6 weeks in Syria
We are heading into our seventh week in Syria, and it is truly a very unique place with a very sad backstory and outlook. We have wandered around the Old Town in Aleppo quite a lot, enjoying the splendour of yesteryear, and lamented the devastation of recent times. Entire sections of town have been razed to the ground by a combination of the war and the earthquake, other sections still have buildings standing but maybe only occupied in 1 or 2 rooms, and other buildings are still going strong. The economic downturn can be seen widespread in the shabby nature of the town, and the limited range of business and shops which are still operating.
A typical breakfast here will involve flat bread, yoghurt, cheese, eggs, salad, possibly some falafel or chickpea soup. It is all pretty fresh and nice, but we do still sneak some breakfast cereals and milk into our hotel room for a taste of home. Dinner often has some similar elements, but there is a lot more meat! Lamb and chicken are most popular, often grilled or BBQ'd, served with hummus and baba ganoush, various salads and fresh mint lemonade. You can also find burgers, pizzas, fried chicken and other stuff, which makes a nice change some evenings. There are also nutty tray bakes, sweets and biscuits almost every day at the office, which are delicious, but not really helping our balanced diet.
Related to the food, it has not been a straight forward month for health. I began to feel a bit wobbly (in my tummy) soon after arriving in Aleppo, which escalated to a 2 night stay in a hospital to treat a stomach infection and dehydration. I was then prescribed a lot of medication for a week, and seemed to recover, but soon after my tummy was misbehaving again. I travelled to Damascus for 10 days to see another Doctor and have some tests, which helped me understand why my tummy may be upset, and what I can do to help prevent further occurrences, e.g. what to eat / avoid.
In nicer news, there is a good gang of people who are working in Aleppo from other NGOs and organsiations, and we enjoyed a thoroughly British pub quiz the other night! The atmosphere was slightly more Syrian than The Crown, but it was brilliant, and our team won (of course, we had Steve).
In terms of work, we are still finding our feet. Steve has a lot to do, and I am finding out how I can add value to my colleagues. The team continues to be welcoming, but we have encountered some squabbles between departments, and we are trying to help the team transition from the urgent, immediate earthquake response mentality into a calmer mindset with time for better planning and preparation of activities.
As ever, we are grateful to be in touch with you all, and hope you are doing well as the summer gives way to September. Lots of love, and we may see some of you in October when we come home for a visit (last 2 weeks).
Lindsay & Steve
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