Cresseys in a hot climate

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Mid-June, and it is hot in Aleppo with warm nights giving way to boiling days. There is mixed advice on whether your windows should be open (to channel a breeze) or closed (to keep the hot air out), and it is a battle we are generally not winning. This week and last has brushed past 40 degrees C and our lunchtime stroll has been cut down to limit the chance of dehydration and sunstroke.


But our time is drawing to a slow close, and I'm trying to embrace each moment and opportunity in Syria to enjoy the culture and experience. In a month, we will be heading home finishing our 1 year contract in Aleppo, and 2 years with Medair. The countdown is on (unfortunately), and while I wish it was not so, I am really ready to go home. I dream of our house and garden, Beeston, church and friends, seeing family and resuming 'normal life'. The very situation I was keen to leave 2 years ago is now exactly what I want to reconnect with. I'm obsessed with home and garden shows on BBC and feel my heart aching to do some nesting. 

What a ride it has been! Work-wise, we have been challenged with roles that were not a perfect fit, and workloads that were not well crafted. We have walked alongside people different to us and been frustrated by the various quirks in the cultural norms that have clashed against our British sensibilities. And we have grown closer together as we have lived and worked together sharing way more time than ever before.  

I have really missed friends, family and church life. These big things could not be replaced and while there is some measure of their presence, it has not been the same, and it will be a real joy to get these big parts of life's puzzle back in place. My soul has been altered, as I have drawn resource from new places - from God, of course, but also from new ways of spending time when the normal distractions and occupations were not available. I have sought and found God in different ways, and shared special time with Him - on the roof in Juba, and in the throne room in Aleppo (our super-bling sitting room). 


The poverty here is breath-taking. We drive past people with extremely challenging disabilities begging or selling small products. We walk past street children (who quite often hassle us beyond what is comfortable). We pass by damaged and broken buildings and know that the lives inside are also scarred by traumatic experiences and loss. It makes suffering at home feel on another level - it is real and true and terrible, but it looks different to suffering here which is somehow more basic and holistic. I hope and pray I never forget what I have seen and known and experienced here - I hope to stay changed because of these 2 years. I hope to care more. 


Thanks for space and time to externalise some thoughts - it is 'clear out' writing this blog, and has added value to my life, honing some communication skills and allowing me to explore language as a creative friend. Until next time. 

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