Storeytellers and Monks

I have not updated the blog in some time, because I was hoping to find an internet cafe in Damascus which would be able to upload he plethora of videos and pictures I have accumulated since Aleppo.

Unfortunately, it seems this isn't going to happen. So I'm going to start posting sans pictures for a while, then upload them all when I get to Jordan in a few days.

Luke, Alex, Spen (our new uber-adventurous, "I-just-came-from-Iraq" German friend) and I just returned from listening to a Bedouin storyteller ('The Last Storyteller'), who sits perched atop his oversized throne in a cafe in Old Damascus.

An Arab sword lays across his lap, and when he senses that someone isn't paying attention (or sometimes just for emphasis), the old man grabs the sword and slams it down on a table in front of him. Then he giggles to himself and continues with the story.

It's pretty wild, and I'll upload a picture of it when I arrive in Jordan.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Mar Musa monastery, about an hour outside Damascus, and located high atop a mountain. Room and meals are free at Mar Musa, but in exchange I will have to attend daily mass, wake up at 5am to meditate with the monks in the desert, and perform manual labor during the day.

To which I say: with pleasure. I'll give a full account when I get back to Damascus.