Back in Cairo. Yesterday was Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim celebration in remembrance of Abraham and Ishmael (the basic equivalent of the Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac). The night before the eid Cairo was woken by thunder and rain - unusual excitement. The morning of the eid there was lots of slaughtering of sheep and cows in the streets in celebration of the salvation of Ishmael and in remembrance of the sheep provided by Allah. But instead of posting pictures of wet, bloody, muddy roads, I'll reminisce about Syria and Jordan.
The waterwheels of Hama, Syria. Hama is most well known for the fact that it was crushed by the Syrian government in 1982 because of the anti-government Muslim Brotherhood presence growing there.
The Krak des Chevaliers (Castle of the Knights), one of the oldest remaining crusader castles.
Best restaurant in Syria, overlooking the Krak des Chevaliers
Sign at the Syrian Orthodox monastery in Maaloula, one of the only remaining Aramaic-speaking towns in the world.
Fresh pomegranate juice in the streets of the Old City of Damascus, Syria
Storyteller at a coffee shop in the Old City of Damascus. At one point, staring right at us (the only foreigners in the room) he made the whole coffee shop jump by yelling "Oh my God!" in English (the story was in Arabic) and slamming a full-sized sword down on a metal table beside him.
Restaurant in Damascus: Kebab, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (President of Iran), Bashar al Assad (President and resident authoritarian of Syria), Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah (head of Hezbollah in Lebanon), hamburger. Be very afraid...
Streets of Damascus' Old City
Jordan, representing
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