Damascus -- Inside the Lady of Saydnaya Convent

OK....you've seen the outside of this formidable place . . .

very impressive, I must say

How about we take a look inside now?

Andrew & Susanne

Some of the sights within the convent

a closer view

We met this mother and her two daughters in the chapel area where no pictures were allowed. One of the nuns gave us holy oil, but when I looked puzzled, one of these young ladies instructed me on what it was and what it was for. (Rub it on your forehead and believe so you could be healed.) They were so kind. This picture was just outside the no-picture zone. They asked for my name and when I told them, the mom smiled and said, "Ah, an Arabic name." (And I always thought it was Hebrew for "lily." Hmmm. Just looked it up at behindthename.com*)

More sights

This is Samer and John. We met John at this convent and he followed us around as an unofficial guide. I'm pretty sure he belonged to the mom and sisters pictured with me above. He wouldn't stand still for a good photo so I had to sneak some like this. John sounded like he belonged to this Christian area of Syria. Everyone else had very Arabic sounding names. John, I recognized from home. ;-)

closer view

Susanne, Andrew & Samer

Ready to check out the view from above.

Pictures from Saydnaya, Syria
February 2009

* SUSANNA

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Dutch, English, Biblical

Other Scripts: Сусанна (Russian)

Pronounced: soo-ZAN-ə (English) [key]

From Σουσαννα (Sousanna), the Greek form of the Hebrew name שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (Shoshannah). This was derived from the Hebrew word שׁוֹשָׁן (shoshan) meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose"), perhaps ultimately from Egyptian sšn "lotus".