Syria: Hassake part 1

With Abuna Ephrem who looked after me during my time at St. Mary's Monastery

With staff and students at the Amal Secondary School


On the bridge over the Euphrates at Deir Ezzur

Looking suitably solemn after Mass at St. George's Cathedral, Hassake!

Looking a bit more relaxed with the Archbishop and one of his parishioners!

It's not the King of Saudi Arabia - he just looks like him.

The Monastery of St. Mary at Tel Wardiaat, near Hassake, where I stayed for three nights

I spent an hour or so on Thursday morning trying to work out whether my blogs were getting through. Blogger - like Facebook - is blocked in Syria - but it would appear that you can post blogs - you just cannot read it when its been published! All very strange!

After sorting out my stuff at the hotel I got a taxi to what I thought was the bus station - in fact it was a service station somewhere on the south side of Tadmor/Palmyra. I got a coach to Deir Ezzur - about 150 kms further east than Palmyra. There is nothing to see there but it is on the Euphrates - and so I took a taxi from the bus station and got the driver to give me ten minutes at a very nice pedestrianised suspension bridge over one the most famous rivers in the world! It was great to see it - Miss Chadwick (my former history teacher) would be pround of me! The taxi driver took me for a falafel sandwich and then back to the bus station where I waited for about an hour I guess for the next bus to Hassake. It left soon after 230 for the journey of again about 150 kms. This time we were going north up to the very north-east corner of Syria. Again there was NOTHING to see for the two hour journey except flat relentless desert. When we arrived in Hassake about 430 it was already dark. Hassake is about 700 kms from Damascus and very close to both the Iraqi and Turkish borders. I don't think that I have ever been in such a remote place.

Bishop Matta who is my contact here was still in Damascus but I was met from the bus by one of his priests and another man - Abu Yousif - they took me to the Monastery of St. Mary at Tel Wardiaat about 25 kms outside Hassake. This was to be my base for the next three days. It is called a monastery but as there is only one monk in residence - Father Ephrem - it operates more like a retreat and conference centre. It is a beautiful building - only established in 2000 as a result of Bishop Matta's legendary fundraising skills! I had supper in the kitchen with Leila the cook and Abuna Ephrem and then a very welcome early night.

On Friday I was up soon after 7 and breakfasted in the kitchen with the same people as the previous night. About 83o I was driven back into town to meet Abu Yousif who was to be my host for the day. We spent the morning visiting the five schools that are run by the Diocese of Jazirah and the Euphrates here in Hassake. Bishop Matta has made a great priority of education and there are now 1800 children in his schools compared to 400 when he took office in 1990. The schools are completely self funding and receive no government finance at all. BibleLands had made two grants to the schools in the past but they would obviously like to receive more regular funding - hence my visit! The Syrian Orthodox Community is not wealthy and 30% of pupils pay no fees at all; the rest pay modest fees of between $200 - $300 per annum. The schools are open to all faiths and I was encouraged to find that each school has about 25% of Muslim children.

Abu Yousif to me back to his house for lunch about 2pm and I was then brought back to the monastery to rest for about 2 hours before returning to town for an early evening walk with Abu Yousif's nephew Yousif and his friend Firas. It was an interesting couple of hours as they are more much relaxed than the older generation and much more willing to engage in real conversation. We returned to the family home about 8 as I was being taken out to dinner by five of the grandees of the Diocese ( all male); the last guest did not arrive until about 930 so we were somewhat late in heading out. We went to the "Agricultural Club" - famous in Hassake as having been visited by Egypt's President Nasser in the 1950s - and not decorated since by the look of the place! The clientele and staff were entirely male; I would guess that the manager was in his 80s; and the whole evening was quite an experience. Whisky is drunk with the meal ; I asked for wine (though I wish I hadn't!); it was a fairly typical Arab/Turkish meal of mezes to start with and kebabs of various kinds for the main course. It was an interesting and entertaining evening and one that I shall not forget for a long time. They arranged a taxi to take me back to the monastery and we got back about 11.30pm.