Apperception

So, a train ticket was finally on my hand. It was Option 2. I decided to sleep overnight in Raqqa train station. Since I’m moving east, instead of traveling in Turkey’s territory, why not I travel in the land of Syria which is significantly cheaper? By estimating the expenses of transportation in Turkey over Syria, I save a lot. Ha! I’m such a smart budget-traveler!

Unfortunately(or contrary?), Abdullah ruined my plan. He not allowed me to sleep in the train station where I have located a good spot. Instead, he dragged me back to his house at 1.30am in a taxi.

He introduced me to his younger brother Mahdi(not the 4-year old mischievous one) and showed me around his half-built new house as well as his little zoo, in the middle of the night. Ah huh! The compound was simply too big for a family! We sipped lemon tea and watched horror movies until 3.30am and who cares, tomorrow is Friday and who cares, I preferred to wake up by myself. Suck the alarm and fuck the border crossing!

Abdullah and Mahdi

And you know what, even though it was just a mere 4-hour sleep, it was the sweetest night I ever have since I was on the road. I can’t believe it. It must be the warm welcoming and comfortable mattress that made me contented so much!

After taking the simple but abundant breakfast, Abdullah forbade me to leave. On the contrary, he asked me to stay another day because today is Friday. He wanted to show me around in his town. I wish I could but due to some uneasy feelings that even I have no idea, I smiled and declined politely. I felt like I have to cross the border today. While the Bashar’s regime moved tanks and deployed troops to the southern town of Dera’a to crush the demonstration(this is definitely not the reason urging me to leave), Abdullah told me he loves President Bashar al-Assad and all the latter does is always for the sake of the people. Before leaving, Abdullah wanted me to promise that I will come back to Syria and visit them after visiting Turkey. I smiled and gave a vague answer. I knew I’m not coming back.

It wasn’t until reluctance hit me when I’m about to leave this country that I finally realized you cannot simply intoxicate yourself in the warm hospitality and friendly welcoming offered by the Syrian people while at the same time getting sick of their kindly(if not nonsense) greetings and approaches and choose to ignore them, because they are connected. It’s not only because of their Syrian root that makes them extremely kind, friendly and hospitable by nature but also their high curiosity.

So, never ignore their ubiquitous greetings!

Note: www.blogger.com and www.amazon.com are two of the many websites which have been banned by the Syria government.