<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Arabic-L: Mon 28 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <<a href="mailto:dilworth_parkinson@byu.edu">dilworth_parkinson@byu.edu</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">[To post messages to the list, send them to <a href="mailto:arabic-l@byu.edu">arabic-l@byu.edu</a>]</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">[To unsubscribe, send message from same address you subscribed from to</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a href="mailto:listserv@byu.edu">listserv@byu.edu</a> with first line reading:</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> unsubscribe arabic-l ]</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">-------------------------Directory------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">1) Subject:connections to Syria</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">2) Subject:connections to Syria</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">-------------------------Messages-----------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">1)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 28 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:"David Wilmsen" <<a href="mailto:david.wilmsen@gmail.com">david.wilmsen@gmail.com</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:connections to Syria</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; ">RJ reservations can be made through the Alia office in New York. The<br>website is slow and quirky, so it is better to make reservations by<br>phone. I expect the same would be true on both counts for Egypt Air.<br>Alia has more or less normal seating configurations (i.e., somewhat<br>cramped but not dreadfully awful like US carriers - whose cabins also<br>harbour unpleasant smells - I used to work servicing US commercial<br>carriers when in grad school, so I know where those smells come<br>from!); Alia is famous for the quality of its meals (it wins awards<br>for it). Egypt Air reserves its best aircraft for its cross-Atlantic<br>and European flights; they are newer and more spacious than Alia's.<br>Meals are ho-hum.<br><br>David Wilmsen</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">2)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 28 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:"Alex Magidow" <<a href="mailto:amagidow@gmail.com">amagidow@gmail.com</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:mirabile dictu amusing</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>Having recently travelled to Damascus via Chicago and Amman on the<br>Royal Jordanian flight, I can say that it was definitely one of the<br>least expensive tickets I found, but that the flight to Chicago from<br>Amman was delayed upwards of 12 hours. However, this was during<br>December, when the weather was particularly bad, so it is<br>understandable. Also, RJ provided us with transit visas and hotel<br>rooms in Amman during the delay.<br><br>I will note that a plane flight of that length is somewhat unpleasant,<br>so if price is not an object it might be more comfortable for you to<br>take a flight which has a closer connection point, i.e. the flights<br>through Europe.<br><br>I purchased my tickets online via Expedia I believe, or some similar<br>website, so I cannot recommend a particular travel agent. However, I<br>had no trouble with my electronic tickets, either leaving Syria or<br>returning from the US. I have heard some reports of problems, however,<br>obtaining a boarding pass from an electronic ticket at the Damascus<br><div>Airport.</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">End of Arabic-L: 28 Jan 2008</div></body></html>