opposed to our arms. Or the sofa. Somehow she still ends up in our bed somewhere during the night. Which is probably also against the 'rules'. Each morning we are met with the biggest grin ever. She looks at me, then looks at Jonny, then at me again, to make sure we are both there. And then she wees. In her potty.




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It is now getting colder here. Not European cold, but with sub-ten in the morning and 18 degrees in the afternoon it is colder than 35 degrees. Cold enough to put the heating on and cold enough for me not to want to go outside unless I have activities that take me outside. Today I had no things planned and decided to do some baking for the pot luck for the Christmas party from the international baby group tomorrow. But we did not have enough eggs left for both the brownies ánd the white chocolate fruit cake I wanted to make. And I couldn't choose between the one or the other. So with Beatrice in the sling I ventured outside to the little corner shop down the road to see if they sold eggs. They did, so I asked for six eggs and got them in a bag. Chicken poo and feathers still on them, so I knew they were real eggs.

Meanwhile Beatrice was undecided between giving the telly her attention or the Syrian shopkeeper who was cooing at her. In the end she decided on the shopkeeper and grinned back at him. As a thank you he added a slice of chocolate cake to our order. For the baby. "Is good, yeah?" Don't worry grandparents, I have not given it to her. Yet. It has so many additives, that it will still be okay by the time she is weaned and ready for it. In fact, I don't know what to give her first. The chocolate cake or the Rolo she was given by the Bahraini couple in the Beirut hotel. ;-)

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Having children in the Middle East is great. Apart from the unsuitable sweets Beatrice is given that is. People here love little children and she is constantly talked to, smiled at and carried around. I can't think of many places in Europe where other customers in a top-end Japanese restaurant wouldn't bat an eye-lid when a group of people with a baby and a toddler in tow arrived. Beatrice gets her mouth wiped by the shop owner of the Kodak store, is told by the maid from the neighbours that she loves her and carried around by the driver from the club. And she thrives with all the attention. We have been told that she is the smiliest baby ever, which is really nice to hear!

Last week was the first time I dressed her in a pair of jeans. And proudly mentioned the fact to a woman I met that day. She looked us both up and down and told me how a friend of hers warned her of the danger of having daughters and how you dress them identical to yourself. Only then I realised that we were both wearing a stripey top and blue jeans..

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Jeans and a basic top seems to be my uniform these days. I can't find much time to dress up and heels are slightly uncomfortable when carrying a baby around. Friend A. will be glad to hear I am wearing normal underwear again though. On the more embarrassing side was Jonny's question last night how long I had been wearing my top inside out. That is twice in two months. With the first time being worse, since I was in Jonny's office when one of his female co-workers inquired whether inside out tops were the new fashion. Argh.

How do other new mothers find time? I can't even find time to sit down and reply to all my email (sorry L., R. and M. that I have not replied yet, I will, promise!), unpack the last boxes, let alone write a post every day (like J.) or even twice a week (like V.). Maybe I should finally learn how to speed type. If only I had time!

A slight change of plan

Instead of going to Jordan, we ended up going to Beirut last weekend. And instead of telling you about that, some old pictures I forgot to post before. Beirut update to follow...

Last month we went for Friday lunch on Mount Kassioun. This is where Cain slew Abel and also where the prophet Mohammed took his first look of the city of Damascus before turning away from "earthly paradise".


Nowadays the paradisical view is slightly spoiled by all the litter on the mountain, but you get a good view over the city from one of the many restaurants. We went to the restaurant Best View where I had the lamp with vegetables...

Back to Seidnaya

Today we decided to return to Seidnaya and visit the Convent of Our Lady of Seidnaya. This time, Flo was still fit and healthy when we arrived, so we popped Beatrice into the sling and had a wonder around the convent. You can view the pictures by clicking on the album below.

Trip to Seidnaya

It's a pretty convent and supposed to house a portrait of Mary painted by Saint Luke. I was surprised that almost the entire convent is open to visitors, including walking up onto the roof to admire the view.


We decided to take an alternative route back to Damascus, by driving up into the mountains. The detour was certainly worthwhile as we were treated to fantastic views and a great, narrow, twisty road snaking its way up the valley. We're starting to discover Syria's little gems...

Trip to Quneitra

Today we went day tripping, this time to a place called Quneitra and our first trip in the new car! I won't bore you with the history and politics regarding this place as it's all documented elsewhere, suffice to say it never fails to surprise me just how horrible people can be to one another.

