Syria

After a busy few months jetsetting and working, we finally reached our next new chapter - our move to Syria to learn Arabic. We arrived in Damascus in the middle of the summer season. People from neighbouring gulf states come to Syria in the summer as its the coolest Middle Eastern country - the days are about 35 degrees and the nights are pleasant. Well, that's usually. This year the days were over 45 degrees and the nights felt just as hot!
Within a week we were fortunate to have found an apartment to rent 500m away from the shrine of Sayyidda Zainab (the grand daughter of the Holy Prophet). Being summer season, the shrine, like the rest of the city is crowded, and most days I would have to go to the mosque an hour and a half before prayer time just to secure a spot near a fan!


Blogspot is blocked in Syria, along with Facebook and a whole other range of sites. Blogs have been used in the past to critisice the government - a crime that is punishable by imprisonment. So while I've written this blog in Syria, I won't be uploading it until I get to London. So if anyone has any ideas on how I can update the blog while I'm in Syria, please post a comment!

The other issue is that we dont have internet at home. Its quite hard to foreigners to get internet, so that means that we'll just be regulars at the local internet cafe. So don't expect regular updates!