a new way to post

because the US has sanctions on syria, the syrian government actually blocks sites like facebook, blogspot, etc. the only reason i was able to get onto blogger earlier was because the monastery had a proxy server running those sites. unfortunately, in the time since we've been here, they've found that proxy server and shut it down...meaning i can't update my blog -

***So she is sending her blogs to me to post***(mom)

its sort of funny - a lot of people here use facebook even though it is technically outlawed... facebook (pronounced sort of like facebuk, long U) is a word i've heard on the streets. i guess people find ways around the firewalls. darian actually figured out a way to do it but i don't know how...

today i went to a syrian orthodox church. it was really odd...although after our group discussed it later in the day i felt like i understood it better. we decided that a lot of the things during the service came out of the old testament. there was a priest and he served as the mediator between God and people. most of the time he stood with his back to the congregants, facing the alter; Linford said he was the people's representative before God. Then during the service he turned to the congregation and was like God to the people.

They had a huge velvet curtain that they opened and closed at various points during the service and i think it was to symbolize the veil between God and men. There was a man wafting incense all around (it was also very warm in the church - there was a hot air vent blowing right on my head. I though i was going to pass out. We had to stand almost an hour and a half and it was just...sickening. blech.) and a young boy with a tambourine type thingy that was fastened to a long stick. he shook it above the priest's head. there were icons all around the church and the priest was holding a little ornate golden cross. for probably at least 45 minutes there was a whole bunch of chanting going on - from the priest, the deacons, and the church members. it was in syriac, which is the mother tongue of aramaic (so it is SUPER ancient). when he would gesture to the congregation with his little gold cross, they would all cross themselves and bow (shallowly, luckily. i heard that in the russian orthodox church they bow very deeply and visitors that aren't expecting it look really dumb). the women sat on one side and the men sat on the other. A lot of the women covered their hair, but it was with a different type (color and size) scarf than the Muslim women wear to enter the mosques, so none of us had the right scarves. (We had an assignment to visit the Ummayyad Mosque last Friday and so we at least had those

scarves...) We sat in the back and tried to look inconspicuous. At the end of the service most people in the church headed to the front of the building and got in a long line to kiss the Bible.

umm...other things i've done this past week are

-long, epic hike up mt. cassion (i might not be spelling that right).

at the top i got a good sense of how HUGE damascus is. wow. it disappeared into the smog - we literally couldn't see the edges of the city -arabic class (ahhh so hard) -movie night at the monastery - watched Gladiator on Linford's projection system -escaped like Paul over the damascus wall. we visited a house that supposedly is right by where Paul escaped. The man who owns the house has a fire pole built off his back balcony and you can pay to walk through his house and escape over the wall.

-visited the syrian national museam

-bought a pair of turquoise and lapis lazuli earrings for 350 syrian pounds each (about $7 each). the lapis lazuli stone is from Afghanistan. i also learned that turquoise is the color of damascus.

the shopkeeper who sold them to me told me that his store has been in his family for at minimum 300 years. that is as far back as the paper trail goes... which is, of course, older than America. mmhmm. he also gave me tea; i sat in this little dim shop next to the Ummayyad mosque surrounded by old swords and silver earrings and prayer beads...

I guess that's probably pretty much all for now...I hope things are well at home. Give me some news! :)

also you'll notice if you look at the people i'm following on my blog that i joined a site called "james and the giant lemon" http://jdsouder.blogspot.com/ ...that is the blog of the photography guy on our trip. he has good pictures and interesting things to say so you all should check it out :) oh, and hopefully EMU's website will have pictures up soon. we sent some in.