Syria, one of the most interesting places on earth

It was four in the morning when a commotion in the hallway outside my room woke me up. Victor, our dashing young guide was frantically banging on everyone's door looking for Greta.    She, the ancient and mysterious figure among us, had gone missing.  After determining that Greta was not up late drinking (as was her wont) with anyone in our group, the search became serious and scary.  After all, she was eighty, it was four in the morning and we had only arrived in Damascus that afternoon.  Where could she be?  How could she be found?  We were due to leave on a tour of the city in a few hours.  She could be lost forever.  Well, it might be nice to lose her smelly shoes, or not have to cringe at her cheapskate activities, but her drive to go everywhere and see everything no matter how exhausting kept all of us on our toes.  We had to keep up with her—she was eighty after all.

After interviewing all twenty of us, Victor was able to retrace her steps up to when the bar closed.  It turned out that she had made a mysterious phone call and then taken off on foot alone through the streets of Damascus.  She had earlier recounted some stories about her childhood in the Mid-East, including Syria.  But, who could she be calling?  Victor found the barkeeper and interrogated him about the call.

She had tracked down a distant cousin and was meeting him at a bar in another hotel.  Victor set off to rescue Greta.  What he found was a party in progress with Greta as the guest of honor having a fabulous time.  That Greta and Victor were perfectly safe at four in the morning in the streets of Damascus was typical of Syria in those days.  It was a police state, with government spies everywhere.  Our tour bus required one just to be permitted in the country. But, although the government (led by the father of the current ruler) was a dictatorship, the hospitality and genuine kindness of everyday Syrians was pervasive.  Greta's relatives' spontaneously party was just one example.

At seven a.m.  Greta was up ready for breakfast and another long day of sightseeing.  She taught all of us lessons in stamina and resolve. 

The few weeks I spent in Syria were fascinating and enriching.  I shudder to think of what is happening now to that country.

riding to the ruins of Palmyra, an ancient ruin in the Syrian desert