Oh my.

"I spark a match and watch the candle burn.
The wick runs out and then love takes it's turn.
On fallen angels and broken sounds, we will last past the final round.

So save me love, save me all the time.
I'll wash you down with a simple sip of wine.
Toast my glass to all my loved ones.
To let them know that the stars, well they still shine."

-Trevor Hall

Oh, Africa

For whatever reason, Africa has been a recurring theme in my life this month. It's actually getting a little bit weird. Between Claire and Ms. Hartman's trip to Tanzania, Ellee (and Sam)'s desire to go and help Africa, the tragedy that happened in South Africa involving a boy from Memorial, the world cup in South Africa, a possible visit to Egypt while we're here in Syria, my father's business work in Libya, two books I picked out that, without me knowing, involve Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan, and my current studies of the Lost Boys and Sudanese Civil Wars, (and other things that I can't remember at the moment) I've heard quite a bit about Africa... More than I ever have before in my life by a landslide. So tell me, sweet Africa, what is it you want from me? I'd love to know. Maybe Clairista can tell me when she returns; I miss her so.

Small World After All

I scream it to the nothingness.

I'd like to start out by apologizing to anyone who now has the annoying "It's A Small World After All" song stuck in their head thanks to the title I chose for this post.

That being said, it is a freaking small world. A couple nights ago, we went out to spend a night on the town with an old friend of ours who lives here. He brought his two friends along and they were awesome to say the least. There's a lot I want to say about them but I'll just go straight to the point; they're going to college in the U.s. One is going to Elon (the school my good friend Al wants to attend) and the other plans to attend USC after year (one of the school my good friend Kelly wants to go to). After hearing this, I stared at them for a second and freaked out. They were slightly alarmed but happy to hear good things about the schools they were going to.
While that whole ordeal is weirdly neat, I DO have an even bigger point to make. The kids here are just like us in the ways that count. They have similar interests, similar goals and like to do similar things- a lot of them love traveling, they speak English really well, and they have an appreciation for sitting for longs hours at a restaurant or cafe and eating that only my Freebirds group could understand. I really hate it when people hear me say that I'm going to Syria and instantly the words "terrorist" "bombs" and "camel" come to mind. We actually even joked about this horrible stereotype because everyone here knows exactly what the typical American thinks about the Middle East.
Talking about that makes me think of the guy I met last night, Sariya. He is my age and basically the guy version of me, except with musical talent (something I sadly lack). We talked more in-depth about the stereotype and how we hope to fix this problem. He is actually going to Norway next month for a student-exchange program and they'll have "Syria night" where he hopes to show what it's actually like. I want to do my part by doing THIS, writing about it and later, posting pictures.
I hope that by reading this, your understanding of "The Middle East" changes. I hope that in the future when you hear people discussing the area in a way that you know is wrong, you put your educated input in and set some things straight. I hope that by doing this, I am doing my part in changing the world.

My Dig on Communication

I've learned something about communication while here experiencing life as a mute thanks to my inability to speak the language. It's something that's obvious, nothing profound, but I was still interested by it none-the-less. I've found that guys tend to communicate and bond over physical things like sports while girls communicate through talking. Although this is no scientific conclusion drawn from an intense and long experiment, in my experience here it's been a general truth. My cousins here are all boys and there's always an awkward moment we have to get over when we first see them. While I was not able to deal with it through talking, the minute my brother broke out the basketball, everything was fine. Thank God he exists.

Nehbud

And in the streets, you run afree.

This is something I wrote in an e-mail to Sara in response to her questions about Damascus and the people. Despite the horrible writing, I thought it pretty much summed up my take on the city putting aside my melodramatic feelings (some of you know what I'm talking about).

