Back in the big D, Syria.

Sunday, January 13th - Wednesday January 16th

We got back to Damascus and headed for El-Haremein. We’d already spoken with Rach stay ing with her was right out. Her new flat was in a well to do area. Social norms in Damascus don’t really allow for single a woman to have two men staying her apartment. Tongues would be wagging. So we were back in Souq Sarojah. It was a little different this time around as the ministry-of-digging-up-Damascus had turned its beady eye on the area. Damascus is set to have a massive cultural exposé this summer and therefore the cities plumbing was being upgraded. I think the main focus was to improve facilities for drinking water and washing.

Damascus was freezing! We had originally planned to spend a night in the monastery north of the city: Mar Musa. A number of people had told us about this retreat and it was reputed to be a great place to go to find some peace of mind and do a bit of reflecting. However temperatures in Damascus were dropping to – 10C in the evening. Visiting the monastery, with no electricity or hot water, was likely to be suicidal. Instead we spent the time chilling out, and catching up with Rachel in the evenings, which was great. There was a funky little French Bistro around the corner from her flat that served gorgeous caramel coffee and hot chocolate and crepes. I was becoming acutely aware that we were going to be leaving very shortly and would not be seeing each other for a while. This is one of my pet hates about travelling. Sometimes I wish good-byes were a social taboo and you could just flip a casual salute and then not see someone for a year or so. But that is my awkwardness in my ability to express myself. As the man says “parting is such sweet sorrow”

… Merryl is driving me to meet Marcus in Luton. It is a mild October evening. We are staying the night in a hotel just outside the airport. Merryl and I are making light of things but we are a bit freaked out. We have only just met and now I am leaving for an unknown period of time. Merryl is in the middle of her DPhil and she has a lot on her plate. I am making a spectacular mess of things – as usual – I have decided to pick the three weeks before I leave the UK to start conducting a relationship. I have no idea of what I am playing at, but it feels right. On reflection, I often wonder if anyone really knows or understands what it is they are doing. We follow routines, we have goals, short term, long term, life schemas, plans, plots, schemes and, most of all, dreams. But we are just making it up as we go along really. We do the best we can with the resources we have available to us at any given time. But we rarely ever stop and question as to why. Because to question why would mean you would need to be honest with yourself, and that is often fatal. I meant to buy Merryl a book before I left – Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach. It was given to me by a very good friend and within it lays some insight into parting from those you care about. I completely forgot however, in the struggle to wrap my affairs up, to do this. It will work itself out though, and Merryl will read Richard Bach in India…

Extract from Jonathan Livingstone Seagull:

Sully, I must go back " he said at last "Your students are doing well. They can help you bring the newcomers along."

Sullivan sighed, but he did not argue. "I think I'll miss you, Jonathan," was all he said.

"Sully, for shame!" Jonathan said in reproach, "and don't befoolish! What are we trying to practice every day? If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don't you think that we might see each other once or twice?"

If only I were so enlightened.

You can read the whole book of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull online here

The weather was not improving as the week continued. The nights were the worst and I found myself living in my thermals. Marcus and I both decided to head back to Lebanon. Marcus had met a very nice young lady. We still had the south to visit and we wanted to spend more time with Nat and Leah before leaving the Middle East.