But the universe is just an empty space
And all the stars can disappear without a trace
I’m so glad that this has taken so long
‘Cause it’s the journey that made me so strong
So a long while back, whilst I was still lounging away on the other side of the ocean, I said I’d miss Syria. And now I do. Miss Syria that is. Seriously… it’s been about 6 weeks and I expected it to take a little longer before I missed it, but in reality, about 3 weeks in I started feeling them. Those twinges. Worrying and easy to ignore at first, getting progressively more insistent. At first, I ignored them in hopes that they would go away, and let me live contentedly, but no such luck. They’re here. To stay.
So here’s my list:
1. The athan. But oddly enough, only one. The maghrib. For seven weeks now at maghrib time I’ve been glancing at the sky, watching it grow progressively darker and wondering why it hadn’t athanit yet.
2. The noise. It used to drive me crazy in our apartment in Dumar, but living in the burbs, it’s too quiet at times. Other than the rattling dump truck, and car doors slamming every once in a while it’s silent. Pressingly oppressive silence.
3. Taxis!! The bumpy, hang-on-for-dear-life rides, filled with stories you’re only half-paying attention to because like I said, you’re trying not to lose your lunch.
4. The excitement! The utter unpredictability of Syria. You go out to buy a some bread, and you get to partake in a mini-adventure!
5. Being able to go to Old Damascus any time I wanted.
6. How distances feel so short there!! Here it’s like traversing the globe when you want to make it from one area to the next. Crazy.
7. The city center. The d-town. The hustle and bustle, loool. The crush of bodies, the peddlers hawking goods, all the never-ending horns. The smell of freshly baked bread, gas emissions, sweat, sewage, cigarette smoke, and a billion other things assaulting your senses. Freaky? Yes. But also true.
8. Finding those hole in the wall places and falling in love.
9. The Umayyed mosque and it’s cool courtyards.
10. Arabic coffee!
11. That corn dish you can buy in the streets. Corn and cheese and a ton of spices.
12. The lessons I used to attend. There’s no way I can replace that woman in my life.
13. Just being there =(
14. A few, select friends and cousins. I <3 you guys crazzy.
15. Complaining about Syria. Now that I don’t live there anymore, I feel like I’ve been stripped of my complaining privileges…
But, funny thing is, for every thing I listed, I thought of something I liked here, in Canada. So I’m good, lol. Just thought I’d get that outta my system!
Aw! I guess you really don’t know what you got till it’s gone =(
ps. a possible solution to the athan thing? http://www.islamicfinder.org/athanDownload.php
True that! But I’m still happy to be back, lol. I’ve resigned myself to constantly feeling torn between the two countries. Oh well.
And about the athan thing, thanks! I already have it, but I meant the *real* athan. The one where you’d hear it no matter where you were… and then the echo as one mosque after another picked it up. It was beautiful =(. Especailly my mosque guy. He had the most amazing voice <3
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL easy girl, those muaddins are men of GOD!
When I was in Dubai a couple of years ago, the thing I enjoyed most was the Athans, too! How everybody stops and goes to pray, it was magical. =)
K, even men of God can have nice voices!!! And even righteous women were blessed with ears to hear said voices…. no? (side note: I’m the righteous woman in question in case you were wondering =p)
And yes, it is pretty amazing, isn’t it?
dude we miss you so much, and we talked about how proud we are of you…
nadia’s wedding is on thursday… and we’re having a bridal shower type thing for her on tuesday. we reallllllllllllllllllllllly miss you. and im driving here now, like on a reg basis. and im goood
oh and i got into a car accident but it wasnt my fault and nothing happened to the car. but thats a story i’ll save for another time. ugh i miss being able to call u. actually i miss when the phone would be for me and itd actually be someone that i enjoyed talking to(you).
<3
D!! I missssss youu!! hamdulillah 3ala salamtek! Drive safe yo, those Syrians can be straight crazzyyyyy. I can’t wait to call you and talk to you. I have to finish my exams though, and then inshAllah I’m free… for a month. Ughhh.
I can’t believe I’m missing out on Nadia’s big day! She’s going to look so beautiful and all y’all are going to be shaking your butts off, and then there’ll be me: at work. in Canada.
Sometimes I straight hate this multicultural crap =’(
I was only in Syria for 12 days, but I miss it as well. I can understand why you feel this way. But I’m glad you found many things about Canada that you love.
I was grinning at the “righteous woman” comment above.
Enjoyed your list.
Aww! I feel you! I have this love-hate relationship with Syria. It’s crazy, but totally out of my control and avoidable.
Guess you just have to live with it, eh?
Thanks for visiting my website!
No, thank you for having such an amazing website!!
Ahh this post makes me miss Syria! And number 15 is so true, complaining about Syria is like my part time job.. But oh I love it so!
Awesome blog, btw, I shall be stalking it (in a totally normal and uncreepy manner) from now on.
LOL! You’re welcome to stalk and thanks! And yes, we Syrians do take great pleasure in complaining. It comes with the culture =P