About Damascus... Hmm. It's like NYC in a lot of ways. Lot's of buildings, little room, lot's of people. I keep trying to put pictures on my blog but the computer's being really weird about it. In the city, there's a lot of noise and movement and life. I think I would love it under different circumstances. It's like an older, dirtier, more sincere and more chaotic version of New York City. There's a lot of places to go and eat and grab coffee or enjoy a smoothie. The weather's great and people generally stay out until 1 or 2 (my mom get's in about every night at 2:30) so sitting outside is usual and enjoyable. Damascus is the oldest "living" city EVER. This makes the city very unique. You can drive around and see very modern things like internet cafes and cell phone but then you turn your head and there's like ruins and houses that have been there for hundreds of years. You feel connected to the people that made them and you feel like you're making them proud by fulfilling some kind of dream of theirs; it's almost like you're keeping them alive or something. The people are intense. Like, if someone is nice, they're very nice and they mean it. If they're scary, well they're scary as heck. People are talkative here and they remain respectful while being a little less polite than in Houston. I mean, people are not rude, that's not what I mean, but it's like it's easier to get to know someone you don't know here because that polite distance isn't there... I don't know, it's really hard to explain. But, for someone like me it's a comfort.

The Death of Me

Holey moley, me, oh my.

The driving here. Oh my god. The driving. Here in Syria, the whole road and driving system is a little different than back home. Different how? Well, let's see. First of all, there are no lanes because there are no lines on the road. Even on a newly paved road, there aren't even lines to separate the left and right sides of the road. As in the line separating your line and the oncoming traffic line. On top of that, everyone has the right of way and you know it from the amount of honking that goes on. In Houston, I hear a car honk every couple days while here, not so much. I'm sitting outside right now and the longest gap between car honks that I've heard is 8 seconds. 8 seconds, guys. Even Mr. Higgins couldn't prepare me to drive here. In fact, it's a common joke that “if you can drive in Syria, you can drive anywhere!” Hilarious. A-freaking-dditionally, no one uses a seat-belt here and taxi's, the main form of transportation, don't even have seat-belts. You can image the heart attacks I've had here, being big on seat-belts and cautious driving myself. It's definitely an adventure.

Here's a little game idea my friend Geoffrey had last night over dinner-
Us: What should we do tonight?
Geoffrey: Let's go play a game down there. (Points to the road filled with honking cars) Whoever get's across the road wins. Whoever almost get's hit but dodges it gets double points. Whoever get's hit is automatically out.

Up

Mother, I'm coming home.

 

(Feel free to laugh at my misfortune (that's not all that unfortunate if you take away my dramatic qualities))

Oh. Man. So, here I am in the Paris airport after an 8-hour flight. What does that mean? I'm half-way there, man, half-way there. I am tired, in pain, kind of cold and alone. Yes. Alone. Ryan and my mother are god knows where and although I am at the moment writing this from the airport I'll be posting it from Syria because I don't even have the internet! I mean, sure, I can buy Wi-Fi, but I will not stand for such an atrocity! Paying for slow airport internet? Whatever. Anyway, right now at home it's 3:18 A.M. and way past my bedtime but I can't sleep because I have to deal with this jet-lag sass before it gets the best of me. However, this is not easy because as some of you may know, I need sleep. Yes, I know, everyone needs sleep but... I NEED IT MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE. I fall asleep about four times a day and can't last past 10:30.... Wow, I'm rambling. I'm going crazy here. WHEN CAN I LEAVE THIS PLACE?! Oh my.

Okay, some highlights of my travels thus far...
1.Taking pictures of strangers and an unsuspecting Ryan in this weird airport
2.Watching my mom watch It's Complicated on the plane (a fantastic movie, I'd recommend it to any appreciative, mature audience)
3.Yeah okay, the movies were pretty good, but the headphones sucked! They're essentially pieces of plastic throwing noise in the general direction of your ear... not headphones.
4.Airport bathrooms. They rock.
5.Missing an entire night of sleep
6.My FACE was falling off all over the place on the plane and my moisturizer was NOT helping
7.Airplane dinner of sauteed shrimp and rice. What a delicacy.
8.Having both my legs fall asleep while seated for a grand total of 8 hours
9.There was a loud, obnoxious priest, and he was pissin' me off with his not-funny humor

More later.... if I survive this traveling business.

My mother just offered me airport salmon. Airport salmon. Oh my god.

And We're Off

It is now 10:31. In two hours I will be leaving to go to the airport and get on a plane to Syria. This whole process has made me realize a couple problems and dilemmas with myself and my life/future. First! I have a horrible habit of missing people that makes trips (my own and my friend's) kind of... hard for me. Second! IF TRIPS ARE SO HARD FOR ME, HOW DO I EXPECT TO GO TO COLLEGE AND, IN THE FUTURE, LIVE IN ITALY AND INDIA?! Hmm. Even though this proves to be a slight problem, I've come up with a decent solution. The people I love can just come with me on trips! Really, it's the perfect solution. Completely realistic. Hmm. More on that later....

