Day 33 My Khan

SYNOPSIS: This is one of those boring entries about laundry and redecorating “my khan”.  Nothing happened today.  But I talked to Olaf about his work.  Not banking and investment – but water treatment.HOW A LAUNDRY DAY TURNED INTO A DECORATING SPREE AND HOW THE WATER HERE MIGHT NOT BE AS SAFE AS I THOUGHT.After 33 days of travel and with a washing machine at hand I decided it was time to wash all of my clothes.  Even if they were not dirty, by now they were all infested by cigarette smoke and dust.  I did two loads which created a lot of down time for me.  I caught up with yesterday’s blog, did some photo updating and then, started to walk through “my khan” again.  Despite all the splendor, the signs of neglect and decay could not be overlooked.  Stacks of non-functioning lamps on the grand piano – BTW, a brand-less one – chairs stacked up in the corner, fans, mattresses, etc.  But also mold in some areas, peeling walls, leaky ceilings.  This place would benefit from a grand make-over.Since I am a compulsive decorator, I got to work!  I got rid of the worst of the junk (really, I only put it out of sight, turned from vertical to horizontal, untangled the cords, put things under the piano instead of on top of it, etc.).  I also went through some closets and found wonderful old knick-knacks, small pieces of carpets, thread-spools, candle sticks, pottery, etc.  While looking for knick-knacks I found a whole new room, too!  The grandest bedroom of all.   The size and layout of this place is truly amazing.I arranged, and arranged and rearranged.  After two hours, the result was satisfactory.  The grand hall feels homey now.  Things look like they are meant to be where they are instead of just haphazardly lying around or being pushed into corners.    Of course, Olaf warned me that the cleaning lady who comes on Sunday might think differently – so be it.  By Sunday I will be gone.It is mind-boggling how a household like this is just littered with what we would consider precious antiques.  Old copper basins, silver mirrors, wooden trunks, chandeliers.  It does not stop there – three pieces of stone were clearly removed from archaeological sites around here…  They have great ornamentations and inscriptions.  Who would hold you back?  You just go places with a car and a couple of strong men and there they are for the taking…The washing machine decided not to spin anything so had soaking wet clothes and got stuck with the task of wringing everything by hand – boy, my back hurt!  Thank goodness for the stone floors and the drains everywhere.  I had to think of my mother who would do laundry for a family of six for the longest time without a washing machine. When we finally had a washing machine it also would not spin.  That was done separately in a “spinner”.  She would work in a laundry shed at the back of the house where a kettle would be heated over a fire and the laundry would be stirred in it by hand…  How did she do it?!  Now I know why laundry used to take all day.I did grocery shopping and a long session at the Internet cafe today and in the evening I chatted with Olaf.  He is not an investment banker.  I think I got that idea from the GTZ lady who first told me about my house mate.  No, he is a civil engineer specializing in water and sewage.  They are surveying the situation here and he showed me pictures from all over Syria demonstrating the quite dismal situation:  Raw sewage, often unprocessed due to broken or outdated equipment at the sewage plant is being used to fertilize the fields.  Great for the crops – all the “nutritious values” are still in the irrigation waters.  Not so great for us as some of those “nutrients” will go right into the fruits and vegetables.  He also showed me pictures from olive processing plants – the residue from the process often goes directly into the rivers or the ground water creating streams of black, oily substances. Not enough government policies are in place to prevent or punish these practices; so they continue.  Olaf said that most of his team members were violently sick at least once when they worked here.  How I got spared with my eating habits so far is a miracle.  Perhaps, I have a robust system – more likely, I just got lucky so far, or a little farther fetched, my travel triad (the Hindu God Ganesh, the Christian protector of travelers Saint Christopher, and the Medicine Buddha Bhaisajyaguru) and Scheherazade are holding a hand over me.  :-) OK, either way, I am a bit more mindful now.Good night.