Trip to Quneitra

I've posted some pictures in the album linked above, and you can even see where the pictures were taken on the Google map. It's a bit bizarre driving around, since there's a check-point a couple of kilometres before Quneitra where they check your paperwork (you need to get a letter from the Ministry of Interior Affairs to visit the area) and where a member of the secret police steps into your car to escort you as you drive. He was a pleasant enough chap and I was very impressed that Flo managed to convince him to wear the seat belt in the front seat... which just managed to fit around his impressively large belly. What I found really incredible though was that he didn't ask for any money when we dropped him off at the check-point!

The UN have a military base within the remains of Quneitra. It was a little odd seeing them there... it's a really sombre place, so hearing loud music blasting from the barracks and seeing the soldiers participating in a "fun-run" through the bombed out remains of the town was really peculiar.

On the way back we decided to explore and drove back towards the Golan Heights... it's kind of weird driving around this area as it's something that we heard a lot about on the news when we were growing up. It's actually a really nice place... much greener than the area around Damascus, full of olive trees, valleys and little streams. Unfortunately, we headed up a road that led to a dead end up the valley. It was also being resurfaced, so our new car is now covered in sticky tar! So that will give me something to do when our sea-freight has arrived... I'll be spending a weekend de-tarring the car!


We'll definitely revisit the Golan Heights area, but next time we'll be better prepared and figure out a round trip back to Damascus.

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!

Trip to Seidnaya

Appologies for not updating the blog for a while... been having problems with our internet connection. Here's the post I actually wrote at the weekend...

The weekend turned out to be a quiet one. Last weekend my botty was not well and this week it was the turn of Flo's titty, since she came down with mastitis. And a throat infection. Double whammy. [edited by Flo]

We still managed to get a short trip in today (Saturday), to visit the Convent of Our Lady of Seidnaya. Unfortunately, we didn't get chance to stop and walk around and take some photos, since even before arriving Flo started to feel sick and so we drove straight past the convent and returned back to Damascus the way we came (minus the unnecessary detours).

I'm trying to at least upload a map of our route, but our 3.5G internet connection (DSL connections are still extremely difficult to get installed here) has been offline most of the day and even now it's struggling a bit. I suspect that at the weekends the network is overloaded. Or maybe the thunderstorm I can hear brewing outside is effecting it? So I'll have to try and upload some pictures during the week instead.


Beatrice is continuing to grow. She's slowly settling into more of a routine now following the upheaval of the move and is managing to get some sleep in during the day, which is making her and hence Flo and ultimately me much happier bunnies. She's also getting stronger and wanting to sit up more and more (still with some help from Mum and Dad) and she's starting to spend more time on her belly trying to learn how to crawl. She's certainly got the leg actions down, but just needs to learn to move her arms.

From Beatrice Dorothy Corcutt

I've added a couple more pictures to the ever expanding Beatrice album above. I've got a movie to upload too but I'll try and do that at work to save some monthly data allowance for Flo on our internet connection...

Our air freight arrived!

Our first outing

Despite me being bed ridden yesterday (thanks for sharing that with everyone Flo), we did manage to get out and about on Friday on our first outing from Damascus.

We're starting off with some shorter trips to get our bearings a little and for little Beatrice to get used to the car, but plan to use our weekends to explore the area. So the first trip was only a 20 minute drive out of Damascus and since Friday mornings are very quiet on the roads I thought it was also a good opportunity for Flo to drive and get used to the roads.

As Flo alluded to in her previous post, sign posts on the roads here are not the best, so you have to really pay attention and not drive too fast otherwise you'll miss the small English text that's written on some of the signs. So, it took us a little longer to get to our destination than planned as we completely missed the turn off. But we go there in the end!


View Larger Map
We visited the Greek orthodox church's Abbey of St. Paul the messenger, reputedly built on the location that St. Paul (Saul) fell on the road to Damascus. So the location is very historic, although not the abbey itself which was built in 1965. Still, it serves to highlight the religious tolerance of Syria, where Muslims, Christians and Jews all peacefully cohabit.

Abbey of St. Paul the messenger

It's nice to get out of Damascus and breath some fresh air and the natural scenery is quite dramatic looking, but unfortunately spoilt by the litter that is strewn everywhere; the abbey is a beautiful oasis in this respect. Take a look for yourself by clicking on the album above.

On how...

.... I was waiting to have spent some time in the Old City of Damascus to give my first impression. I did not want to be negative about our new home town, but so far, I don't find Damascus a very pretty city, with lots of high rise, houses and appartments that seem stuccoed with brown mud. I have been told though that the Old City, full of history, is very charming and that also the neighbourhood of Abu Romanouh is very interesting (in a none British sense of the word).

