In Arabic, it's custom to say "Forsa Saeeda" when you meet someone instead of "Nice to meet you". This expressions translates literally to "A Happy Opportunity". I ran into some Georgetown students from Amman, that's all. It was bound to happen sometime, being that foreigners, students especially, spend most of their time in the same 5% of Damascus. But it has been a night of happy chances. I was walking through the Old City in search of a chess board (I was several hours too late for that, I'm afraid) and I saw someone I had sat next to in the placement exam at the university. Then I saw someone I had sat next to in a microbus nearly an hour earlier. Then I saw someone I stood next to at Bayt ul-Qaseedeh, who's actually a friend of Ayad's (my tutor) as well. Maybe it's a good omen. Perhaps it means I will meet great success the next time I attempt to make an omellette. Or to write a tome. Or when I enlist in the Navy to join the yeomen. Or the next time I eat a pomelo. Who can say?
I will see you from Latakia.
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The Arabic language seems to have very nice way of saying things. "A Happy Opportunity" is a poetic way of thinking about meeting new people or just your friends.
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