Four London months

Dear readers,
After a short trip to the US, I’m back in England, and I’m going to be here for the spring and summer, until my studies begin in the autumn. Earlier this week, I visited Rutgers-Camden, the college where I’m going to be doing my MFA, and I’m really excited. The campus is one tube [...]

The Thrill Is Gone

“The Thrill Is Gone”, by BB King, is one of my favourite songs.
Here are the lyrics:
The thrill is gone
The thrill is gone away
The thrill is gone baby
The thrill is gone away
You know you done me wrong baby
And you’ll be sorry someday
The thrill is gone
It’s gone away from me
The thrill is gone baby
The thrill is gone [...]

Couchsurfing

In New York, I stayed in Greenwich village, in the flat of a very welcoming, friendly guy called Steve. I’d set it up through the couchsurfing website, and Steve turned out to be an amazing and welcoming host – making me and the other guest smoked salmon bagels for breakfast, giving tips on the city [...]

Syrians: Good people (4)

I walked around the small city of Jableh, by the coast. At almost every street corner, a man waved me into his shop and gave me something for free, just because I was a visitor. I received drinks, snacks, a bottle of water, a cup of coffee, a drive around the city and kebabs for [...]

Syrians: good people (3)

While I was in Syria, almost everyone I met asked me where I was from. I always told them the truth: “Britanya”. Most people just nodded, or said that Britain was a beautiful country and that they wanted to live there. Sometimes, especially back in the summer (July 2007), men would smile at me when [...]