Cinnamon Star Wars - update

The trip to Souq A3srounieh was nicer and more relaxed than I had thought. I had a sumptuous choice (for Syrian standards) between 3 different star shapes, all of them made in China, akeed. Felt tempted to get some Christmas decoration for my apartment but could not find anything decent which would

a) not offend anyone (including myself)

b) not be too kitschy

c) please my eye.

I returned with a star shape and a baking brush and decided it was better to pamper myself. Time for a booty call.

Hours later, after *censored*, an arghileh and some further shopping for lemons, I started preparing the dough in the evening. Things looked fine in the beginning before everything turned pear shaped. Called my mother to find out what was wrong but remote assistance wouldn't help. I then decided it was because I didn't have enough almonds and no kitchen scales. What can I do?

Cinnamon Star Wars

Damascus probably isn't the best spot on earth if you want to follow some European Christmas traditions. The other day I decided to prepare cookies for Christmas and asked my mum to send me a recipe for Cinnamon Stars. Or rather, I had that idea spontaneously and called her right from somewhere between the grocery shelves in the biggest supermarket in town.

My motivation was high, and I decided to buy everything I need on the spot. But then I started to realise the extent of the logistical problem: no icing brush, no ground almonds, no non-grease paper, etc. Procurement of money through ATMs is difficult here already (that'll be another story here sooner or later) but shopping for anything specific is a real nightmare here. Search for something specific and you will never find it easily. In July it was a toilet seat, and the only place where you could get it in all Damascus is Baghdad Street. The Souq concept where merchants selling similar items are all in one area probably isn't too bad in general because it allows you to compare quality, choice and bargain a good price. Plus it saves the livelihoods of the small shop owners. For a modern shopper it is a hassle, though.

In a few moments I will go to the Souq and try to get the last missing ingredients and tools. Some bargaining coming up I guess. Should I ever find the stuff I need. Inshallah.

The epitomy of a Christmas card

Well folks, it's not a positive story I have to tell here today: the true story of the classic Christmas card's funeral.

I remember the times when I sent about 80 Christmas cards every year, and got about 10 back in return. That was just about 6 years ago. This year, I sent more than 40 and only received 3 so far, all of them via internet and as part of mass e-mail communication. Now tell me, how would you feel about a Christmas card in your traditional P.O. box or as a letter... that kicks off with the words 'Dear all'? How impersonal can it get? I am outraged about the level of superficiality I can see in this respect, even among my friends.

A couple of years ago I received my first wholehearted Christmas greetings via SMS. While I can understand that people who aren't very close might choose a phone call or even an SMS to send greetings, the minimum I would expect is some kind of a dedication mentioning my name. Is it enough to content yourself with creating a template and then forward it to the world? I say no. But even this can be topped: use a Christmas SMS you have just received from someone else and forward it with all spelling mistakes to all your dear friends. For Christ's sake, is this what you would expect from your friends?

Probably it isn't. I can tell that honest Christmas greetings are different. And the same is valid for Eid as well by the way (probably also Hanouka, I am not aware it though).

Not that I am the most conservative and traditional person on earth, ya Allah. But to me, Christmas is something personal, and dedicating time to write Christmas cards by hand shows I am spending time in order to give my friends, family and close ones a smile on their face when they receive the card and open the envelope. I am spending time thinking about who should receive a card in first place, then weigh the words, ponder if I should write something funny which makes them laugh, or rather something a3di - normal. And in the end, there is a final little thrill when going to the local post office and hoping the card will reach friends, family and close ones before the festivities.

As said before, this year was the worst for me so far and I am a bit hazeen (sad) to see that year after year, things become less personal. But maybe next year, we will not even celebrate with our families and close ones, but have a multichannel webcam session where we can zap into whoever's living room we want. Merry Christmas. Zap.

Funny enough

Sad to see how non-globalised this website seems to be. They don't fully support Arabic charset. How sad.