Yabrut

Regardless of my political views and the image that I have of Carlos Menem, he was twice the democratically elected President of Argentina. Although he was born in Argentina, his family had emigrated from Yabrut, a town very close to Damascus and because of that I wanted to see Yabrut myself.

Carlos Menem had been the first contact I have had with the Syrian culture and I was always intrigued about his origins. After all he went as far as changing religions - from Islam to Catholicism- to follow the Argentinean Constitution and have access to the presidency in Argentina.

After asking a policeman where we could find the bus to Yabrut at the minibus station, a nice lady, Nabiha, volunteered to show us and we followed her. She was going to Yabrut to visit her grandmother. She paid for our tickets, saying that we were her guests, and she would not allow us to pay, a situation that had happened to us quite a few times in Syria, these people are amazing!

We chatted all the way to Yabrut about Nabiha, her family, us and our families, jobs and others. She inquired about the reasons for us to visit Yabrut and I explained that several people had told me that Carlos Menem's grandfather's house was still there, as were many others of the Menem family members.

When we arrived a few phone calls where made and Abushama came to join us. He is married to the niece of Carlos Menem's cousin (I know, it gets complicated). After dropping off everybody else that was in the bus, Nabiha, the driver and Abushama took us around town. Our final destination was Grandpa Menem's house, which is now rented out.

After Abushama talked to the tenants, the doors opened and we were all welcomed into this home. Coffee, tea, cookies and candy followed and pictures were taken. We met a few cousins and learned that apparently all the Menems live in that street.

After wards Nabiha invited us to her grandma's house where we also met her uncle, aunt and cute nephews Eli and Karin. After visiting them for a while and drinking tea along with delicious home made cookies, Abushama came to pick us up to show us the church that had been once a Cathedral. The Priest spoke Arabic and perfect French and gave us a tour in French that I translated into Spanish for Steve. Most of the original statues and frescoes are now in a museum in Rome but it was still quite interesting to see the replicas and listen to the story.

Abushama took us for food to a great shwarma place and then drove us 30k to our next destination, the Monastery of Marmusa.

Our trip to Yabrut was one of those things that happened in such a smooth way that it was clear that it was meant to happen. Our parents are right when they say that we have angels around us that protect us and guide us and to us Nabiha was an angel on that day. None of this would have been possible if she wouldn't have crossed our path.

Gaby