We got up fairly promptly in preparation for a long coach ride with Madeline, Nour and Sarah down to the amphitheatre at Bosra. We picked up Nour en-route with her little sister Dana. On the coach I sat next to a Syrian doctor. We spoke about many things including the Syrian education system. He told me that education was free but the required pass rate for exams was very high. On his course he needed 99.5% to pass! That makes the English examining system with its grade inflation, grade boundary acrobatics and target pass rates look distinctly Third World in comparison. After speaking to me in very good English he started speaking in German to a girl in the seat in front. Sometimes it seems only the English are incapable of mastering another language!
It was 2 hours on the coach, largely through flat fertile plains studded with olive groves and sprinkled with bedouin tents. We saw many shepherds leading their flocks along the edge of the dual carriage way and I saw one flock being grazed in the central reservation with cars going past at 70 mph in both directions. That requires a shepherd with either a high degree of confidence in his shepherding or a low degree of intelligence. Or possibly both.
When we arrived at Bosra we needed to check the return times and book a ticket. This got more complex than expected, not least because the guy who managed the bus bookings was desperate to get us to visit other places that afternoon in order to boost his business. The more we discussed it the more we became convinced we should visit one place well rather than several places badly. However there was an inordinate amount of discussion between the bus manager, Madeline, Matthew and Nour. After it was all settled and we booked our places Nour told us how she had taken her aside by the manager at one point who told her off - "you Arabs should have persuaded them to do the other trips!". I have to admit to having been impressed with Madeline; she has a lovely way with people, both in her voice and body language. She should work in sales and negotiation.
The amphitheatre was breathtaking in its scale, design and execution; it was almost disturbing to consider how such a monument could be conceived, planned, drawn, administered, procured and built in a pre- industrial society. It was a testament to the power of organisation, the achievement of willpower and the brutality of enslavement. As a slightly disorganised person who doesn’t like imposing my will on others I wasn’t quite sure which of those disturbed me most.
We got back at a reasonable time and Matthew got us a bean dish for supper followed by a very large and cream-laden fruit salad from the juice shop near the square. As I ate it I wondered if I would regret the indulgence. It wasn't very long before I knew the answer. Whether it was the fruit salad or something else I don't know but it was a very broken night.
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