Countdown to Syria

I leave for Syria in a week. It's a typical American disease to be an adult who's never traveled abroad, but I'm glad I'm finally getting the cure. If I can find an internet cafe in Damascus--and surely there is one--I'll post a couple comments while I'm there. Otherwise, this blog will be pretty silent until mid-June. I'm going to do the indoor skiing in Dubai, and visit the monasteries of Mar Mousa and Maalula in Syria, and if I can work it out I'll visit Petra in Jordan.

And from now on when I encourage students to study abroad, I can do so with a little more integrity. And of course I'll be able to say such pretentious things as, "When I was sipping kahua arabea in the Souk Al-Hamidieh in Damascus..."