After Thanksgiving we had Eid. Eid actually just means celebration, But I don't know the name of this particular fest. I know that it is for Hajj -the pilgrimage to Mecca- and that there were a lot of sheep slaughtered this weekend in commemoration of Abraham, but I don't know much more about it. But my good friend E.B. Harper invited me out to visit her in Beirut, so here I am. We had a great time. On Saturday night we went out to the opening of an English Pub where a visiting French SWAT team there to train the local police forces was cheering on their national rugby squad against New Zealand. It was a great time. We took it easy on Sunday, and it was nice to hear some Arabic in Church. On Monday we went on a Gondola up the mountains so we could have a view of the city. We then went out to lunch to a restaurant named Shea Sammi, a seaside place in which I got the best service of my life. On Tuesday we went to some caves call the Jeita Grotto. They were nominated to be some of the seven wonders of Asia. I am not sure how I would rank them, as I have not seen all the other contenders, but they were very nice. There were two sections, they were both spectacular with different kinds rock formations, but the lower level was my favorite because you take a boat ride through the caves. I don't have any pictures because photos were forbidden, but they were beautiful. Other than that we just took it easy. It was good trip. I took a bunch of pictures of the city, and here they are in the order that I uploaded them.
-Us hanging out at the pub opening.
-The view of the city from the mountains surrounding it.
-Beirut from the boardwalk and day then at night (the one at night had people walking in front of the camera).
-A sunset of the beach that I thought would make a nice picture.

-An old man fishing on the rocks.
-The city lights reflecting on the sea.
-Salon Jihad. I took this picture while we were driving, so you can only see alon Jihad, but that is what it was. I thought it was pretty funny.
-This was a creepy statue at the caves. Why is the man so upset? Sadly, I don't think I'll ever find out. But at least we can all ponder this art together.
-This was the self proclaimed zoo. It contains gerbils, rabbits, turtles, and chickens. Hands down the best zoo I've ever seen.

Thanks to some American connections in the Branch, we had a Thanksgiving just like we would have had in America, with a Butterball, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes. It was great. This was a picture of some of us there, taken when not everyone was aware. Before this, instead of a turkey bowl, we had a Turkish bath. I don't have any pictures for that, but it was a good tradition to have out here. The next day was great as well, we were able to head out to the Paul Shrine. This is the place where on the road to Damascus Paul saw his vision and was converted. It was a great weekend.

I started taking candid photos of people when I thought the shot would be interesting. The top left corner were two guys who I thought looked very stereotypically Arab, looked like they were sharing some sort of secret, and at least for the guy standing, looked like he was doing his very best to be the creepiest he could be. The next photo was an Iranian pilgrim and his daughter. This was one of the yougest girls I'd seen in a hajeb. I also really liked the man's green scarf, and the wares being sold in the background. The last picture was the end of a group of women who were all carrying goods on thier heads out of the market.

HALEB

So this last weekend we went up to Aleppo in Northern Syria to take care of the graves of a Joseph Wilford Booth and Emile Hubbard who were two missionaries who worked in the near East at the Beginning of the 20th century. Elder Hubbard died here in 1908. He was killed by small pox. They worked in Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Greece.

Elder Booth served here working mostly with the Armenians within the Ottoman Empire. He lived in this area for almost 20 years, (died in 1928) and was the first Mission president out here in the near east. It was great to go up there. I really like what quote they chose at the bottom of his tombstone.

This was one of the graves of the Armenian members out here in Aleppo. There was a good sized branch out here, but when things started to get hairy around, the missionaries were called out, leaving the members leaderless. However, Elder Booth was able to get special passes, and when the Ottoman displacement of the Armenians began, most of the members were moved to safety.

Mosque, the Citadel, and the Souq of Aleppo. The first place was the Great Mosque, a sister Mosque to the Ummayad Mosque in Damascus.

Along this wall sit blind beggars who are given the alms. I liked this mosque because though it was large and famous, it is not merely a tourist stop, it is a functioning working mosque more than anything.
It is pretty much the same picture, but I liked the lighting in it more.

The Citadel

It gives a great view of the city. I tried to take some good photos of the castle itself, but it was so vast I could not. I wish that I could have because it was amazing.
And why am I holding my arms out? I have no idea.

The third was the great souq of Aleppo. It is supposed to be better than the Bazaar in Istanbul, and Market in Cairo, making it the best in the Middle East. I have not seen the other two, so I cannot judge, but it was pretty large and impressive. It was nice that there were not cars like you have in Damascus. We wandered around for a while. These are some of the pictures I got.

Juicers are all over the city. Here and in Damascus. They squeeze it there and then sell it straight to you for about a dollar for 12 oz. This man is selling pomegranate juice, which I don't care for. It irritates my throat.

Apparently the cane business is a slow one.

In the morning unleavened bread is baked, and then thrown out onto carpets to cool. Then I go buy it.

