whoa, a far cry from my last post. in happy spirits, in clean [new] clothes and feeling jovial in aleppo. i was wandering around yesterday, just after I last posted, and noticed some kids playing. I watched them quietly and they soon approached me exchanging names and other civilities as best as we can in sign language. a few minutes later, I got to experience syrian hospitality. i stayed there from 4pm till 10pm and went back the next day (today) for breakfast and went shopping in the souks (for pants and sandels) with Raji, Asraa, and Kada. im not sure about the syrian cuisine. the breakfast/lunch was a lot better than dinner. kibbe (ground meat inside this sort of wheat ball) is the national dish, which unfortunately, Im not so fond of. Nor of this dish we had which was meat with eggplant or squash in a very sour soup. I like the falafel though. Im due back for dinner later - I hope its something different!

the family is huge. the grandmother has 12 children. I met probably half the family tree: a dozen children and three generations. amazing. arabic names arent hard to learn- but the sheer number of names I need to remember is difficult. we have been communicating through an arabic - english dictionary. i have picked up a few words but no sentences save "ana habib...." which translates to "I like....".

gotta run, shall probably next post in Damascus - capital of Syria.