Sabah al-Kheer,
This will be short, but I wanted to answer a couple questions from Jeremy and tell of my new found Syrian friend and his wonderful family.
I do believe Bab Touma is named after the disciple. I will try to find out though. It could have simply been a later saint revered in either Syrian Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, or Maronite churches.
I finally got to meet up with Roy, who is a Christian brother here in Syria that my friend Stefan has built a relationship with and made sure I had the chance to meet. He introduced me to his family and invited me to stay for lunch. His family is so nice and hospitable, and I'm sure I will end up visiting them frequently throughout my time here. Roy's wife Zuka even invited me to come over and cook with her, learning new recipes and drinking Arabic coffee. She was relieved that she has finally found a friend who likes Arabic coffee and with whom she can enjoy it with. After lunch Roy took a couple of his friends and I to two small villages outside of Damascus, Saidnaya and Ma'rra. At Ma'rra I was able to see a cave called Mar Yas which is traditionally the place where Elijah is said to have resided during a long period of time (a different story than when he was said to have been near Mt. Sinai). After that we went to the village of Saidnaya, which means "the hunting of the deer." There is a 5th century monastery which has been restored since then (obviously) which was said to have been built by emperor Justinian. A mosaic within the monastery tells the story of how Justinian and his army were wandering the Damascus region on a hunt and Mary (the mother of Jesus) is said to have appeared and commissioned him to build a monastery dedicated to her Son. He did just that.
The Christian community in Syria is quite larger than what I expected and to my knowledge do not experience too much persecution if any. I would go as far as to say that they practice their faith as freely as the Muslim population here, although on a much smaller scale of course. I hope to be able to find a church to attend soon. Roy has recommended a few and I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the churches offer night services. This works out great because the Christians has service on Sundays, however my school schedule runs on the Muslim weekly schedule meaning that Sunday is Monday on which I have class.
Salaam,
Jon
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday May 26th, 2008
There have been a few questions that some people have asked of me that I figured I would address. I could not figure out how on earth to simply reply to a single person on blogspot (blogger) so I thought I’d just add another entry answering some of them and some other random information for your reading pleasure.
I have not started classes yet. I begin them this Wednesday (28th) and to be quite honest, I am a little nervous. I’ve heard from most of the people who have been here for a while that the classes are very intensive and require quite a bit of homework to keep up. The classes are supposedly taught completely in Arabic, and I’ve even heard from a roommate that lengthy papers (in Arabic of course) are a part of the homework as well. So hopefully I will learn a lot without too much frustration.
The demographic of students studying Arabic at the university varies quite a bit. I’ve met many Italian, British, Swiss, Australian, German, French, Asian, and yes, American students. I honestly didn’t expect to meet as many Americans as I have, but I guess my expectations were wrong. It’s nice to be able to converse with an American every once in a while and to not feel somewhat strange or uneducated. I say this because it always seems to intimidate me when I talk to people from Europe, because I feel as though Americans appear uninformed and even mal-educated at times. This may or may not be the case, but I sure feel that way sometimes.
The food here is just what I anticipated it would be, delicious. I was pleasantly surprised when I quickly realized that the Syrian Cuisine is very similar to that of its Lebanese neighbor. One very surprising food item that Syrians consume regularly at home and at many restaurants is the famous Lebanese dish, Kibbeh Nayeh (raw lamb). I was under the impression that most non-Lebanese Arabs thought it strange and even horrific that the Lebanese could eat such a thing. Well needless to say, I am very happy this is not the case in Syria. I will tell you a funny eating experience that I had a couple nights ago. A couple new friends of mine and myself went out to eat and upon looking at the menu we saw the dish “Grilled Birds.” It was very cheap so we thought to ourselves, “It can’t hurt to try.” We were imagining some sort of white meat bird, whether it be chicken, turkey, pheasant, etc; We were very wrong, and out comes this plate with three “birds” about the size of your thumb, grilled to a very dark brown color. There was less than a bite-full of meat and it had a strange fishy taste to it. It was not a pleasant experience to say the least, but I guess a funny story came out of it.
