White Christmas in Aleppo

This is a Sentinel-2A image of Aleppo on Dec 22, showing some snow through the clouds. I do not know if this sunny interval lasted a long time, and I wonder if the inhabitants of Aleppo had wished snow for Christmas. I walked through the streets of Aleppo in July 2003 at the end of my bachelor’s internship which was held mainly in Damascus and Palmyra. Aleppo is the most fascinating city that I have visited in Syria. I remember the alignments of soap, cloth and hardware stores that narrowed even more the narrow alleys of the old city. I remember the Persian carpets hanging from the balustrades of the ancient caravanserais. I remember countless smiles exchanged with people whose language I did not speak, in the souk, in the mosques, where tourists like me were welcome. I remember the kids playing soccer in front of the walls of the citadel. I wonder if kids played snowballs on December 22, 2016 in Aleppo. I’m sad and I’m a little ashamed too.