Syria is Not Real Life

(Written in Syria, posted in Jordan)

Monday started off with a trip to the Golan Heights. Yes, the Golan Heights. The entire village right on the border that was destroyed as the Israelis pulled back is still kept in its destroyed state. We were talked to by the town’s Minister of Tourism (it was actually a lot more factual than I thought it was going to be) and were shown pancaked buildings, a destroyed church and hospital, and finally the border between the occupied territory and the Syrian side. We met some really friendly Czech UN peacekeepers and could see the Israeli side not more than 400 feet away. It was an experience I still haven’t fully digested yet. Everyone knows about it but seeing it is something very different.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and doing some more shopping in the market. A bunch of us picked up some (Arabic head things) at about 50 Syrian pounds each (yeah, that’s $1) and found an awesome falafel place. The night was spent playing hearts and this awesome Canadian card game with Rob, Conner, and Jimmy. Rob and I managed pull from behind win that cancelled out our loss the night before.

Today we packed up and left the hotel for a long bus ride to (wherever the hell we are). The view of the mountains and valley is spectacular. We went to some place with religious significance and were prayed at in Aramaic, which is Jesus’ natural tongue apparently. Then we went to an awesome canyon and got to climb things, epic!

Afterwards, we went to a castle built by crusaders. It was enormous, with a moat, outer walls, a huge inner fortress complete with some nice towers, and one of the best views we’ve seen in Syria. And while we were there, a reenactment TV series was being filmed so there were groups of men in full crusader dress and arms. At one point Caitlin and I were exploring and went into a seemingly empty room. I found an out of site, hidden passage and naturally went to investigate. While in the passage way I heard a mildly frantic calling of my name and came out to find a group of five men approaching with spears (I swear our time in Syria is not real life). After talking our way out of that one we went on to climbing to the highest points of the castle and then exploring semi-barred, off limits, pitch-black tunnels with Zack and Christine.

We eventually had to leave and found that our hotel was pretty much a miniature castle. Miguel and I naturally had a huge balcony and a group of us discovered that in the back, behind the pool there was a large expanse filled random bits of broken equipment. Oh yeah, and also an ostrich and some peacocks (once again, Syria is not real life).