God has truly been a constant companion with me on this trip so far. He has exceeded all my expectations and blessed me tremendously. I am very thankful for all the people He has brought in my path and all the opportunities He’s presented me with. It is both a shame and a blessing that I feel closer to him when I travel. It is a shame because I wish I knew the kind of dependence on Him back home that I know I need here. And it’s a blessing because I cherish the moments I sense His presence, and it has been near throughout my time here so far. I’m praying that I will learn many things about His Kingdom and grow closer to Him as a result. I would also like to be used by Him in whatever ways He chooses.
I really enjoy reading your comments so keep them coming and also feel free to ask me any questions that you have. However, if you have specific questions it might be faster to email me so I can respond quickly. In case some of you don’t have it, here it is:
jonathon.tgf@gmail.com
In Christ,
Jon
I have not started classes yet. I begin them this Wednesday (28th) and to be quite honest, I am a little nervous. I’ve heard from most of the people who have been here for a while that the classes are very intensive and require quite a bit of homework to keep up. The classes are supposedly taught completely in Arabic, and I’ve even heard from a roommate that lengthy papers (in Arabic of course) are a part of the homework as well. So hopefully I will learn a lot without too much frustration.
The demographic of students studying Arabic at the university varies quite a bit. I’ve met many Italian, British, Swiss, Australian, German, French, Asian, and yes, American students. I honestly didn’t expect to meet as many Americans as I have, but I guess my expectations were wrong. It’s nice to be able to converse with an American every once in a while and to not feel somewhat strange or uneducated. I say this because it always seems to intimidate me when I talk to people from Europe, because I feel as though Americans appear uninformed and even mal-educated at times. This may or may not be the case, but I sure feel that way sometimes.
The food here is just what I anticipated it would be, delicious. I was pleasantly surprised when I quickly realized that the Syrian Cuisine is very similar to that of its Lebanese neighbor. One very surprising food item that Syrians consume regularly at home and at many restaurants is the famous Lebanese dish, Kibbeh Nayeh (raw lamb). I was under the impression that most non-Lebanese Arabs thought it strange and even horrific that the Lebanese could eat such a thing. Well needless to say, I am very happy this is not the case in Syria. I will tell you a funny eating experience that I had a couple nights ago. A couple new friends of mine and myself went out to eat and upon looking at the menu we saw the dish “Grilled Birds.” It was very cheap so we thought to ourselves, “It can’t hurt to try.” We were imagining some sort of white meat bird, whether it be chicken, turkey, pheasant, etc; We were very wrong, and out comes this plate with three “birds” about the size of your thumb, grilled to a very dark brown color. There was less than a bite-full of meat and it had a strange fishy taste to it. It was not a pleasant experience to say the least, but I guess a funny story came out of it.
God has truly been a constant companion with me on this trip so far. He has exceeded all my expectations and blessed me tremendously. I am very thankful for all the people He has brought in my path and all the opportunities He’s presented me with. It is both a shame and a blessing that I feel closer to him when I travel. It is a shame because I wish I knew the kind of dependence on Him back home that I know I need here. And it’s a blessing because I cherish the moments I sense His presence, and it has been near throughout my time here so far. I’m praying that I will learn many things about His Kingdom and grow closer to Him as a result. I would also like to be used by Him in whatever ways He chooses.
I really enjoy reading your comments so keep them coming and also feel free to ask me any questions that you have. However, if you have specific questions it might be faster to email me so I can respond quickly. In case some of you don’t have it, here it is:
jonathon.tgf@gmail.com
In Christ,
Jon
Friday, May 23, 2008
Update 5.23.08
Friday May 23rd, 2008
It’s been five days since I’ve arrived here, and it seems that a lot has happened during so short a time. The first couple days were spent mostly trying to figure out school details and where to live. Thankfully I was able to tag along with a fellow American named David who helped me tremendously in where to go and what to do in preparation for classes. He had just arrived from Yemen where he was studying Arabic for 6 months and needed a change of country, leading to his choosing Syria for his studies. He had been through the monotonous and often frustrating legalities of studying in the middle east as a foreigner so his help was very useful. Once he found a home in the Old City I was once again left alone to figure things out for myself. I’m perfectly capable to do the normal trial-and-error routine when plowing through unknown territory, however being very much like my dad I try to ask as many people as I can for advice.
