Dinner With May

Wednesday, we were invited to dinner with one of Jill’s participants, May, who works for the Ministry of Education and also heads a women’s organization—a very influential person.

She selected a restaurant that gave us an Indian Jones-esque journey through the back alleys of the old city. Our friend at the hotel told us to go left, go right and then ask somebody. We finally found it, but had to backtrack because the restaurant was in the Moslem quarter of the old city and didn’t serve drinks.

The dinner was to begin at 9 PM (yes, our bedtime). Syrians prefer late dinners even though they still arrive early to work the next day. Yikes. We could only do that once, but it does allow us to go to any restaurant at our normal time (6 PM) and ALWAYS find a table—usually the only ones in the place.

There were a dozen at dinner and everyone was talking at once, which was fun. The waiters started to bring wave after wave of food—dishes piling up on top of each other. The dishes were fantastic—hummus, dips, salads, chicken, lamp, beef. I looked at all this then at my watch realizing I would be going to bed stuffed.

Not to worry. We left at 11 PM (the rest of the folks were there until 1 AM) and walked more than a mile back to our hotel. Now we know why there are very few overweight people in Damascus—you walk everywhere.

We spent the morning at AAMAL and then Jill was off to the Ministry of Education for a meeting. We have another meeting at 5 with the media folks I met in March. Jill said the meeting went very well, with the deputy minister for research accepting all of the surveys Jill’s team has been working on to assess teacher and parent attitudes about inclusion. They also presented a rubric to be used to evaluate inclusive classrooms this fall—the minister was doubly impressed with that.

Tomorrow, we will be interviewed live on Syria TV, a show about disabilities. The host was one of my participants in March and it should be fun, but we spent the morning for an outfit for Jill to wear.

Our Anniversary

What a memorable place to celebrate our 36th anniversary. Our friends at AAMAL gave us a surprise party not with one but three cakes (there goes the diet). They are so kind to us, always solicitous about our needs. We had to take the hear-shaped cake home with us and had some this morning—again, not a ‘healthy’ breakfast.

In the evening we went to the Cham Palace Hotel that has a revolving restaurant that gives a great panoramic view of the city. Good food and incredible view.

Jill has almost finished with her workshop—getting the participants ready to re-deliver training for including students with special needs into the regular classroom, which begins Fall. We had thought about visiting other cities over the weekend, but since the temp is supposed to be in the high 90s, think we’ll hide out someplace cool. Besides we are scheduled to return in December when we will be able to travel more.

Check AAMAL’s website—Jill is featured on front page. http://www.aamalsyria.org/ (you can translate through Google)

My training doesn’t begin until Sunday, although I’ve spent the week with the PR team at AAMAL going over a long list of questions.

We continue to be amazed at the openness and friendliness of everyone we meet—from our friends at AAMAL to shopkeepers and even taxi drivers. Jill no longer freaks out when we get into the cabs. It seems they negotiate the streets with the skill of ice skaters (maybe more like hockey players without the crashing into each other).

Arrived In Damascus

Well, we’re back. Trip was fine, although 14 hours in a jam-packed airplane was not the most exciting part of the trip. We landed in Dubai on time and found our hotel right in the gate area. For a place in an airport, it was fancier than most places we’ve stayed. Had fish and chips at an Irish Pub, also in the airport. Flight to Damascus next morning was lovely—Jill says we are only allowed to fly Emirates Air from now on.

We are staying at the Hanania again, but they put us in a bigger room up four flights of stairs, but the room has more desks, more windows and its own terrace. As we walked to the hotel, several of the shopkeepers greeted us like we were old friends—a real sense of home away from home.

Spent Sunday at AAMAL. Jill met with her participants from March. Jill says they were even sitting in the same seats they had in March. She had a wonderful time with them and continues until Thursday. I found out my training was to begin Monday, then it was changed until next Sunday. We have learned to expect the unexpected.

It is great to be back in Damascus. Feels like we were here just a few weeks ago, everything is so familiar. Had dinner last night in our favorite restaurant, but this time the awning covering the courtyard was pulled back. Great to have that el fresco feel. The weather is wonderful—cool, dry and sunny. Only supposed to be 78 degrees today, down to 58 tonight.

We're Off (Flying that is)

Well, the day is here and we're just waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport. No way we were going to have the kids drive us, since traffic is a nightmare and we would be panicked. We return 5:30 AM, June 7th, so we've arranged for a round trip on the shuttle.

We have been working on new presentations and hope we can advance the training we did in March.

Fortunately, we will be staying in the same hotel--Hanania--in the old city, which is so wonderful because we know the area so well.

Can't wait to see all our friends and get to work.

Back to Damascus

As many of you already know, Jill and I have been invited back to Damascus to continue the work begun in March. We leave May 20 with an overnight in Dubai. We will be in Damascus two weeks.

Jill will be meeting with her workshop participants and visiting schools. Students with special needs will begin to enter regular classrooms in Fall. This will be piloted with about 1,000 kids throughout the country, but that may be ambitious.

I will be meeting with my workshop participants to discuss what stories they have been able to work on since I left. We will also examine ways to find and prepare stories--most likely focused on Jill's inclusion program. There is also a chance I will be working with a new cadre of journalists, meeting with an ad hoc committee of journalists, etc.

We are so happy that we will be staying at the same hotel--Hanania. We loved the place and the people who cared for us there. Will be like going home.

Once again, we will count on Seth to post our blogs because we can't get access to the site from Syria.

So keep watching and reading.