It was just one day, but it was good day. I really liked Aleppo. Also this was a great sunset.

This is the large blue mosque in Beirut. Well, it should be, and the internet said that it uploaded my photos, but it clearly did not. I tried to go to a cafe where I thought that it would be faster/cheaper, but it was not. Posting on the blog remains to be a difficult process. But I will try again. Know that I am loving Damascus, and will try to put up a decent post next week.

In Damascus Now.

Today I started my first Arabic lesson. I decided to go with private lessons first, and then try to place higher at the university. It was great. I have gotten settled and comfortable here, and everything that was a worry coming over is taken care of. It really is a blessing how everything just seemed to fall into place. (This is a picture of my street. I thought it was pretty cool).

This is my apartment from my balcony overlooking the Um’mayyad Mosque. (The pillar is supposedly the place where Christ will ascend on his second coming before heading to Jerusalem).

I had been e-mailing a kid named Shea who was also studying here, and after church he took me to look at a couple of apartments. It was a really nice place, and for the area and the competition it was the best deal. It’s right in the middle of Old Damascus, on a Shi’ite pilgrimage route. I paid around $215 to finish up October. And in November when Shea moves in, it will be around $180 per person. So by the end of the first day I had an apartment. It was really nice.

So on Friday I left Beirut at 6:30 in the morning. If I had never been to Albania I think I would have had a more dramatic ride over. I was squished between the passenger and the driver in a makeshift seat which of course did not have a seatbelt. But of course only the driver had a seatbelt which he refuses to wear. And then he proceeds to speed, pass on curves, and drive on the wrong side of the road. But luckily I was in Damascus all in one piece by nine. That gave me enough time to get to know the Elder and Sister Matis before Church started at ten. It was very nice service, and we had dinner together afterwards. I think I’ll like having this little branch of eight members.

They gave us our chicken wings (it tasted just like America) with a bunch of plastic gloves. I think it is because it is a trendy place, and if I were wearing the nice clothes that the Lebanese don to go out on the town, I would not want to get any hot sauce on it either. Tomorrow I head out early to Damascus in order to make the 10:00 church meeting they have there. I have had a wonderful time in Beirut with my new friend E.B., her friend Sammi, and her dog Smuggler. It really was such a blessing to have an experience Beriutian help me get here and get started. For those that were worried about me, I would not be. I have been well taken care of. And I have heard that the people in Damascus are just as kind as they are in Beirut. It is a very pleasant city. I was looking for a cupcake store today, and everyone I asked was so nice and helpful. It has been only three days, but they have been a pretty good three days. And they give me an optimism about the days to come.

Wandering the City

I have wandered all over the city in the last two days. I went into the biggest Mosque I have ever seen, (and yes I have seen some large Mosques, thank you.) and it had a Large, Beautiful, crystal chandelier hanging from its dome with mosaics all over the building. I saw the American University of Beirut, and the Lebanon American University, and have also spent the nights checking out Beirut's night life a bit. Today I spent about eight hours just walking around the city, and it is beautiful. But of course the only time that I thought to bring my camera and take pictures was when my gracious hostess E.B. and I went to dinner. Mostly we ate at traditional 100% Lebanese places, but a restaurant named "Lord of the Wings" deserves my patronage anytime, anywhere.

Westernized

I can get anything I want in Beirut. Plus I think this coke can in Arabic looks cool.

Andrew Burton Actually in Beirut.

After about 28 straight hours of traveling, (including two four-hour stays in airports) I have landed and am safe in Lebanon. The only security hiccup that I came across was entering the country. On my entry form, I did not write that I was staying at any address, because I did not know the address of the place I was staying. I did not figure it was a big deal, but apparently it was. The flight was already delayed an hour and a half, I was at the end of the plane, so by the time I got to customs, I was 2 hours late. Then I spent another little while in an office with some policemen as they made sure that all my stories checked out, and that I was going to have a place to stay. I was really worried that E.B. (the friend who was picking me up) was going to be put out, but when it was all said and done, she was waiting there with a smile on her face. And now I am using her wireless internet to let everyone know that I am safe and happy (with all of my luggage intact) here in Beirut.

Packing up.

My plan was to show my passport photos and my packing photos all together, then add a clever comment, but I could not figure out how to do it. At least with those passport photos you can be sure that you are at the right blog. I've gotten everything ready, and my life will be out of that 60 liter backpack until further notice. I'm glad that I have Burton packing skills, or I could have never found room for everything.

It Begins

At the request of my family and friends I have started this blog. I'm off to Lebanon/Syria to study Arabic, and I will be chronicling my travels here. I will try to keep the posts interesting, grammatically sound, and frequent. I do, however, have a history of coming up short in these areas, so no promises. Anyway, there is not much to report on now since I am still in America, but once I get my settled in the Levant I will post again.