13 November, 2009 - Meandering home

November 8. Three good brothers.

Do you like my tone? Or does it sound too much like atonement? Well, you can switch me off, just like a television, you know, the old ones, that still had a big button on them. I wake up today in a four people dormitory and decide to walk around Damascus.

The National Museum ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Arabic dishes, damascus, Kurdish, National Gallery, Syria

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November 7: Those little treasures

A bright sun wakes me at 8:30, I do some dishes, play some music on my little computer and continue writing about my beautiful experience. I look at the pharmacy receipts they gave me yesterday and they are so valuable for me. My little treasures. Not that I need proof of my being good ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Ibrahim, little treasures, pharmacy, Russian

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November 6. A memorable day.

This is a memorable day. I wake up on the couch of Mona's apartment, and we have a short breakfast together. She explains me how to get to the Al-Manar television - the Hezbollah news station. I walk out that sunny morning and ask for the way a couple of times. A billboard is ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Al-Manar, Bourj El-Barajneh, Charity Travel, Hezbollah, memorable day

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November 5. Bus to Beirut.

The other charities I was to support in Aleppo need bureaucracy, and that makes me sad. A friendly couchsurfer knew a couple of them but this is what they needed. They need some official writing of my government telling them that is has an agreement with Syria. My government! The government of the country ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Aleppo, Beirut, Bureaucracy, Hezbollah, slogans

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November 4. Just look at the photos.

I have some sandwich from the fridge with cheese and pepper before I head out to the lively maze of old Aleppo and onto the dusty main road. At 11am I meet Murdoch and the clock tower and we spend a few good hours together. It turns out our interests are to a great ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

happiness, why write

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November 3. Very dangerous. But perhaps a good believer.

A healthy breakfast in the attic. I don't understand the French guys on the table next to me, although I have said of myself that I speak that language. Don't worry, better focus on the real things, you have a mission now dearest one. The sun stands already high as I walk out and capture ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Aleppo, Allah, Balzac, God, Paradise, Racine, very very very, Victor Hugo

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November 2. Move it! On to Syria.

I can't make it back to Adana in time, so I won't visit an ACEV meeting myself. I kindly ask them for some photographs to publish on my website, along with their contact information because there might be visitors - occasional internet surfers - who would want to make a donation. They will provide me ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Aleppo, Antakya, Clint Eastwood, hitchhiking

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November 1. Does your city have the biggest mosque too?

We spend a great day in Mersin, walking along the boulevard from which we can see the biggest mosque of the country. Well, every good citizen will tell you that the biggest mosque in their city is also the biggest temple in the country. That's what I heard in Istanbul and Diyarbakir. That said, the ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Mersin, mosque

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October 30. Adana kebab.

The bus ride to Adana is uneventful. In a restaurant, I work a bit on translation, which could in theory pay me and make Charity Travel a sustainable concept for me (and you) - who knows.

I walk around asking for the address of ACEV, which I find after ten people gave me directions ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

ACEV, Adana kebab, Ferguson, Mersin, NGO, otogar, Turkey

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October 29. A long train ride.

The next morning I take the train to Diyarbakir. It will take the whole day.

A kid is looking suspicious at my bag. So I take it with me to the toilet, making up some vague excuse to save face. The child is only fifteen and I am obviously misinterpreting his dark staring eyes. ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Diyarbakir, train ride

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October 28. Good vibes.

Ankara! Good vibes, a visit to the historical fort, and a beautiful sunset. The small streets around the fort are pictoreque and I suggest they should be restored to their old glory to resestablish Ankara as a touristic city. But they are building apartments now, I can see the cranes working, standing on the ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Ankara, historical city, Korean

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October 27. Train to Ankara.

The last two days, I have been writing on the balcony. I am so grateful to my host and her mother. I can catch up with both my Charity Travel website and my parallel personal blog. At night we say goodbye and I find my way to Kadiköy easily. Just before getting on my ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Ankara, Bethlehem, kadiköy

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October 24. Topkapi .

After breakfast, Mehmed and I meet a lovely duckling from Korea. It is great to see her again, and we are very happy when we have some coffee together and visit the Topkapi palace. It is impressive to see so many relics and treasures in the chambers of this sultan's palace. Moses' rod is there, ...

13 November, 2009

Kamiel Choi

Bosporus, Istanbul, Red Sea, teahouse, topkapi

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