Burton in Beirut

Jordan

2010-03-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

After Cappadocia I was sure that I couldn't have left Turkey on a better note. Also, I was running out of time. I had a plane from Cairo to Athens on the tenth of March, and needed to see the rest of the Fertile Crescent. So I headed out. I got into Aleppo and planned on staying there just one last night, but when I called the Matises and they said that the branch was getting together to say goodbye to Shea that night. And of course I got on the next bus. The party was great. The next day I took the taxi from Shem to Beyrouth for the last time to visit E.B. and Smuggler. On the way there I stopped off at a small village and attended an engagement party for my friend Sally's uncle. It was an interesting experience. The bride had recently had a death in the family so when we went over there it was a very solemn affair. I was instructed many times on proper etiquette. When we got back to the groom’s house it was dancing and partying all night.
I got to Beirut the next morning and got together with E.B. and Kristin. I had a great time, said goodbye, and before I left I was able to get a couple dozen crispy cream doughnuts for my good friends in Damascus who had gone without American things for so long. They were a pretty big hit all around. It was nice to deliver them to everyone and be able to say goodbye. That Damascus branch was amazing. That night Shea, Emilie, Scott and I went to a wonderful Yemenite restaurant in a hip part of Damascus. The next morning I headed to Jordan.
Jordan. Well let’s just say that I had warnings about Jordan and I should have listened. Those who go here, heed my words: go to Petra and get out. See the Dead Sea on the Israeli side, go to Wadi Rum if you have a lot of time, but don’t stay too long there. It is a boring, expensive place surrounded by cheap, exciting countries. It is not that it is the worst place in the world, it is just that everything around it is better, and your time is better spent elsewhere.
Anyway, when I got there I decided to rent a car. I wanted it for two days, but I had to get it for three because all the stores are closed for Muhammad’s Birthday. So I got one for three days, I rented it at about $35/day, which was good because I was also able to sleep in the car. And I love a two for one deal. Plus, I was able to pick up a bunch of Arabic hitchhikers on the way. So that is a bonus right there.
Petra really is amazing, you would just turn a corner and see an amazing building carved right out of the rock. The second day I was there, there were flash floods and we were shipped out of the canyon. I got in my car and headed to Wadi Rum. The roads were covered with fog, accompanied by downpours, but I got to Wadi Rum alright, toured it that morning, made a stop at the Dead Sea, and I got out. It was beautiful, and it was great to have my own car.

The Wonderful World of Cappadocia.

2010-03-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

I had been doing most of my traveling across the country by night buses. I really like them. You do not get the best sleep on one of these, but they are really convenient because you get to where you need to go, and you don’t have to pay for a hotel room. I know that traveling at night is an old trick, but I would like to state that I like it. Anyway, I took a night bus to a place called Cappadocia. I had the best day of my whole trip in Turkey and anywhere else for that matter here. A friend from Damascus, Jason, who has traveled everywhere, said that it was his favorite place on earth. And after being there I can see why. Cappadocia is this series of valleys with rock formations that you will never see anywhere else. You could compare it to a Southern Utah National park, but the rocks are different, and here our old buddies the ancient, persecuted Christians have carved thousands of homes into the rocks and hundreds of underground cities. It is really remarkable. I had a hard time getting there in the morning, and had to call a couple of taxi drivers out on their lies, and hop a bunch of buses, but by 11 I was in the main city. By 11:15 I had a moped(only $25 all day, but I had to wear this goofy helmet) and a map and was off. I had a bus to catch that night at eight thirty, and I did not stop till then. I toured the whole valley, it was wonderful. If I have any regulars to my blog they can tell that I like sunsets, and here I saw an amazing one. The camera really does not do it justice. I rode the bike up on this hill, and hiked up to the precipice and saw the whole valley as the sun set. I had had a pretty bad night before due to the ridiculousness of the UI, but this seemed to wash it all away. It was great.

It will always be Constantinople to me.

2010-03-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

After a couple of days enjoying the coast, I went the Ephesus. The ruins were alright, and I met up with a kid who lives in Jackson Hole, and we walked there and had a pretty good time. But I would not recommend the city or the ruins to people traveling in Turkey. It takes time away from better sights. I then took a bus to Istanbul. This right here is a city. It is huge. It is in the double digit millions I am sure. The first day there I was walking down the road towards the sea, and just behind a tree pops the blue mosque. It is a great view. The Blue Mosque does the job the Turks wanted it to, it is bigger than the Hagia Sofia, and a bit more impressive on the outside, but on the inside there is no contest. The Hagia Sofia is something to see. It is truly amazing that man did this without modern technology. I toured around the city by foot and by ferry for a couple of days. Met up with my buddy Will Smiley who is studying there and got his recommendations for the town. Istanbul is a city to see. I wish I would have had more time there. I was really getting to like Turkey by this point.

