Syria

We just arrived in Syria this morning after a 17 hour bus ride that probably could have been 5 hours had it not been for the circuitous, unpaved roads that wound along the cliffs of the Mediterranean. We entered border control, and as Americans, were immediately removed from the foreigner line and given special attention, because Syria has problems with America's bombs. I just kept my mouth shut. We were brought back into an office room for some light questioning, but actually made it into the country in only 45 minutes, when we were preparing for a 2-4 hour wait.

Syria is crazy though! I finally feel as if I'm in a foreign country. I'll keep this post short, but this is what I expected from the Middle East. The city center is chaos with speeding cars, honking horns, full burkas and shouting vendors. And it is cheap! We're staying in a hotel for $5 a night (we bargained them down) and our meal cost us only $3 (and we were disappointed in how expensive it was). I'll post again with more updates, including pictures, but for now I'm off to find food, fanta and a frosty brew in the Christian quarter.