Ooops

I may have screwed myself.  I just got my placement test scores back, and they’ve put me in a level 3 Arabic class (out of 8).  From everything I’ve heard, this is far beyond my understanding of the language. 
I don’t know how it happened.  It certainly wasn’t a triumph of my own abilities, nor [...]

New Home

            I’ve found a place to live.  I’m renting a room from a Muslim family in the Old City.  It’s a one-minute walk from the Umayyad Mosque (wikipedia it).  During the day I can hear a man sing over its loud speakers.
            The family is very nice, but we can’t talk much since my Arabic [...]

First few days….

The last thing I did before coming to this internet café was eat some type of taffy-ice-cream hybrid coated in crushed pistachio nuts.   I’d recommend it. 
I’ve already made friends (albeit a very odd relationship I can’t put my finger on) with a 38 year-old Syrian.  Yesterday, after spending many hours lounging around on the [...]