I never thought that I could love a big city; that was before we came to Damascus. 聽I feel as if I can’t explain the wonders of this culture without showing someone in person. 聽I looked through all of the pictures we took, and I don’t think a single one of them does the city justice. 聽In the ever new stream of stimuli, I can only describe a fraction of what this city is like. 聽The magnificence of Damascus is soaked into every area of life–the cityscape itself, the history, the people, the activity and vibrance!
Last Thursday, we as a group retraced Saul鈥檚 adventure in Damascus. We read the history of Saul鈥檚 vision on the road to Damascus, walked into the Old City and read of Saul鈥檚 companions leading him by the hand into Damascus, read of Ananias鈥� part in Saul鈥檚 conversion story in Ananias鈥� home, re-enacted Paul鈥檚 escape from Damascus by sliding down a pole from a second story youth hostel (perhaps like the home where Paul stayed?), and finally ended our journey at the Bob Kissan church, which commemorates Paul鈥檚 escape.
This past Saturday we were free of Arabic classes and ready to explore deeper into the city. 聽We conquered the steep mountain roads of Mount Qasyoom, one of the mountains on the border of Damascus. 聽Once we reached our destination, we looked out over a city that stretched from one horizon to the other. 聽I was dumbfounded! 聽It was incredible to see the city climbing up the side of Mount Qasyoom, to guess which dark splotch was the Old City and the abbey where we lived, and to know that in every square of the entire city there were bikes, taxis and buses surging through the streets; Muslims and Christians walking side by side; yummy shwarma, falafel, and cheese-stuffed breads baking on every street; and other intricacies of the culture going on that we have not yet noticed. 聽 All of this was happening from one horizon to the other.
We are all incredibly thankful for the opportunity to be in this vibrant city. 聽As we travel from Damascus to Lebanon from Thursday until Sunday, our group is excited to experience another part of Middle Eastern culture.
-Aly Zimmerman