Antalya & Fetiye

2010-03-09T08:31:00.000-08:00

Next I went across the Southern Coast of Anatolia stopping in the cities of Antalya and Fetiye. These cities were beautiful. I was there in the low winter season, but I bet in the summer these cities are packed with tourists. They are both situated on beautiful bays with green hike-ready mountains and beautiful beaches. They both offer multi-day boat rides around the blue lagoons/islands that surround the city, and they are both within hours of wonderful whitewater rafting and parasailing. I did not do any of these fun activates, but they won me over, and I am planning on going back when I can. They were great. Up in the hills of Fetiye the Romans had carved out tombs. The first two pictures are of Antalya, the last two are of Fetiye.

Antioch

2010-03-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

After Palmyra I decided to see Turkey. Not wanting to delay, I got myself to Aleppo in the morning and by the afternoon I was in a taxi to Antioch which usually takes around 3 hours. But the taxi was not going to cooperate. We broke down in the outskirts of the city in the freezing cold, two hours later I was passed off onto another car heading to Antioch. The driver was happy to have me because it meant that he could get two more cartons of cheap Syrian cigarettes through customs. But finally around ten that night I was able to get into the first city in the Old World where the term Christians was used.
Crossing over from Syria into Turkey was like night and day. Turkey is in such better shape that Syria. It almost looks like the west. You can just tell from the get go that things will not be difficult. It is easy, like Europe. Back in 1919 the world powers decided to give Aleppo to Syria rather than Turkey, the Arabs were ecstatic about the decision back then. I wonder how they feel about it now. It would be like if your town could have been part of the U.S. but instead was part of Canada. I know if that was the case for me, I would have been devastated.
The next day I went up to these caves in the rocks were the once persecuted Christians had to hide. Then I went to the Mosaic Museum. It was wonderful. It was amazing what those people could do with little rocks. I included my favorite one here.

Palmyra (the original, not New York)

2010-03-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the fact that I have not updated this in such a long time. I was going to a while back, but my USB broke, and since then I have been only on the go. But hopefully I can get all caught up because I have a little down time before I fly to Athens.
After a wonderful two weeks in Aleppo, I decided to go see the Eastern part of Syria which has some of the best Roman ruins in the world. They are located in a little Bedouin village called Palmyra. These ruins were great, they were massive and expansive, and there were few tourists.

Going Back to Haleb.

2010-01-25T10:52:00.000-08:00

After taking care of some business in Damascus, I headed up to Aleppo (Haleb) this week. I opted to take the bus over the train this time, and it is clear that whoever made the seats in this country did not have Burton shoulders in mind. I feel bad for the little Arabs who have to sit next to me. And by the way that they glare, I think that they are not to happy with the situation either. I got here Thursday night, and after seeing it again, I was reminded as to how much I like the city. It has a different feel than Damascus, it is less crowded but at the same time more lively. There are less women and more boys on the street, and there are a lot more vagrants. It will be nice to have this be my base point to see Northern Syria. I got a little under the weather Friday night and all of Saturday. It was pretty bad actually, and for the first time in a long time I actually considered going to the doctor. But this morning I was blessed to wake up feeling fine, and I am on my way again.

Goodbye, Beirut.

2010-01-17T15:25:00.000-08:00

I spent the last month in Beirut dog-sitting my good friend E.B.’s very playful Bernese mountain dog. It was great to spend Christmas and the New Year with new friends, and 70 degree weather! I am back in Damascus now, having left Lebanon for what may be the last time. I love that country, I love Beirut, and I'll miss it. I love the way the city sort of flows down from the mountains into the sea, and how though it is built all on hills; the streets are easy to meander through. Each street you walk down has a part of the history of the city. There were French apartments from the occupation, broken buildings with empty windows from war, and the cranes and crews in the midst of it all from the effort to rebuild. It has a wonderful mix of the West and the Middle East. Though only removed from Syria for a hundred years, it definitely has a different feel. It is more open, more cosmopolitan, more concerned with appearance, and definitely more fun. But it is expensive, and there were no jobs to be had, and if I would have stayed there instead of Damascus, my money would probably have never made it to 2010. I did have about 6 weeks to see the country and fall in love with the city. It was just what I needed when I had it. It is wonderful. But now there are other things to experience, as well as new places for me to fall in love with, so I am off to Aleppo to see what awaits me there.

2009-12-01T16:34:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

-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.

2009-12-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-09T06:27:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-09T06:19:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-09T05:40:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-09T05:23:00.000-08:00

The Citadel

2009-11-09T04:33:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-09T04:02:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-09T03:51:00.000-08:00

2009-11-09T03:39:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-09T03:24:00.000-08:00

Apparently the cane business is a slow one.

2009-11-09T03:18:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-09T03:05:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-26T05:18:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-10-13T03:40:00.000-07:00

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).

2009-10-13T03:38:00.001-07:00

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).

2009-10-13T03:32:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-10-13T03:25:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-10-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-08T15:10:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

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

Andrew Burton Actually in Beirut.

2009-10-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-09-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-09-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

2009-09-30T17:56:00.000-07:00

It Begins

2009-09-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

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.