Planet.Syriamirror.net - Brian's Syrian Adventure

Brian's Syrian Adventure

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 20:01:35 +0200

A journal of my activities as I spend the summer studying Arabic at the University of Damascus.

Jihad against the word jihad

Fri, 5 Aug 2005 21:19:04 +0300

Its a standing on a soapbox rambling meandinering rant kind of day, very different than my usual post.

Somebody recently sent me this article about how anti-western muslim terrorists are well-educated people who have had opportunites in life, as opposed to the vision that they are lashing out as a result of their lives under oppressive authoritarian regimes.

Not very Palmyra

Tue, 2 Aug 2005 18:01:03 +0300

Ok I am over being sick, and I did well on the midterms.

Every time I sit down to finish writing about some of the trips I've take around the country, it feels like homework, and I quit before I'm finished.

Haases hali mardaan

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 18:52:02 +0300

Sorry for the delay, once again, but I've been sick. I've had a cold, which, ironically, does not go well with the heat. I'm more fortunate than some of my fellow Americans here, one of whom was hospitalized briefly with dysentary.

Keeping my cool

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 14:14:01 +0300

Ahhh the computer lab at school. Air conditioned, free, and I don't have to walk on the life-threatening streets of Damascus to get to it. Well, at least not if I come here right after class, which is only sometimes possible, and even then it closes at 2:30 in the afternoon, so I only get about an hour to use it when I do.

Today I don't feel like creative writing.

Language barriers in the living room

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 16:03:00 +0300

Hussein and I walked through the courtyard and into an entry where a door was standing open. A woman inside stood and welcomed us in. She looked as if she could be a grandmother, but her hair was still jet black.

Finding home

Sat, 9 Jul 2005 14:11:59 +0300

I awoke in the middle of the night, time unknown. The feeling was a bit like Christmas morning - once I was awake and aware that I was on the other side of the planet, I couldn't go back to sleep.

Getting real

Tue, 5 Jul 2005 16:51:58 +0300

Dear reader, life in Damascus has consumed my journal writing abilities, and I do apologize. By the end of the next post, I will be living in my current residence (which is very nice, by the way.) Afterwards I shall write on subjects, rather than days, as chronology is no longer a suitable organizational criteria.