Middle East - A Shaky Start

It's Dec 27 and I'm sitting at a cute little restaurant called Kadche, at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Just arrived in Beirut. Eating something called Fattet Meat. No idea what it is really - meat, chickpea, flat bread. Shrug. How I landed here is the real story.

Day 1 (Dec 20)

Got on a plane to Damascus. 5 minutes before takeoff, find out Shanaz's flight was cancelled due to European snow storms. Told flight attendant that I had an emergency and had to get off plane. By some miracle, was allowed off plane and escorted out of airport immigration.

Day 2/3 (Dec 21/22)

Lazed in Singapore as I thought her flight wld not take off for a few days. It did. I left my friend in Damascus for a day.

Day 4 (Dec 23)

Got on plane and arrive in Damascus. Hooray! Shanaz waiting expectantly at airport for me. I never made it out of immigration.

Syrian immigration officers wouldn't give me a visa-on-arrival because I was American. All the other nationalities that passed through those doors were fine. It was all a bit scary. Big Syrian men who didn't speak English and hated me cos I carried a US passport. Thank god for random man that translated for me so I understood that they weren't confiscating my passport - just holding it till I bought a ticket out of the country.

Spent the day on the phone hoping to find alternative ways to get visa. 12 hours later (and probably hundreds of dollars of phone bills), still no visa. Exhausted, I bought my ticket to Dubai. Just wanted the first possible flight out of the country cos Syria did not heart USA. While waiting to board, they confined me in this small room with 6 or 7 Syrian officers heavily chain smoking, talking about me and looking at my passport. They wouldn't let me sit outside until I fervently expressed that the smoke was killing me.

Meanwhile, my sister called my Uncle in Qatar and told him I was coming to visit for Xmas. That was settled. Ervin helped get me a ticket from Dubai to Qatar while I was confined in that tiny room without wifi or 3g.

When it was boarding time, was escorted by airport security again, this time all the way to the plane. They waited till the doors closed to make sure I wld not escape. Hah Hah. As if I'd dare try.