A tear. One smile

I spent fourteen years of my life in one of the oldest cities in the world - Damascus. With 44 stories from my childhood and youth, I provide an insight into the life of this city. I remember places that no longer exist and people who are no longer where they once were. My family is scattered across the world. The current situation in Syria is marked by civil war, fear, and the plight of refugees, and there is so little hope of ever being able to rebuild the country. Inspired by Hakawati, the storyteller who enchants life with his tales, I felt the urge to share stories from Damascus with my friends in Europe. They are bilingual: in German, as I have been living in Vienna for ten years, and in Arabic, as I want to share my book with my relatives in Damascus.