Syrians, like the selection pictured aside, are a friendly bunch and you should consider trying to meet some when you travel in the Middle East. The good thing is that they are not difficult to spot and will most likely find you anyway. I suggest you hitch a lift on one of the big busses crossing the Middle East and let them welcome you with tea and baklawa.

One particularly friendly type of Syrians are the guest laborers working in one of the richer Arab countries in the region. You can find many of them on the Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Syria route, which they undertake once a year, migratory-bird-like, to visit friends and family back home.

What makes spending time with them such a nice experience is their sincerity and outright friendliness paired with a genuine interest in you. Little matters that neither you nor them speak much Arabic or English respectively, since the warmth of their heart and power of their smile will melt away any linguistically barrier like ice blocks in the badiyat ash-sham‎.

They are often big men with light skin and blond or red curled hair, quite different from the stereotypical Arab we think to know. I remember with enchantment one particular encounter. While waiting for hours without end for our boat I was at one point approached by a big and friendly man with curious eyes, inquiring about the book I was reading. Conversation soon turned away from my book (Rayuela) and more of his friends, for they were a group Syrians working in Libya on their way home, joined in. We soon became an inseparable group, and spent rest of the endless waiting time, and the boat-journey together.

I should have continued my journey with them, but decided to part, for they were traveling quickly. Before I finally left, my friend accompanied me to my next bus and loaded my bag, which I had previously struggled to carry, lifting it up it with his enormous hand like a mere feather, yet his curiosity and joy to spent time with me was almost childlike. I shall never forget his steely determination though when it came to helping me with even the smallest of things. A strong, friendly and determined leader of his group, had I been a woman I would not have hesitated to marry him. Syrians after all, are the stock Roman emperors are made of.

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