Flat Stanley in Syria

July 10, 2009

Wow! I can’t believe we have been in Syria for 10 days already! Time really flies when you are having fun. In the past week Ms. M and I have been learning our way around Damascus. At first it seems really confusing but after a while you learn how to get around. Now we even know the short cuts! We have also been meeting a lot of new people. Syrians are so nice and everyone tries to help us wherever we go. Everyone on the street says “Welcome!” in English when we walk by. We have also met a lot of students who are studying Arabic just like Ms. M and people who are traveling all over the Middle East. Many people come from Turkey and then to Syria. After, they go to Jordan, Lebanon, and sometimes Egypt. I want to visit all those places too! When people talk about them they all sound like so much fun! Ms. M says we will probably get to go to Jordan and Lebanon. I can’t wait!

Love,
FS

Flat Stanley in Syria

July 3, 2009

Wow! The last two days have been so exciting! Yesterday was our first day in Damascus. (In Arabic it looks like this دمشق). When we first left the hostel I wondered where Ms. M had taken me! The streets were narrow and dirty and the buildings were brown and falling apart. Then we turned a corner and saw a long beautiful street called the “Straight Street.” It was filled with people and all kinds of shops. Then we got to the market. The famous. Middle Eastern souk. (In Arabic it looks like this سوق). There was so much to see I didn’t know where to look first. Instead I let my nose guide me. I smelt exotic spices, strong coffee, and sweet candy. There were all kinds of people in the market too: kids, adults, women in head scarves and some without, tourists, and men in traditional Arab dress. The strange thing was that Ms. M didn’t even take any pictures. She said she knew we’d be back and just wanted to take it all in the first time.

Today we took our first day trip. We went on a car ride with our new English friends Sam and James. They were so nice. Sam was really funny because he kept forgetting my name! He called me Flat Eric once! So anyways, on the trip we went to a place called Bosra to see an ancient theater. You really have to see it to understand how cool it was so I’ll let you see the picture of me there. At Bosra we even saw a camel!

Oh, and I forgot to tell you one other cool thing about our day. To leave our hostel we had to climb down a ladder from the balcony. The hostel is built into the old city walls so going down the ladder is the quickest way out. It was really fun and I wasn’t even scared!

Love,
FS

Flat Stanley in Syria

I think I have mentioned before that I have been doing the Flat Stanley project with my students. I am taking Flat Stanley on my trip to Syria this summer so that I can share my experiences with the students when I get back. I made a little book called "Flat Stanley's Syria Journal" so that Stanley can write to the kids. I thought I'd publish his journal on my blog so that I can share my experiences traveling with you all as well.

July 1, 2009

Hi guys! It's me, Flat Stanley. I've been waiting to go on this trip to Syria with Ms. M for so long and I can't believe it's finally here! Right now we are at the airport in Dubai. Do you know where that is? It's in a country called the United Arab Emirates (or U.A.E. for short). Ms. M and I left New York yesterday morning and had a 13 hour flight! It was so long! We ate two meals, watched three movies, and tried to sleep as much as possible. The next flight to Damascus, Syria is only 3 hours. I can't wait to get there.

Oh, one important thing about our trip: we are traveling to countries where they speak Arabic instead of English. Ms. M has already studied some Arabic but I haven't. I learned my first Arabic word today. It is "marhaba" and it means "hello." In Arabic it looks like this: مرحنا. Cool, right? I can't wait to learn more!

Love,
FS