Skyping with Damascus

 Last night I skyped with my friend in Damascus, Areen!  I am so excited I got to talk to her! Last time I heard from her, a few months ago, I got a message that she couldn't move and was bed-ridden.  I asked her what had happened. She said she was on her way to Tartus, Syria on business and got in a bad car accident. This happened in March and she was bed-ridden for 3 months with a broken collar bone, back and leg. I can't imagine being in that kind of condition in the middle of a war zone. She got some medical help but was mostly nursed back to health by her mother since medicine and hospitals in Syria are almost non-existent. You would never know it by looking at her now. Of course she wasn't walking around while I was skyping her but she looked amazing! She had eye make-up on and her brunette hair looked washed and lovely flowing down her back as she flipped it from side to side looking a bit worried about how she looked.

Areen is very thin but an incredibly strong woman. I could just feel her strength and determination while we chatted. She has been through so much enduring six years of war! I have been praying for her constantly as well as friends of mine too.  She talked about how she has really felt an extra power or strength within her  many times that she knows is not her. She said she always thinks to herself, "is Joyce and her friends praying for me again?" We both cried when she said that. I told her I felt so helpless that there was nothing else literally I could do for her but pray and fast for her. She called me her sister and she is mine.

I got to see her mother again and her two sons 12 and 14. She got to meet Sammy and Alex (Sadie and Abby were in bed). Her mother remembered me going to her house for a meal with a bunch of my friends and Areen back in 2000. The memory is a bit fuzzy for me (there were too many big meals and too many houses with tables full of lovely middle eastern food) but I believe her. It was such a nice reunion!

Areen used to live on the northwestern outskirts of Damascus in an area called Qudsaya where her home was damaged from nearby bombs a couple of times. However, she recently moved to the centre of Damascus because it is safer. Qudsaya was too dangerous especially now with the Russians bombing. She also recently got a new job with a development network and is very happy about it. She said it is an opportunity sent from God for her. She has been able to improve her English a lot because of it. She has to send reports in English to a manager in Brussels.  There is a chance she could get transferred out of Syria to another office somewhere in the next year or two. I hope that happens.

She spoke about not going out after 5pm at night and when she does go out her boys are never allowed to be alone. There are gangs of thugs who will take people and you will never see them again. I don't know how she has managed all this time. Her husband fled to Egypt a few years ago to escape the military draft. It is a miracle that she has been able to be protected and been able to protect those boys. However , I fear for her boys especially as they are getting older. I hope she can get out of Syria in the next few years. Her boys go to school still most days. She said they have to because they don't want to put off their schooling for years. There is no end in sight for this war. One of her boys was making animal shadows with his hands on the wall behind her while we talked and Alex and Sammy were laughing at them. She said that there is plenty of food in the markets but the prices for food is very high. People can hardly afford it. 

She was sitting in a very empty room on what appeared to be crates or something. There were blank cement walls behind her and a cement floor (though I could not see the floor very well).  It seemed to be lit by a lamp or two. Her mother is looking very old but had a lovely smile and warm greeting for me. I felt very self conscious as I sat in my big leather chair with shelves of books and clutter behind me. At one point, Alex wanted something to eat and I was embarrassed for her to hear that. She talked about how she wished to be transferred or somehow get to England. I thought to myself for a second, if she was, what would I do? Then I immediately started rearranging my house in my mind so that she could stay here if her boys, mother and her needed to. I would bring them right in to my house and take care of them until they could get a place of their own. What really helped me have further peace of mind is when I asked Charles about the scenario and he didn't hesitate in the least about bringing them into our house and helping them. I wish I could do that for her.

Every time I saw Areen in Damascus she was wearing a hijab even when there were only women around. This time, on Skype, she was not wearing it. I wondered if she has decided against it. It doesn't really matter but I am curious. I am sure she still covers up a lot when going out so as not to draw any undue attention to herself. 

At one point in the conversation, she asked me what I was currently reading. She knows I am a bit of a reader. I hesitated a bit at first but told her I am currently reading a book about the daughter of Saddam Hussein's private pilot and her life under Saddam. She laughed and said that she could not read things like that. They were too political and emotional. She was reading about Sufism because it was about dreaming and pondering and lighter things. I can completely understand.

