world cup!

I love traveling during World Cup. Everyone is very excited and there's always at least one shared subject for conversation. Plus, it's a nice excuse to take a break in the afternoon or evening and head over to a cafe--which, happily, is perfectly appropriate for a single female in the neighborhood I'm living in.

However, before arriving in Syria, I was faced with a conundrum. What team do I route for? The US seemed like a less than stellar choice, for political reasons and because we're not likely to make it out of the first round. Who do the locals support, I wondered. Tunisia, maybe? Saudi Arabia? Iran?

No, it turns out that Syrians root for Brazil.


Or Germany, or maybe Argentina. So much for pan-Arabism. But, as something of a fair weather fan myself, I have to respect the desire to support the best. And, as a local told me, the Syrian national team looks more like the guys that run after the balls that go out of play.

On an unrelated note, the house seems to be working out well. My fellow lodgers are a guy named Mike from Lebanon and one named Johnny (these are arab names???) from Lattakia. Both are nice and low key and willing to be subjected to my bad arabic.

The one challenge with the room is the Syrian penchant for large, rock solid pillows. Today I went to the souq in search of a replacement. This turned out to be a fool's errand; I think I have to either adjust or make one myself. Still, it says a lot about how things are going that my biggest concern is pillows.