Hama and hospitality

I am now in Hama, a pleasant city that resides by the Orontes River. Hama is noted for its norias, wooden water wheels up to 20m in diameter that brought water up from the river to irrigate the nearby lands. It's a pleasant place to rest, and I think I might take a break from travelling and spend an extra day here just resting up. My legs and feet need the break.

This morning I took a luxury bus from Aleppo. Moments after starting, the conductor passed out plastic cups. The passengers all tried to find different places to put them. He then passed out water. The bus let me off on the highway, by a small but raucous market. I took a cab to the city center, and easily found my hotel from there. Once I checked in I decided I was going to starve myself no longer and stopped into the first open place that served food. It was a bakery. A man walked in before me and I watched as he ordered. The boy behind the counter climbed a short ladder and lifted a plate into an opening. Food appeared. The man took his order and left. Following his lead, I ordered what he had, drawing the shapes of the bread he had ordered. When the boy asked me if I wanted a particular thing, I said yes. There were two words I recognized from what the man ordered. I paid and walked out with a bounty of various savory pastries.

I walked to the microbus station in order to find my way to Apamea, a roman ruin on a high grassy mor overlooking the AL-Ghaba plain. Losing my way to the bus station, I inquired at a small shop, and the man wrote out instructions in Arabic so that I might show them if I were lost again.

I took a minivan to Suqeilibiyya and transfered for the remainder of the trip to Apamea. The man beside me asked where I was going and after I told him, he made sure to tell someone else where I was heading when he disembarked. The van let me off at the side of the road, leaving me to climb the rest of the way to the ruin.

Halfway up, by a crumbling stone structure, a man invited me into his tailor's shop. Another man sewed a pair of pants while the first man bade me sit down and offered me sweetened tea. It was delicious after riding in a cramped van and walking in the sweltering sun. Two glasses later I thanked him and went on my way.

Thinking I had arrived at the ruins I climbed through the stone arches and up onto a grassy mound. From there I could see the actual ruins. An almost impossibly long row of columns running through the the fields. I walked along a dirt road to the entrance.

The city of Apamea was founded in the second century BC by one of Alexander the Great's generals. It prospered until it was sacked by the Persians in 540 AD and again in 612. The city was ruined in 1157 by an earthquake. What remains are pillars and the remnants of pillars stretching through rice fields. Stones dot the green hills as goats and cows graze. The setting borders on the fairy-tale. After walking the main ruins I walked further down the road to explore two more that I had seen. A boy followed me and insisted leading me where I was already going, and to get rid of him I gave him a few pounds.

Returning to the main road, a girl bade me stop. I stepped into a small tin shed where she sold snacks. She offered me a seat and soon I was surrounded by teenaged girls, who asked me various questions through one woman who spoke english. She told me she was a student in Aleppo studying architecture, then asked me my age. When I told her she asked me if I was married, and when I replied no, she asked why not. We chatted pleasantly, and I bought an ice cream. Her mother soon appeared, and she told me that her mother was often angry. But she wasn't that afternoon. Her mother wanted her to come visit her grandmother, but she didn't want to. I told her she should listen to her mother, which she translated. Her mother said I was right. To let her go, I made to leave, but she then invited me to her house. She said her brother wanted to meet with me, and so I agreed.

The house was just a few feet from the shed. She told me she had five sisters and three brothers. The brother I met was the middle brother. He was also attending university in Aleppo, studying education. I asked if he wanted to teach when he graduated and he said maybe. His father was an elemetary teacher in town. When I asked he told me that there were four elementary schools in the area, and I expressed surprise at how populous the area was, then asked why no one was in school. He told me that it was a holiday, and that he and his sister were back home to celebrate. I asked what holiday, but he didn't know how to describe it in English. It was a local holiday was all he could tell me.

His sister prepared coffee, and brought out a vegetable that looked like long lettuce. He taught me how to eat it, peeling off the green leafy area and eating the white parts. He told me that the closer to the heart, the better the plant was, and he was right. Once we got to the heart, he peeled it and offered it to me. The vegetable was refreshing, the coffee delicious. I asked if he was married and he told me he was only 22. It was still early. He had another year of school left in Aleppo and then he planned to return home, eventually to build a house when he married. I asked if he would marry someone locally, and he said he didn't know. He told me his family was not very traditional, and that he could choose. His sisters covered their heads with only scarves.

The afternoon wore on, and soon his mother appeared, leading his sisters to visit their grandmother. I bade them goodbye, and his sister said she hoped to see me in Aleppo. Unfortunately I had already been. Afraid to abuse my host's hospitality, I took my leave. He said it was still early yet, but I told him I had errands to run. We exchanged email addresses and he saw me to the door. As I waited by the side of the road for a minibus, shadows stretched across the street. I had told him it was good that the entire family lived so closely together, and he agreed. I had asked him if he thought of moving elsewhere, and he said no. His family lived in that town, his friends lived in the town, and he saw no reason to leave. His sister had told me she wanted to visit India and Japan, and that she liked Jackie Chan. I wonder now where she would most like to live. Posted by eku at May 6, 2004 6:32 PM