You were born in Damascus, then spent much of your childhood in Saudi Arabia before moving back to Syria as a teenager. What was it like growing up in such different landscapes?
It’s strange, but growing up in Saudi Arabia was actually the best childhood you could hope for! It was a manicured bubble. I used to go to school by bus and I looked forward to it every day because we would drive 200 kilometres across the desert. I think that’s where I began to love being alone, especially because I was one of those weird kids who didn’t like sports. I was 14 when my family moved back to Damascus for a few years, and for me, being back home in Syria was like a non-stop performance! The streets were teeming with life and sensations, so when my parents took their siestas I would explore the streets of the old city. I still remember some of the smells, like the jasmine flowers that hang over house walls. We call it Damascene jasmine, and I was like a small, dry sponge, soaking all this up. But, after just a few years as a Damascus teenager, I moved again to the US, to study architecture.