... the plan was to go and visit the Old City today, but that worked out differently. Jonny woke up not feeling to great and came down with some sort of bug. Which involved diarrhoea. After having warned me when we got here that I would probably get ill within a week, due to the different water and the poorer sanitisation. Since I was fine, I offered to drive to a pharmacy and get him some Immodium.

... traffic in Damascus is complete anarchy. There are rules, but most people seem not to take them very seriously. This involves overtaking, undertaking, not indicating, cutting off, seriously going over the speed limit and doing something (like crossing the street) and then looking if there is traffic. With Jonny's warning still ringing in my ears, the stories of serious accidents in the back of my head, I was reluctant to drive at first. Since Beatrice was born, I have become very sensitive to the fact how vulnerable you are in a car. Add the unfamiliarity of a strange city and a big car I had not driven before. But desperate times call for desperate measures, so off I went.

... I drove to a bakery knowing there was a pharmacy next door. That turned out to be closed. The other five pharmacies I drove past were closed too. It seems Saturday is not a pharmacy-open-day. There is something confusing about opening hours here anyway. On Friday (the official day off) all Moslim shops are closed. On Saturday all Jewish shops are closed. On Sunday the Christian shops are closed. On the days that all shops are open, opening times seem to be pot luck. Apparently at ten thirthy in the morning you have the best chance to find most shops open.

... although I did not get any Immodium, bought two loafs of bread. Which is quite an achievement by itself. Before coming here, I was hoping that the few years of French occupation left some sort of a bread legacy. Although there is a shop called Sucré and Sallé in the center of town, the main bread eaten here is Arabic flat bread. There are government run bakeries that stock piles and piles of the bread. Loafs of bread on the other hand are not so easy to come by. So I was quite pleased with my purchase.

... whilst trying to find a pharmacy, I was beeped at almost continiously. Beeping your horn is not a sign of aggression here. Well, not necessarily. It can mean, 'careful I am behind, besides or in front of you' (maybe the latter not really) or 'you are in the wrong lane' or 'drive faster' or 'drive slower' or 'hurry up' or 'the light is green, go. Now.' I was beeped at for all of those reasons. Which was not all that strange considering I was going at a low speed to try and read the signs and trying not to get hit by a manic driver. Or get lost.

... I got lost anyway. Whilst completely aware I was getting further away from our neighbourhood, I could not see a place to turn around on the motorway. When I finally did, it was admittedly not the safest place to make a u-turn. But with the traffic anarchy in mind I thought I might as well have a go. Three police men thought otherwise. Three! I don't even know where they came from but within seconds they were knocking my windows telling me to drive on. Driving further and further away and with only the mountains to give me some sense of direction, I was afraid I'd end up in Aleppo before being able to turn around.

... meanwhile I was getting bit worried about Beatrice. She is exclusively breastfed, so there was not a lot Jonny could do in case she got hungry. I was also very aware that he was probably not in the mood to do anything that involved getting out of bed. Other than going to the toilet. Thankfully I did manage to find my way home again and although having woken up five minutes after I had gone, Beatrice was fine. Jonny had to content himself with the old fashioned solution of Coca Cola and banana. And maybe some bread when he is feeling better.

An update in pictures

Before I give you my first impressions of our new home town of Damascus, our last week in pictures.


Beatrice found the whole move quite boring frankly. Or tiring, depending on how you want to interpret her yawn. In fact, she slept through most of it. In her sling, in her father's or mother's arms or in our bed. No, she did not want to sleep in the camping bed provided by the hotel. Fair enough, since she did not even fill a quarter of it!


All our stuff was packed in a matter of hours. And boy, do we have a lot of stuff. Almost 300 boxes/items (since a table is not boxed, but does count as an item). That is roughly four times as much as what we had when we moved to Dubai six years ago. One does accumulate a lot of stuff over the years. And we can't blame the baby on even a tenth of it.


All that is not going by either air or sea freight, we took with us. Nine pieces of luggage and two cats equal 149 kilos. A Bugaboo, a car seat, a laptop bag and two pieces of hand luggage. One very good baby, who only cried a little bit during the two flights. Two very tired parents by the time we arrived in Damascus. More on that later.


Yesterday it was 34 degrees here, so a good opportunity for Beatrice to wear her one and only dress she was given.

A new adventure begins...

We arrived at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam nice and early this morning, with six bags, our Bugaboo and two cats to check in along with our hand luggage and of course little baby Beatrice!

From Syria

Since we arrived nice and early we had a bit of time to sit in the lounge and feed Beatrice, which gave me time to make this quick post!