One thing you’ll find when you come to the middle east is that everyone knows everyone. There is an intricately linked system of relationships between various individuals who do favors for one another. It’s really how many people make their living here. I saw it in Egypt and it’s no different here in Syria. It was no surprise to me that my hotel would be able to somehow find a place for me to stay for the duration of my stay here, even though it would seem that they only have relationships with people within close proximity. They called a number and within a half an hour a man was at the front door ready to drive me to his place to check it out.
To make a long story short, I decided to stay there and have been tremendously blessed with a great roommate and three other very nice students all studying at the same university who are renting rooms in the same home. The family is Christian, very friendly, jewelry makers, and extremely connected to their hometown of the Old City, Bab Touma (the gate of Thomas). I’m only a Brett Favre stone’s throw away from Straight Street and very close to pretty much anything I would need living here.
All in all I don’t’ think I could’ve asked for a better environment to do my studies this summer.
Keep in touch
In Christ,
Jon
It’s been five days since I’ve arrived here, and it seems that a lot has happened during so short a time. The first couple days were spent mostly trying to figure out school details and where to live. Thankfully I was able to tag along with a fellow American named David who helped me tremendously in where to go and what to do in preparation for classes. He had just arrived from Yemen where he was studying Arabic for 6 months and needed a change of country, leading to his choosing Syria for his studies. He had been through the monotonous and often frustrating legalities of studying in the middle east as a foreigner so his help was very useful. Once he found a home in the Old City I was once again left alone to figure things out for myself. I’m perfectly capable to do the normal trial-and-error routine when plowing through unknown territory, however being very much like my dad I try to ask as many people as I can for advice.
One thing you’ll find when you come to the middle east is that everyone knows everyone. There is an intricately linked system of relationships between various individuals who do favors for one another. It’s really how many people make their living here. I saw it in Egypt and it’s no different here in Syria. It was no surprise to me that my hotel would be able to somehow find a place for me to stay for the duration of my stay here, even though it would seem that they only have relationships with people within close proximity. They called a number and within a half an hour a man was at the front door ready to drive me to his place to check it out.
To make a long story short, I decided to stay there and have been tremendously blessed with a great roommate and three other very nice students all studying at the same university who are renting rooms in the same home. The family is Christian, very friendly, jewelry makers, and extremely connected to their hometown of the Old City, Bab Touma (the gate of Thomas). I’m only a Brett Favre stone’s throw away from Straight Street and very close to pretty much anything I would need living here.
All in all I don’t’ think I could’ve asked for a better environment to do my studies this summer.
Keep in touch
In Christ,
Jon
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Arrival and 1st Impressions
It was beautiful flying at night, despite having not slept for a long time, because it was a clear night. You could see the brightly lit clusters of cities, especially Beirut which juts out into the Mediterranean making it stand out.
My taxi driver spoke very little English, and my broken Arabic was only a little helpful. Once he heard that I could speak a little, he immediately spoke in Arabic for the remainder of the ride into Damascus. An interesting thing was that he did not hesitate to ask me my opinion on Osama Bin Laden. This definitely confirmed to me that many Arabs enjoy talking and debating about politics. I told him in very few words that all I know about Osama is what is presented on the news. He kept telling me that Osama works for the FBI or the CIA. I wasn't sure quite what he meant by that.
More to come. I'm just trying to get settled here. I'm at an internet cafe right now and I'm not using the computer I brought, so I'm hopeing that I will eventually be able to use my own computer for updating this blog in order to upload pictures.
I hope you are all well.
My taxi driver spoke very little English, and my broken Arabic was only a little helpful. Once he heard that I could speak a little, he immediately spoke in Arabic for the remainder of the ride into Damascus. An interesting thing was that he did not hesitate to ask me my opinion on Osama Bin Laden. This definitely confirmed to me that many Arabs enjoy talking and debating about politics. I told him in very few words that all I know about Osama is what is presented on the news. He kept telling me that Osama works for the FBI or the CIA. I wasn't sure quite what he meant by that.
More to come. I'm just trying to get settled here. I'm at an internet cafe right now and I'm not using the computer I brought, so I'm hopeing that I will eventually be able to use my own computer for updating this blog in order to upload pictures.
I hope you are all well.
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