sal?m ‘al?kum is how you say hello in Arabic – it means ‘Peace upon you’. And to reply you would say wa ‘al?kum al sal?m which means ‘And peace upon you’. This week in the international cafe on Logos Hope I had the privilege of sitting with a local man who spoke relatively good English and who was able to teach me several useful Arabic phrases like ‘Thankyou’ and ‘You’re welcome’ and ‘The people here are nice’.
But even better still, yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the ruins of an old Roman town. Like much of the ancient world this country was occupied by Rome at the beginning of the common era. It’s one thing to read about it on the internet or to see exhibits in a museum (as I did last week), but to walk the streets of an old roman town, to stand in a real auditorium and to browse what was the market is a breathtaking experience. I should thank our wonderful hosts who arranged the outing for us and provided all the transport. Truly this is a very hospitable culture and I am very lucky to experience it first hand.