Drowsey rantings from the back seat.

On my way to Turkey for a base run. I’m really glad my battery is lasting for the time being. It’s a six hour drive up there. I can’t wait to get a cheese burger. I know it’s only been a month and a half since I waved farewell to my beloved homeland, but nothing makes you miss home more than knowing you’re eight thousand miles away from the nearest In N Out. I wonder how well a Double Double keeps… *stares thoughtfully into the distance*

To pack for my journey I decided to use my brand spanking new Swiss Army backpack which boasts sufficient space for my 17” behemoth of a laptop, I got hustled by Amazon.com, again, though not entirely an impulse purchase, as I’ve been in the market for just such a satchel for some time now. Much to my surprise, the dedicated compartment for my electronic companion is clearly only large enough for a 15” computer. I can however squeeze it in, though just not where it’s intended to go. I’m torn between leaving it the way it is and trying to send it back for the right model. I did purchase the bag specifically for its 17” design, but I do plan on one day getting a smaller laptop. We’ll see how this trip goes. If I can live with it the way it is, I’ll just leave it be.

Beware the wrath of a disgruntled former lover. Nothing you can say will be enough. Nothing you could possibly do, short of offering barred jugular for evisceration, could serve to satiate the blood lust. There isn’t any way you could ever understand. There isn’t an ice cubes chance in hell that you could even fathom the pain that you’ve inflicted with your cavalier approach to the relationship. Never mind the facts. Never mind that you gladly went out of your way to make them happy. Never mind that you think she has an amazing body. Please forget that the sex was great and not just about the physical connection. And oh by the way, sir, whilst you are forgetting, purge from your mind that you ever considered a future with such a far superior individual. You are not worthy.

I’m having a pretty good time out here in Damascus. It really isn’t anything that I thought it would be. I was expecting great expanses of nothing but sand. Not that Syria is in short supply, but there is far more vegetation than I thought there would be and it’s actually quite mountainous. I especially like the last part. After living in Riga, which I’m convinced is one of the flattest places on Earth, I’d really begun to miss the jagged landscape silhouetted in the morning sun. The city proper is chaotically impressive. I could do without much of the traffic, but I don’t drive, so It’s not one my main concerns. There are fountains everywhere. It seems that they are a display of power. As if they are defying the desert. I don’t know how big a feat it is exactly, but they too are impressive. The old city is everything I expected it to be. It’s packed full of little shops. Some of which I could literally touch the back wall of by just leaning in from the outside and reaching over. The effect is actually quite deceptive. You’ll walk past a series of miniature shops and speckled here and there are decent sized walk-in stores. Then you’ll go a bit further and an ornately inlaid set of double doors will open to a hidden courtyard restaurant that is kept secret by these sell anything closet stores. Contrary to my preconceptions, they have most modern services, though the internet sucks, you just need to know where to go. And it’s delightfully cheap. You can go out three nights in a row on 20 bucks. It’s not short on its oddities though. Some of the customs and norms still throw me off, but being away from home for 5 years bouncing from country to country gets you used to such things. I have to say that the best part is the diversity. There are lots of students and ex-pats from all over the world and the Syrian people are very welcoming. I don’t miss California any less, but my stay here is turning out to be more comfortable than I had expected.