TravelChick

oh dear. last day.

Today is my last day here. I spent part of the morning running errands. I picked up some linen pants and skirts I had made from the tailor, who really nicely told me to contact him if I ever need anything, even when I'm not in Syria. I got my morning juice and said goodbye to my friends at the juice store, then hopped on a service to meet one of my friends at his store in the Old City.

While waiting for the service I noticed a young Syrian man staring at me and thought 'This guy might be trouble'. I felt like I had been on a service and had him stare at me before. He got onto the service and stared at me the whole time. I ended up jumping out of the service just before the driver pulled away from a stop and the guy, seeing that I was getting out, jumped out, too. Then he followed me and asked if we could walk together for a bit as I dashed across a busy street, dodging minivans and taxis careening across the intersection. I turned to him and said flatly 'No, I have an appointment in 10 minutes. Sorry'. This guy was persistent. He kept following me saying 'Can we just talk for a bit? Give me you phone number!' I said 'I'm leaving tomorrow!' To this he said 'Well, let's get together tonight!' 'Enough!' I snapped. 'Go away!' He asked for my phone number again.

I had a mission. You see, I wanted to snap some photos of the sheep that graze on dry dirt near the Old City, and I wasn't going to let this loser stop me from it, so I stopped in front of the sheep and snapped away. I took video. He asked me what I was doing and I ignored him and set off for my friend's shop. He kept calling after me but eventually finally figured out that I had no interest in talking to him and stopped.

Recounting this story to a male, Syrian friend later, he asked why I didn't slap the guy who followed me. I said I didn't know why but I thought that insulting him would have been good, and I didn't do that, unfortunately. It's really annoying to be followed and to have someone be very persistent.

I did eventually get to my friend's shop, where, tuckered out from the heat, I collapsed on a chair and we sat talking for a while. He asked me for advice about his girlfriend. She's British and headed home in a few days; he just got rejected for his British visa yesterday, so they don't know when they'll see each other again and he wasn't sure if they should stay together until it's possible for them to see each other. I gave him the only advice I could think of, which was that if he really cares about her and thinks that their relationship is want he wants, then he should try to make it work.

We ended up going to his brother's store, where we drank tea and chatted with his brother for a while. Then we parted ways and I went to the Omayyed Mosque. Kids were chasing pigeons in the courtyard, men were sleeping in the mosque, and it was bright and sunny and glorious.

I then went to another friend's shop and, feeling a little shaky from the heat and possibly from thinking about the idea that I'm leaving tomorrow, I sat down for a minute. Realizing I hadn't eaten anything other than a banana and juice the whole day and it was already four, I picked up some schwarma and orange juice and sat in the shade outside my friend's shop to eat.

So tomorrow it's off to my parents' house in the US, where I'll be for just over a month before I go to London for my graduation and possibly to stay. I'm not sure where my next home is. I hope that it will be as good to me as Damascus has been.

posted by Travel Chick @ 5:22 PM