Bosra

I've had a really great weekend, full of احمد الله (ahamdu Allah, or praise be to God) moments. Friday I visited my private teacher, Basima's house. Her family was very welcoming and hospitable (a common characteristic of the Middle East). I was fed way too much food, learned many new vocab words, and got to play with Basima's young nephews. Her brother and brother-in-law drove me home. It was a nice visit.

Yesterday I traveled to Bosra with my friend Astrid, about a two-hour bus ride from Damascus (really close to the Jordanian border). The first ahamdu Allah moment was that my taxi arrived at the bus station at exactly the same time as Astrid's, so we were able to figure out the tickets together. The cashier at the ticket counter told us we could buy return tickets in Bosra, not to worry, even though Lonely Planet (and my host family) advised buying both tickets in Damascus. We took his word for it, and in an hour, were off to Bosra. As soon as we arrived in Bosra, we tried to buy return tickets, but we were told all of the buses at all departure times were full. There were no bus tickets to be bought. We started to get worried, but we told that we could take a service bus to Dar'a, and from there, catch a bus to Damascus. We figured, we couldn't really worry about it too much right then, so we left to explore Bosra.

The main attraction in Bosra is a huge theatre with a citadel built around it. In its heyday, the theatre could house 9000 people. It was really amazing to see in person. Everything was very well preserved. We then explored the old city a little bit, stepping in to antique stores and eating at Matam Philip, or Philip's Restaurant. Our server at lunch also told us that all of the return buses to Damascus were full, so after lunch we tried to figure out the service bus thing.

We approached a man sitting in a parked, empty service bus and, in Arabic, explained that we eventually needed to end up in Damascus, though if we could take a service bus to Dar'a, that would work too. He told us, no problem, he was going to Damascus, and we could join him, just wait thirty minutes. Ok, so what's the catch? We tried asking him how much it would cost, and he said we were his guests, no worries, no money. Astrid and I were a little apprehensive about this - it sounded too good to be true. But we decided to wait thirty minutes, and sure enough, around ten Iraqi women show up. This was their bus from Damascus to Bosra and back for the day. They had two available spots, and we were more than welcome to join them.

Before we left Bosra, we walked through the old city again with the group of women. They showed us the cathedral where a priest told Mohammed he would be the prophet. We also visited the mosque Mohammed would visit every year and saw Mohammed's camel's footprints in the stone. On the bus I sat up front with the driver and a young boy who talked with me and shuffled through the music. The women behind me passed around apples and sang along to the music. About an hour outside of Bosra, we pulled off the highway and a portable oil stove was brought out. We stretched our legs and enjoyed tea, coconut cookies, cucumbers, and oranges. True to his word, we were brought back to Damascus safe and sound, and Astrid and I didn't have to pay a cent. The women were very friendly and sweet. It was a great experience, surreal as it was. Definitely one of my favorite moments in Damascus so far. Ahamdu Allah!