The Mosque

The Ommayad Mosque seems to be full of Iranians on pilgrimage at the moment. The picture above, of a young boy watching a group of pilgrims in the main chamber of the Mosque, was taken a week or so ago but since then then the flow has been pretty heavy. As I understand it the building itself has a particular Shia'a significance, having been built by the under the Shia'a Ommayad Caliphate under Al-Walid II.

With the arrival of the Iranians has come the beginning of spring. Damascus now feels Middle Eastern again. The warm lick of the sun has returned the blue canopy of the sky to its rightful context. The melting snows in the mountains are feeding the river, now a veritable flow, and the fields are lush with green. The end of my time in Damascus will be in the prime of the year, before the oppressive heat of the summer drives people back inside, and rearranges their working hours to accomodate the scorch of the midday sun. The once cold houses of the Old City have found new purpose and the tired and hungry looking horses that drag diesel for the stoves to heat its walls will be relishing a long-earned rest.

My housemate's, Matt's, girlfriend was out this week. She asked me if I had enjoyed my year. A pause. Or was my opinion skewed by the cold. Most probable. I am certainly glad to be ending my year in the sun. Its just a shame I can't take my shirt off.