Come tell me how you live

I'm re-reading Come Tell Me How You Live written by Agatha Christie. It's an account of her travels to Syria in the 1930s with her husband, archeologist Max Mallowan. As I read her recollections of her life in the desert it occurred to me that what she had written was an early form of blogging. Her descriptions of the Arab men and women with whom she has daily contact particularly resonates for me, as I am a British expatriate working in Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates. Her love for her husband, history and the simple life of the desert exudes from every page. It's interesting to note her affectionate observations written during a period when servants and British superiority were not challenged and the phrase'politically correct' had not entered the British psyche.

During Eid Al Adha last November I took a tour of Jordan and Syria. I missed Palmyra because we didn't have time. I had already decided that I would like to go back to Syria and take a trip, solo but with a guide, from Damascus to Palmyra. Now I'm thinking bigger. I would like to retrace the journey described in Christie's book. Along the way, I could blog my own experiences and explore the changes that have occurred in the last 60-70 years. My first step is to research her life at that time and investigate the world background that will have influenced her writing. This blog entry is my first step.