Iggy Pop

I forgot to mention it, but when I was travelling back from Syria a couple of weeks back, I had a stop over in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Since I was fortunate enough to be flying business class, I took the opportunity to wait for my connecting flight (it was delayed about 50 minutes) in the business lounge. While in the lounge I heard some Americans talking while I was trying to use the free internet access computers (took me a while to fathom the French keyboard layout). On my return back to a comfy seat, I spotted one of the Americans that I'd heard... he looked really familiar! I wasn't completely sure, but thought he looked just like Iggy Pop. I don't know a great deal about him and only really know one of his songs (Lust for Life featured in the film Trainspotting), but he's quite distinctive looking.

I noticed that this guy had a very distinctive limp and clearly had one leg shorter than the other (he wore a special heightened sole on the foot of the short leg), so, as I left the business lounge I sent Flo an SMS asking her if Iggy Pop has one leg shorter than the other. She wrote back saying "Computer says "Yes"", which made me chuckle since she was making reference to the British TV programme Little Britain.

Damascus - First impressions

Three weeks ago I flew over to Damascus to start my new job. I'd got used to my life of leisure having just taken four weeks leave (I had to try and use up my leave before starting my new job) and was surprisingly anxious for the last couple of days before leaving home, both about leaving my pregnant wife to fend for herself, but also a little weary of the unknown. I didn't really have any expectations about Syria and Damascus, but I knew that my new job was going to be pretty tough, on top of moving country and having a new born baby!

Damascus International Airport was a slight culture shock in comparison with Amsterdam Schiphol and even Paris Charles de Gaule airports. I had to wait about an hour in the queue for passport control and the visa process is rather unique. A number of stamps are placed into your passport (which you have to pay for at a separate counter, something I wasn't aware of until after queuing for an hour). Of course, stamps have to be moistened to activate the glue on the rear side to make them sticky and in such a warm climate, what better source of moisture than that generated by the body! I was a bit surprised to see the passport official sticking the stamps under his shirt and string vest onto his moist chest in order to moisten them... my brand new passport will remain fragrant for a number of years now!

Having picked up my suitcase, I was met by a company driver who chauffeured me to the airport where I was to spend my first two nights. The road from the airport to Damascus is surprisingly good and so my first impression of the roads was a good one.

I was fortunate enough to put up in the nicest hotel in Damascus, The Four Seasons Hotel. I was even more fortunate to be upgraded to a Diplomatic Suite when I checked in (due to limited room availability), so my first impression of the city was that it is rather decadent! I have to say, the hotel is extremely good with a great location and with a room on the sixteenth floor I got a great first view of the city when I woke in the morning.


The city is surprisingly green and surrounded by mountains. It also has in abundance what I missed from our last Middle East adventure... mosques and the call for prayer, the sound of which instantly adds an exotic ambience to the city.

Since I only had two nights in the hotel, I made the most of the facilities to enjoy the late afternoon sun by the pool side after my first day at the office (this is the view of the hotel looking up from the pool side, with a beautiful clear blue sky). Although the climate is pretty hot (it's currently around 38˚ C during the day), it's very dry since Damascus is at a pretty high elevation and protected from the Mediterranean Sea by Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon mountains (where they grow wine grapes and where you can ski in the winter), which drives most of the moisture out of the air before it hits Damascus. Therefore, it's possible to walk around the city at midday without working up too much of a sweat (taking it easy of course), unlike Dubai where you sweat like crazy just stepping outside!

My favourite time of the day though is early evening when the sun is setting and casting a beautiful orange and red glow across the city. This is the best time to explore the city as not only is the lighting fantastic, but this is when the city really comes alive. Syrians are extremely sociable people and love to meet up with their friends and family in the evenings. They love their food also, so walking around the city in the evening gives a blend of many things... hustle and bustle (shops are generally open until late, most to around 9 p.m.), the smell of grilled food and sweet shisha.

Thursday night is the most popular night for socialising and I was fortunate enough to be shown through the centre of the old city this night by my new boss, starting with the famous 500 m long Souk al Hamidiyeh. Unlike the souks of Dubai, this one is not simply a tourist attraction, but a fully functioning main shopping street that originates from the time of the Romans and has seen a fair share of history. As if to prove it, the roof of this covered souk shows scars from the past as you can clearly see bullet holes letting through the evening sun light. There's a huge array of items for sale down this busy pedestrian street, ranging from traditional arts and crafts to modern plastic moulded products.

At the end of the souk is an original Roman arch, one of seven that are still standing around the old wall that used to defend the city during Roman times, parts of which still stand today. Having been brought up in an old Roman city (that of Lindum) I'm used to seeing remnants of the Roman empire, but here they seem more integrated into the every day life of the city's inhabitants.