"Welcome to the Neighborhood"

Today was an interesting day in my neighborhood in that we got some new neighbors! In an effort to be a kind neighbor, my dad decided we needed to make cookies for them. Here is the note I wish I had the guts to attach. It's silly enough to be slightly embarrassing :)

It is with these crispy cookies,

although maybe a little too crispy, but don't judge us based on that,

that we issue you a “Welcome!”

That goes great with milk, might I add

Don't be intimidated by us,

we are your typical “over-friendly neighborhood”

And though we do love each other in that tight-knit group kind of way,

we also have a thing for new people

To neighborhood cook-outs

and holiday block parties,

offering a lot of laughs

(and a mean bowl of gumbo at that),

we welcome you

Musical Snacks

Here's some songs I've found out about recently... And some that I've known forever!


We all need unfamiliar noise every now and then, huh?


Enjoy!


1. Nobody Knows Me At All by The Weepies


2. Hallelujah by Kate Voegele OR Jeff Buckley- The lyrics, man. They're beautiful.


3. In My Haze feat. Jane Tyrrell by Horrowshow- Again, these lyrics! 


Let me highlight my three favorite verses...


"But I'ma spark up a thought
off every surface in this room
and just sit back and watch it all ablaze"

and...

"If these walls could talk

They might explain the wear and tear
But it's the same now as before
There's nothing left of what happened here"

AAANNNNDDDD

"Some say too much of a good thing
But to me there's no such thing
I just, just have to let this thing be good to me."

4. The Story I Heard by Blind Pilot


5. Cue the Sun by Daphne Loves Derby

Social Experiment Article

This is just fascinating. It's short and to the point.

Social Experiment Article

Blogging Abroad

So, as some of you may know, I am jetting off to Syria to visit family in about 6 days! I hope to continue blogging there (and if I'm lucky it'll be about every day) so I can do a couple of things- one, record my thoughts, feelings and happenings and two, keep my friends updated on what I'm up to while I'm half-way across the globe. My mother, brother and I are going for about 3 weeks to Syria and then, Ryan (the brother) and I are flying back solo but making a quick 4-day stop in Paris to meet up with my dad and do some relaxing in the form of eating and shopping.
I know I should be stoked about traveling and seeing family but in reality, I'm nervous as heck. I realized today that my biggest fear is the language barrier. I can understand Arabic really well but I have a lot of trouble speaking it. However, I also realized that that's a silly thing to be worried about! What better a place for me to better my language skills than Syria with my family, a group of people who want to help me? While I'll miss my friends a lot, I'll still be e-mailing them and it's not for too long anyway! Culturally, it'll be amazing. I've been to Syria before but the last time we went was 3 years ago; my incoming-freshman-self didn't exactly have the greatest appreciation for new and different things the way I do now. For those of you who haven't heard me talk about Damascus, it's very much like New York- busy, loud, and full of life! Honestly, I love it.

I'm pretty sure all the green lights are mosques; the mosques and old buildings here are beautiful. Speaking of old buildings, one of my favorite areas is "Old Damascus". "Old Damascus" is the term used for the area in the center of the city in which all the old homes have been maintained and many of them have been turned into popular restaurants. In fact, my uncle owns a restaurant there; the house was my great-grandfather's. When you walk through that area you feel like you are connected with everyone else who has ever been there; it's a strange feeling but one that I've always loved. Interestingly enough, there's even a story in the bible that takes place in "Old Damascus".

This is hilarious. I went to find a picture from Google of a restaurant in Damascus and this was the first option. Like an idiot, I didn't even notice that this is my family's restaurant, Beit Jabri! I glanced down at the site and saw that it was a (might I add, good) review for the restaurant. It's not a fantastic picture but it still represents a typical Old Town restaurant. Plus, I've gone swimming in that fountain about a dozen times. Aaaaand that's my uncle at his usual corner table smoking a huka... I love my family :)

The Souk! The Souk is the outdoor market. This is a spice shop and surprisingly enough, this is the average size of a spice shop! I like to think arabic food is very sassy, very healthy and always made with love.