After speaking to her, I could not stop thinking about her and as I thought I would, I dreamed about being in Syria last night right there with her in the middle of a war. It was terrifying. There is no end in sight for this conflict. It has become too complicated. The country of Syria as we knew it, no longer exists and who knows what will come out of it.  I just wish that innocent people like my friend Areen and her family didn't have to suffer so much and live in such awful circumstances through it all.

The REAL Downton Abbey (Highclere Castle)

On September 10th I was privileged to visit Highclere Castle, more commonly known as Downton Abbey. It was the last day of the visiting season. I booked this visit clear back in February! The place is so popular, you have to book that far in advance. I have been wanting to go for a few years now and kept missing the opportunity because I was going online to book too late. Well, I finally got it right and the big day finally arrived....



I am a BIG fan of the show so seeing the real thing was so exciting. According to Google maps, it is only 1 hour 39 minutes from our house. Standing out in front of the house waiting to go in was surreal because I was standing where all the servants and family stand when they greet or say goodbye to their guests on the show. I have seen it so many times throughout all the seasons that it seemed strange for little ol' me to be standing in the same place...  



Here is a view of the side of the building 

The surrounding countryside was gorgeous! The estate is impressively large.

We had the most perfect weather that day too. It made the whole adventure even more perfect.

This area of brown is a wild flower garden in the spring. I have seen pictures and they look stunning. Too bad we could not have seen them all in bloom.

The trees surrounding the building (and all over the estate) were beautiful and breath-taking. I am sure many were 100s of years old.

This is a shot taken from the gardens.

Love this picture.

After touring the building, we had a lovely hot, lunch with roast potatoes and your classic English Sunday roast. 

Seeing the rooms inside was so much fun. I liked seeing the actual layout of the rooms downstairs. I loved the library with its wall to wall old hard bound books. They also had a desk and chair bought from Napoleon. Pretty impressive.

When we toured upstairs they had the various rooms labelled so you knew who's room was who's from the show. I found that quite interesting. However, they don't actually film in the bedrooms because even though they are quite spacious there is still not enough room for the cameras, crew and equipment. So that and the basement (servants quarters) is all done in studio. The bits on the main floor are filmed on location though. Of course, as I looked through the house, I couldn't help but recall specific episodes of when certain things happened in certain rooms.

The gardens were lovely. It was a perfect day out!









 

Crafty Days of Summer

The girls love doing crafts. So a couple of days this summer we set aside for "craft days." The first craft day, the girls painted these welly boot planters. They turned out really cute!  

Alex tried to do a giant snail walking across her boot. This is the face she would make if she saw that snail for real.



Here is Abby busily painting her gold boot.



Abby was going for a Cath Kidston look. It is all the rage here in the UK.

We then decoupage'd little trays for the girls hot chocolate mugs. They were very proud. Abby actually made Sammy hot chocolate a few days later and served it to her with her hot chocolate mug on a lovely doily on the little tray and a biscuit. It was so sweet. 

Here are all three welly planters and trays.

 

On a different day, we invited a few friends and all painted animal rocks.

Alex made a dog sitting in a lovely flower garden.

Sammy did a frog sitting in a pond on a lily pad catching a fly on the his tongue.

Abby did a pig sitting in the mud (but I didn't get a picture of it in the "mud"). Always good times when we do crafts.

 

Summer past times....

We had many funerals at our house this past summer. It was a very dark time for us with lots of loud weeping. The new trampoline pads came in this box and it was immediately transformed into a coffin. Zombies, Count Dracula, and Werewolves lifted the lid and rose from the dead many times. I recorded many of them as proof to new comers that these parts of England are not safe....

The top of the lid reads "You Are Dead" and "Time to Die" with tombstones, flowers, swirls, zombies and dogs decorating the outside.

Every time I finish a gi-normous bag of nappies, Alex turns it into a bag for sack races. She races herself around the house.

This little one just started walking on September 12th.

Her favourite pastime, like all those who came before her, is cleaning out the cupboards.

Pushing the shopping trolley around the house

Little sister works hard pushing lazy big sister who plays the Leap Pad while being pushed around in her doll stroller. That is one strong baby girl!

