Getting Reacquainted

Today my mom woke us up pretty early and we all got dressed and ready and headed out. We stopped at that "Rosemary" cafe at around 11:00 AM for breakfast-- near the Mariah hotel. We had really good omelets and then headed over to Aunt M's.

We talked there for a while and watched some nerdy '80's show on TV. Then Aunt M made us delicious chicken and rice for lunch. After lunch we all did the dishes and then all the kids and my mom and stepfather walked through the Old City to Damascus Gate. It was so unreal... the way it looked, sounded and smelled... I felt like I was inside some kind of movie or National Geographic or something.

When we got to the gate, we said goodbye to my mom and stepfather and the kids headed to Nana's shop. Ar translated all of the leers and jeers on the way. We passed some guy that Arsen knew that wants to be a basketball player so he had professional posters of himself printed up and then posted around the city in hopes of becoming famous.

When we got to Nana's store we sat and talked for a while. Her local Israeli patrolman came by to say hello. Nana loves him. He's a Russian Jew and tried to say hi to me in Russian.

At 5:00 PM we left to meet my mom and stepfather back at Damascus. Then we walked back to Aunt M's where we ate bread with zatar (oil and ground thyme). We all hung out and played Arsen's "koosh" game again.

My stepfather was really tired and at one point he fell asleep. It was around 8:30/9:00 PM so my mom, BigSis, LilSis and I went over to see Nana and Aunt H. We looked at baby pictures and my mom saw the video from Robert's wedding. At 9:45 PM we left and walked home. I got a soda in the lobby with my mom and stepfather and wrote postcards. Then I came up to the room, showered and sleep...