Just beyond the Roman arch lies Umayyad Mosque, which is home to the head of John the Baptist. What struck me about this place is its accessibility. Access to the large courtyard is gained simply by removing ones shoes and rather than being met by silence and contemplation, instead there are families and friends chatting and even having picnics with children playing games and running around. Damascus is a unique place, where Muslims and Christians are integrated together in society, where you'll find a church and a mosque located side by side with absolutely no issues. It therefore felt completely normal and accepted as a Westerner to be walking around inside the mosque. In general, Damascus feels like the one of the safest, friendliest places I have ever visited (at least when I'm not in a car, but that's a different issue).


The night was finished off at a great restaurant in the heart of the old city, where I was re-introduced to an old friend of mine, arabic meze, washed down with Almaza beer.

After two nights in the hotel, I was moved into a temporary transit apartment in West Mazzeh. This is considered to be an affluent area of the city and is host to a large number of embassies. Accommodation in this area is generally low rise (four storey) apartment buildings, of which I was provided a first floor apartment. The picture shows a typical residential street in this area. Apartments are typically three or four bedrooms and around 150 m3, the ground floor apartments having decent sized gardens and the others generally having good sized balconies.

I spent a quiet Friday morning (the Syrian weekend is Friday and Saturday and Friday morning is especially quiet) walking around the neighbourhood finding my bearings. Although Damascus only has a couple of large supermarkets, the local market shops are pretty well stocked up and there are plenty of food stores and restaurants serving good food. Also, contrary to popular belief, it's pretty easy to find Coca Cola, although Pepsi appears to be more popular. The best fruit and vegetables however I surprisingly bought from small stalls on the sides of the road, like the one pictured here.

My office is located approximately 10 km outside of Damascus in the suburban district of Dummar. It's about a fifteen minute drive from my accommodation depending on the traffic, which brings us on to driving. It was quite a shock for the first few days, but fortunately for the first week I was sat in the passenger seat having been provided a driver to help me acclimatise. I have to admit that at the end of the week I was a little nervous about driving myself, however my driver taught me the golden rules: the car in front has right of way; don't be afraid to use your horn; always look ahead and expect the unexpected. Regarding traffic rules, there don't appear to be any. For example, there are lines marked on the roads, but there are no lanes... you simply drift into the gaps. Once I was familiar with the (lack of) rules, my fun of driving became rekindled. Let's face it, driving in Europe is now so regulated that frankly it's boring. Having said that, the roads in Syria are dangerous. The roads themselves are surprisingly good, but the driving is amongst the worse I've seen. But like most things that are dangerous... it's also great fun. Anyway, the picture is the view from the top floor of my new fifteen storey office.

One of my objectives during this first visit to Damascus was to choose our accommodation for the next three years. After looking around a few apartments in Mazzeh and also some villas out of town, I chose a second floor apartment (after consulting with Flo of course) in the lively district of East Mazzeh, overlooking a cactus field at the rear. Pictures inside the apartment can be seen here (the furniture is of the current occupants).

Damascus Appartment #1

Damascus is far bigger and more developed than I expected. Although it's reasonably green, it used to be far greener as it's located in a river valley that used to be forested until the trees were cut down to make space for housing. With a population of around four to five million and with low pollution standards, the city invariably develops a bit of a smog, which you can see in this picture taken from the mountain side overlooking the city from the north. On a clear day (when there's a bit of a breeze to clear away the smog) you can see a mountain range at the far end of the city. What's nice about the city is that it's still relatively low rise, the highest building being the Four Seasons Hotel at about eighteen stories, but this building towers above the rest of the city.

The surrounding countryside is generally mountainous and rocky and pretty barren. Although snow sometimes falls on the city in the winter and more frequently higher up in the surrounding mountains, there hasn't been any good rainfall for a couple of years and this is starting to show, despite the best efforts of the government to water the plants and trees.

I was actually a little sad to leave the city after a couple of weeks, since I was just starting to get a feel for the place and begin to know my way around (or at least pluck up the courage to explore a little). However, it was good to get back to the cleanliness and order of the Netherlands and what struck me as I flew over Rotterdam, Delft, Den Haag and finally Amsterdam on my return is just how green it is in Western Europe, something I for one take for granted here. Having said that, I'm quickly getting bored of the persistent cause of the greenery... it's hardly stopped raining since I've been back. Of course, I sorely missed Flo while I was away, which reminded me that experiences have limited value done solo and are much better when accompanied by a loved one. So, as much as I enjoyed Damascus and look forward to discovering more, I won't feel at ease until I'm joined by my family and have them to share in these new experiences. We'll have to change the name of the blog though... to the adventures of Jonny, Flo and... oh yeah, I'm not allowed to say the name yet!