Helloooooo Syria

After spending Canada Day in Petra, we took a 40 minute night flight to Damascus and have been here for about 18 hours. So far all we've done is sleep and interview (ie, we haven't left the hotel), but we're hoping to see a little of the city tonight- it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, so I'm sure there will be some interesting things to see.

But back to Jordan...we had a great time there actually- we hired quite a few good people and the recruiting agency owners , a pair of brothers, Abed and Anas, were really fun, and took us out every night to different places. Some of the highlights include watching the final game of the Euro Cup soccer (spain won), Petra and the Dead Sea. The dead sea was actually my favourite-- it is the lowest point in the world- our ears popped a lot on the way there!!! It is also the saltiest sea in the world- we were all really excited about swimming so we rushed though our interviews so we would get there while it was still light enough to swim, and the brothers drove like maniacs to get there in time (actually they both got speeding tickets- picture attached) but the lifeguard wouldn't let us in because it was extra salty that day and it could be dangerous (I think for our eyes, but I didn't really understand the full Arabic explanation...) we got to dip our feet and hands in though, and I actually tasted it, just to see.....it is definitely verrrrry salty! The brothers also own a chewing gum factory, so we now have an endless supply of gum in many different flavours..

Petra was neat too- it's a city carved into the rock walls of a huge valley- we got up early and drove there (well someone else drove...we slept..) and got there about 11am and it was already VERY hot, we saw some pretty cool things but unfortunately we didn't have time to make it to the monestary which is supposed to be one of the best parts...we had to turn back so we'd be back in Amman in time to catch our flight. Since it was Canada Day, the 4 Canadians taught the others (2 Jordanians and 2 Egyptians) O Canada...I'm not sure if they appreciated it..I think it might have been our singing!

After Syria, we're going back to Dubai for a few days to regroup and rest while waiting for our visas for india and sri lanka...it will be nice to have a few days off...we've started asking each other what day it is and which country we're in again... I always do the part of the presentation saying how excited we are to be in the country and how much we've loved exploring their city etc etc, and sometimes I feel like a musician on tour, you know how they tape the name of the city onto the back of their guitar......?!!!!

oops, I have to meet the others in the lobby in a few minutes, so I'll leave you with a few pictures, but before I sign off, Huuuuuuuge congratulations go out to Cole and Kristina, who are the VERY proud parents of Adam James!! Look how cute he is!!!!! I think he's smiling because he knows how lucky he is to have them as parents!

Okay bye for now! xoxo C