It all begins with Shafcat...

As I was on my way to Jarablos, a border next to the Kurdish area, I was tricked by a classic traveler’s ambush: the bus driver who gives you as many “kwaïes, kwaïes*” you want to justify how he does understand your request, and then drives you directly to the other side of the country.

That’s how I’ve met Shafcat at the bus station of Aleppo. I was kind of lucky this day, cause I also learned that my border was closed… and asking myself what to do next. Shafcat invites me to join him on his way back to his village.

Sife Ali seats on the high lands surrounding the lake Al Assad. Fertile fields cover the sweet hills around a group of few houses and the school, delimited by dusty paths where you will only see motorcycles and tractors: the asphalted road is a few kilometers away. Arabic shepherd tents pop-up as they are following their flock, but almost everybody is Kurdish here. If they speak currently Averroes language, for English, it is very rare. Hopefully, young generation learn at least a few words, and Shafcat is fluent.

Amina, Jan and Khader

I slept to his family’s house. Khader, is father, have calloused hands of farmers, deep eyes and a permanent smile. Enough to communicate. Most of his children are gone now, married, or studying in Aleppo. He shares the home with his wife, younger son and daughter. A few chickens and three cows in the garden. Nothing rich, nothing poor. But a huge sense of hospitality, as his son.

One of the two class rooms of Sife Ali school. During holidays, little birds take control of the place

During my days – yeah, I finally slept three nights over there –, I got time to hang around. Quick touristic tour include a few old Roman stones, and a look to the Euphrate river, which, at this season, flood the road. It is provided by my local My Hell’s Angels crew, demonstrating easiness skills in steeps rocky paths. Next day was dedicated to visit family and relatives of my hosts. Received as a prince in each place, I enjoyed tea and fruits as we take some fun doing videos of everything and everybody.

A bunch of buddies: Magid, Firas, 'Christiano Ronaldo' and Ahmad, facing the flooded road.

At night, lot of people joined us at “Khader’s headquarter”. What I enjoyed the most was spending time with Shafcat and his friends. Many people, hard to tell a word about everybody, even if they deserve it… Ahmad have a lively loud laugh every ten minutes. ‘Christiano Ronaldo’ and Magid give me some Kurdish vocabulary, and learned me a local card game with Firas and Ali. Jehat is the singer of the village.

Tonight, he sings a beautiful sad song in his language. Every Kurdish song have the same sad story.

A story of people looking for their country.

* “Good”, “ok”.

Wants to see some video of kurdish dance ? Check the link ;)