First Day of Secondary School

Abby's first day of secondary school is today. She is going to an all girls school. This school is junior high and high school all in one. She will be at this school until she graduates. There are only two other girls from her primary school going to this school with her and they are not any of her close friends. They are just acquaintances. She feels very lonely and scared. All summer we have been thinking about her new school and I know she has been very worried. I thought that I would try and take away as many needless worries as possible by getting her all the correct school items and uniform etc that she needs. We went and got her uniform and bought everything that they recommended because of course, I don't know otherwise so it is just better to have everything even if she doesn't end up really needing some things. Anyway, all said and done, it was £268 ($408). Wow! Pretty expensive but I wasn't expecting it to be cheap. The only thing we didn't buy was shoes since I had just bought her some black school shoes not long ago and she could use the same ones for secondary school. I made a special effort to make sure she had the right stationary pack and lunches paid for etc. (At her school, you use your thumb print to pay for lunch and then it just deducts it from an account I add money to.)

Last night, she was worried about everything. It is her first time taking the bus to school. She was worried if she had a grumpy bus driver and who she would sit with etc. She was worried about who she would sit by at lunch and if she would like the food. She was worried that she would have to dress for P.E. and do running.  The list goes on. The big day (today) finally arrives. She got up and got dressed but was lingering in her room. I had the distinct feeling to go see her. Sure enough, I walked in and she began crying. More comforting, more consoling. Big breath and she goes downstairs for a lovely breakfast prepared by Daddy of sausages and baked beans (her request - my children are becoming so British in more ways than one).

The time is approaching for Charles to take her to the bus. She runs up brushes her teeth and comes back down to get her shoes on. Shoes? Where are her shoes? We cannot find them anywhere. I told her a few days ago to try on her shoes and make sure they were still ok to wear this year. She didn't want to and said they were fine so I didn't think much of it and didn't push it. We look all over the house and then remember that on the last day of school (big long story) they were left in a friend's car and we never got them back because said friend left for Pakistan a few days later and we never saw her again. Bad news, friend is still in Pakistan. First morning of school and Abby has no shoes! How could this happen? I was so careful about trying to think of everything to make sure she was completely ready and to be sure she only had the usual stresses and nerves and not any needless additional ones. WHHHHHYYYYYY!!!???

She ended up wearing some old black cloth shoes that she had been running around in all summer with almost a hole in the toe.  These she wore with her navy blue blazer, light blue blouse and pleated skirt, short white socks and flimsy old worn out shoes! Other girls are were wearing navy blue nylons or tights with smart leather slip on shoes with their uniforms. Poor thing! I felt terrible!  Now not only is she going to be stressing about who she will sit by and if she will make any friends but how ridiculous she looks in her old summer shoes.....  I am so upset about it all that you would think I was the one at school with old shoes hiding them under my chair so none of the other girls would hopefully notice them.....Well, I guess I am off to the shops to buy shoes. I pray I can find her size this late.....Happy first day of secondary school!
I will post a picture of Abby in her proper school uniform soon....

HoodWinked

All the year 6 students put on a play at the end of the year called "Hoodwinked" (a version of Robin Hood). Abby was Maid Marian. They all did a great job! It was very well done.  

Tap Dancing Extravaganza!

Abby, Sammy and Alex have been taking tap dancing together this past year. They were all in the same class even though Abby has passed her tap dance exam and is technically in Level II tap. (Yes, she had to pass an exam in order to move up, like everything in this country, you have to take an exam in order to move to the next level i.e,, any musical instrument, dance of any kind, swimming, gymnastics - you name it, there is an exam for it. We like to add to childrens' stress in this country.). Much to my delight, they kept all the level II tappers with the level I tappers for the show, which made my life so much easier to drop them at only ONE class instead of two. So for this year only, they were in the same class and the same dances in the show together. It was really nice because I am not sure it will ever happen again. It did however, cost a fortune to have three girls in tap. I think we were the only ones with THREE sisters in the whole company. They did not allow any pictures or video of the performance so these pictures were snuck by me backstage since I volunteered to be a parent helper backstage. The only good thing that came out of volunteering! There were two performances of the show in one day. The weeks leading up to the show were full of rehearsals every other day for hours. It was such a pain to go straight from school to tap rehearsal for hours, much of which they were sitting around waiting for their turn to rehearse. The day of the show, the girls had to be there at noon until 8pm. I too, had to be there about that long. I saw the first performance at 2-4pm and then volunteered from 4-8pm. I thought I would be hanging out with the girls, taking it easy. No, not the case. I was not allowed with my own children. I was put in a dressing room for the older girls who had to do quite a few costume changes throughout the performance, some of them had to be done very quickly. I had no time to eat or sit down. I was helping with costumes the entire night. I came home with a massive headache and felt worse than I had in a long time! It was terrible!  

But aren't they sooo cute!!??