He's Big in Damascus

So, dear reader, I just had a rather unexpected and wonderful evening. A French friend of mine told me of her Syrian friend who is an actor and wanted to work on his American accent and get a better sense of American culture and arts - and she suggested me for a 'language exchange' with this guy. I agree, not knowing what to expect. Well, I met 'the actor' tonight and slowly during the course of the evening I discovered that he's a very well-known actor on Syrian TV shows - He's BIG in Damascus. While drinking some coffee and sitting in the (first) restaurant, several little girls came up to the table asking for autographs. People were always looking in our direction and pointing. Later, a friend of his showed up and we all went to get a bite to eat - while in traffic, several people rolled down their windows to greet him; while on the street three veiled women asked to pose for a picture with him. I had a great time with 'the actor' and his friend; we went back-and-forth in English and Arabic, covering most every subject imaginable. While at the restaurant, the magazine called "Our Nights" (translated from Arabic) took our picture and will publish it in next month's edition of 'party pictures' (most of the magazine) in Damascus. Actually, a British friend was in "Our Nights" last month, his picture taken while he was at some diplomatic party for one of the Gulf countries - at the same party and on-the-same page, another picture of well dressed men was accompanied by the caption: GUESTS . . . . this is because they were the well-known leaders of Hamas.
Anyway, I had a wonderful time, picked up a fair amount of spoken Syrian Arabic, and I think I made some new friends. All-in-all . . . . a very good evening.

ps: those of you wanting to post comments without joining blogger - I just switched the setting so that anyone can now post. Please, keep it slightly clean and reasonable and if you know me . . . please refrain from using my name. thanks.